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  • From: jblanken AT ccat.sas.upenn.edu
  • To: Corpus-Paul <corpus-paul AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Corpus-Paul] Paul on Authorities
  • Date: Thu, 16 Jun 2005 11:54:59 -0400

I'm still trying catch up from some traveling. Thanks, Bob, for mentioning
_Subject to the Governing Authorities_ here.

>From that dissertation, 4 reasons I see government, not synagogue,
>authorities
in view in Rom 13. (I haven't changed from the Greek font to ASCII code.)


"First, as noted above, the entire passage is filled with standard
Hellenistic
administrative and tax language.71 If Paul wanted to address attitudes toward
secular government, he would have been hard pressed to use more appropriate
language.
"Additionally, even though fovbo", “fear, terror” (13:3) and
mavcairan, “sword”
(13:4) are not standard language when discussing secular government, “fear,”
“terror” and the threat of the “sword” make more sense in the context of a
secular government known for its military and conquest than in the context of
synagogue authorities. The use of fovbo" and mavcairan is telling. Nanos
does
address “the problem of the ‘sword’” (310-314), but he seems to lack
confidence
in his proposal (“Paul could have intended the usage of ‘sword’ figuratively .
. .” 313, my emphasis). The use of “terror” and “sword” pose no problem when
one sees the ejxousiva as the political authorities.
"Also, Paul’s advice is one of the traditional Jewish responses to
the problem
of foreign rule. While many object that Paul could not have said such things
during Nero’s reign, two observations discussed above serve to lessen the
difficulties. First, Nero’s reign looked very different in its first five
years than it looks in hindsight. As mentioned earlier, Nero began his reign
in peace and was compared favorably to Augustus who is said to have ruled
through bloodshed.72 Also, the understanding that even foreign tyrants were
put in place by God was so deeply a part of Jewish tradition that, as has been
noted above, Habakkuk says essentially the same thing when the abuse of power
was much more obvious and much more raw.73 Though Habakkuk’s response is more
difficult to understand than Paul’s, Habakkuk’s response is not seen as an
impossibility. Neither should Paul’s response be seen as an impossibility.
"Finally, Nanos is right that Paul’s seemingly unconditional counsel
to submit
to political authorities is troubling, but Nanos’ proposed solution seems to
merely shift this same obligation to Gentile Christians to submit
unconditionally to Jewish synagogue authority. It is hard to see how Nanos’
proposal is any less troubling when coming from Paul. A far better solution
is
to understand that Paul’s counsel is neither unconditional nor exhaustive, but
here specifically limited to the expressly mentioned taxes and attitude, as
argued above."

Footnotes:
"71Again, see Käsemann, Commentary, 353, in which he uses A. Strobel,
“Zum
Verständnis von Röm 13.” ZNW 47 (1956): 79ff.; and G. Delling, TDNT, 8:29f.
Käsemann also cites A. Deissman, Light from the Ancient East, 2d ed., 1927, pp
86f. See also A. Strobel, “Furcht, wem Furcht gebürht. Zum
profangriechischen
Hintergrund von Röm 13, 7.” ZNW 55 (1964): 58-62.
"The following will repeat arguments I have made earlier, but Nanos
has been so
widely discussed that the repetition seems justified.

"72See Elliott, in Horsley, ed. Paul, 202-03."



Minor note, if you can't link to the JBU website mentioned below, try

http://www.jbu.edu/academics/bible/faculty.asp
^^^^

Grace & peace,

Jim

----

James R. Blankenship, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies
John Brown University
2000 West University Street
Siloam Springs, AR 72761

479-524-7349


Quoting Robert Kraft <kraft AT ccat.sas.upenn.edu>:

> I don't know whether more than the abstract is online, but at least have a
> look
> at http://repository.upenn.edu/dissertations/AAI3125786/
>
> Subject to the governing authorities: A tradition of Pauline interpretation
> in
> Late Antiquity (Saint Paul, Saint John Chrysostom, Saint John of Damascus).
> James Robert Blankenship, University of Pennsylvania
> Date: 2004
>
> You can find Jim at John Brown University, if you think he can be of further
> help. The dissertation has a long chapter on Rom 13.
> http://jbu.edu/academics/bible/faculty.asp
>
> Bob
>
> > Date: Thu, 09 Jun 2005 13:32:56 -0500
> > From: "Jeffrey B. Gibson" <jgibson000 AT comcast.net>
> > Subject: [Corpus-Paul] New Testament writers' views toward Roman
> > authority
> >
> > Does anyone have any suggestions for online resources that discuss New
> > Testament writers' views toward Roman authority?
>
> ...
>
> > With thanks in advance.
> >
> > Yours,
> >
> > Jeffrey
>
> --
> 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
> _______________________________________________
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> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/corpus-paul
>






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