Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

corpus-paul - Re: [Corpus-Paul] Judaism: a missionary religion or just open to converts?

corpus-paul AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Corpus-Paul

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Jeff Peterson <peterson AT austingrad.edu>
  • To: Corpus-Paul <corpus-paul AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Corpus-Paul] Judaism: a missionary religion or just open to converts?
  • Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2003 13:36:53 -0500

On Monday, August 18, 2003, at 11:56 AM, Terence Donaldson wrote:

In our study of the religions of late antiquity it might be better to dispense with the term "mission" altogether, at least for a while, and to investigate afresh the ways in which religions propagated themselves (by creating a public profile, attracting and incorporating new members, etc.).

A moratorium on the use of the word "mission" might be useful, and in any case we need to take care in defining the terms of our discussion, but I don't think one can get around earliest Christianity as an outward-looking and -moving community. Paul gives us evidence not only for his own missionary activity (oops, I used the word! -- read "recruitment" or something more vanilla) but also for that of Peter and Jerusalem folk -- the handshake or holy kiss sealed the fact that he was entrusted with an APOSTOLH to the gentiles, as they held one directing them to Jews (Gal 2:1ff). And as far as I can see (pending my promised read of Dixon), the evidence is against any detectable number of non-Christian Jews in antiquity regarding themselves as actively sent to include gentiles within the covenant, or as organizing themselves to fulfill such a comission; how you dealt with gentiles who were bright or pious enough to see that in covenant with Israel's god was where they belonged, that was another question.

Jeff Peterson


Jeffrey Peterson
Austin Graduate School of Theology
Austin, Texas





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page