Corpus-Paul

["Sheila E. McGinn, Ph.D." <smcginn AT jcu.edu>]

"John M. Contabile II" wrote:

Regarding Acts 14, I see that Luke calls both Barnabus and Paul apostles in verses 4 and 14.

I hate to get picky here, however, I don't hate it so much to avoid it. :>)

Acts 14:4 does not explicitly say that Paul and Barnabas are "apostles."  It says that some people sided with "the Jews" and some with "the Apostles," but it does not say that "the Apostles" are P&B.  Since it concerns a debate about the Christian Gospel v. Jewish Torah, it makes equally good sense to read this as a discussion of which "side" one takes in the Jesus question.  P&B certainly belong on the side with "the apostles," but this does not mean that Luke is equating them with or including them in the group.

Further, the use of "apostles" in verse 14 does not seem to be in question.

You must be using the UBS3, where this is omitted, but in my Nestle-Aland NTG 26 there is explicit mention that the reading in D (and some Italian and Syriac versions) omits the reference to "the apostles."  The question then is why the basic rule of textual criticism -- that the shorter reading is to be preferred -- should be over-ruled in this case.  Metzger (A Textual Commentary on the GNT) mentions that Weiss thought this may have been an intentional omission because B comes before P, but this variant could equally well have arisen from a scribal insertion.  So, at any rate, there is an important textual variant here that must be judged rather than swept away.

If you think Luke saw Paul as an apostle, why is it that the "call narratives" in Acts 9, 22, & 26 never use this terminology?

SEM
--
Sheila E. McGinn, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Biblical Studies & Early Christianity
John Carroll University
Cleveland, Ohio 44118
smcginn AT jcu.edu
www1.jcu.edu/religion/mcginn/mcginn.htm
 

"It didn't take long to see morality as the quickest way to avoid self-loathing."
     Sue Grafton, "L" is for Lawless (New York: Holt, 1995), 205.
 

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