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  • From: "Mark D. Nanos" <mark AT marknanos.com>
  • To: Corpus Paul <corpus-paul AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Corpus-Paul] Paul's Torah-observance
  • Date: Tue, 28 Mar 2006 10:54:19 -0600

Ian, and all,
There are many "way[s] around the idea" to which you subscribe. I have
detailed some in Irony in the section on the Antioch Incident, in Mystery of
Romans in the concluding chapter, and in more detail in an essay entitled
"What was at stake in Peter's 'eating with Gentiles' at Antioch?" in The
Galatians Debate. I will not seek to give a comprehensive answer here. But
note that it is not food but with whom they are eating that is at issue, and
it is not food that these non-Jews are tempted to change their behavior
toward, but their penises--to become Jews.

The matter, I believe, is social identity: are they equals apart from
proselyte conversion as Peter has otherwise taught them, or are they
second-class members, as Peter's evasive action now implies, thus making it
logically evident that non-Jews are not legitimated ("living in the same
way") as Jews, that is, in Christ, according to Paul and Peter's
proclamation of the gospel of Christ? If it was dietary regulations, then
Peter could fix that by changing the meal and still eating with Gentiles
(see the Letter of Aristeas, e.g., where the Jewish leaders eat with the
Egyptian king, but a meal fixed according to Jewish diet). Jews eat with
Gentiles, but not at a meal signifying that these non-Jews are equal members
of Abraham's family without becoming members of Israel; that is not
acceptable outside of the proposition of this Jewish group of believers in
"the truth of the gospel." It brings that group under pressure from other
Jewish groups, for a host of reasons. Peter tries to duck the pressure; Paul
calls him on the carpet for the principles his face-masking temporary
behavior by "withdrawing" subverts.

In short, the Antioch incident does not indicate that Paul did not observe
Torah, except if you read it in such a way that it does. But no one has a
vested interest in maintaining that reading, do they?

Regards,
Mark
--
Mark D. Nanos, Ph.D.
Soebbing Visiting Scholar, Rockhurst University
Lecturer, University of Kansas
Co-Moderator, Corpus Paulinum
http://www.marknanos.com



on 3/28/06 10:04 AM, Ian Scott at iscott2 AT uwo.ca wrote:

> Hello all,
>
>
>
> I thought this might be a good opportunity to register my (friendly) doubt
> about Mark's thesis that Paul was Torah-observant. This really goes beyond
> the bounds of your question, Jeff, but it might be a useful discussion here.
> Having read "Irony" some time ago the arguments there are not fresh in my
> mind. It seems to me, though, that Paul's description of the Antioch
> incident still requires that Paul was at least violating food regulations on
> a regular basis when he was in mixed communities. The issue here is Peter's
> habit of "eating with Gentiles," and Paul describes Peter's habit as "living
> like a Gentile and not like a Jew" (ethnikws kai ouchi Ioudaikws zhs). I
> don't see any way around the idea that Peter and Barnabas (and Jewish
> believers in general in Antioch) were not keeping food laws. Given that Paul
> is opposing their sudden retreat from such mixed meals, it seems pretty
> clear that Paul himself was also in the habit of violating this aspect of
> Torah - one which in biblical law carries the penalty of exclusion from the
> community!
>
>
>
> Cheers,
>
>
>
> Ian
>
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------
>
> Ian W. Scott
>
> Assistant Professor of Religious Studies
>
> King's University College
>
> London, Ontario, CANADA
>
> iscott2 AT uwo.ca
>
> --------------------------------------------------------
>
> The Online Critical Pseudepigrapha: http://www.purl.org/net/ocp
>
> --------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
> _____
>
> From: corpus-paul-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
> [mailto:corpus-paul-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Jeff Krantz @
> optonline.net
> Sent: March 27, 2006 8:30 PM
> To: Corpus-Paul
> Subject: [Corpus-Paul] Galatians 3:10
>
>
>
> Quick question for Mark or someone familiar with his work about Galatians
> 3:10. I'm doing a presentation on Paul for a local clericus (interfaith)
> tomorrow, and I'll be talking about The Irony of Galatians. In light of
> Mark's suggestion that Paul is himself Torah observant, I wonder how I might
> deal with the "curse" of 3:10ff. All that is present in the book is the
> inclusion of the passage among those that are examples of "ironic" speech.
>
>
>
> Anything else I might speak to if it comes up?
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
>
>
> Jeff Krantz
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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> Corpus-Paul AT lists.ibiblio.org
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