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  • From: Robert Kraft <kraft AT ccat.sas.upenn.edu>
  • To: corpus-paul AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Cc: Robert Kraft <kraft AT ccat.sas.upenn.edu>
  • Subject: [Corpus-Paul] "Symbolic Paul" and Torah Observant Philo
  • Date: Wed, 11 May 2005 20:49:51 -0400 (EDT)

For some perspective on the sorts of issues touched on in Loren Rosson's
recent
post that refers to Nanos, Chilton, Krausz, "A Torah-Observant Paul,"
"perfectly
Jewish," and the like, consider this:

Paul's contemporary, Philo, certainly considered himself "Torah-observant" --
he
knew what God intended with "the sacred law" and did his best to conform.

The Jewish "literalists" whom Philo criticizes almost certainly would have
felt
that Philo fell short of their ideas of "Torah-observance."

The Jewish "allegorists" known to Philo also would have seen themselves as
"Torah-observant" and "perfectly Jewish," although even Philo had his
reservations about their degree of faithfulness to the Torah -- and perhaps
they
wondered about Philo's "compromised" position.

Our categories are too weak, and too tainted by historical developments to
make
much headway with the issues as posed. The marginalization of Philo and those
"allegorists" by emerging mainstream Judaism, and their own marginalization
of
what became that mainstream (as we look back on it), have little directly to
do
with Paul's own selfunderstanding or marginalization, but ought to help us
appreciate the difficulty of approaching that history from our anachronistic
perspectives. To consider oneself authentically Jewish then, or now, may be
quite different from how one is considered by others now, or later!

[I'm "emeritus," so maybe I can be allowed to preach a little!]

Bob

--
Robert A. Kraft, Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania
227 Logan Hall (Philadelphia PA 19104-6304); tel. 215 898-5827
kraft AT ccat.sas.upenn.edu
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rak/kraft.html





  • [Corpus-Paul] "Symbolic Paul" and Torah Observant Philo, Robert Kraft, 05/11/2005

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