Corpus-Paul

["kosala@md2" <kosala AT md2.vsnl.net.in>]

I can see here the influence of Dr.Wielenga and if I might not mistaken, he
might have the current context of persecution in India in mind. If I am
mistaken, please forgive me.

Certainly the Conversion has a political aspect. on the one hand the number
of the Churches and its members have a political say though their life and
action. On the other hand the nonchristians take it as political due to fear
of being a minotirity some day in the future, which means loosing power and
influence. When the Catholics and Protestants fight against each other, what
could we say in this context??

In the State of Orissa, India, where the Australian Missionary Mr.Stains was
burnt alive in his jeep along with his two sons (8 and 10 yrs old!) the
conversion is, in a way,prohibited. However it is done ONLY  after a legal
affidavit filed by the person desiring of conversion.

Paul's context was similar.

Dr.Kishore Kosala
India

-----Original Message-----
From: Neil Elliott <elliott AT igc.org>
To: Corpus-paul <corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Date: Friday, May 07, 1999 12:33 AM
Subject: political aspects of conversion (new thread)


>Have I reached the list to which I am posting?
>
>Jeffrey Gibson's initial posting (long ago!) raised
>several related issues we're all dealing with.
>While I'm not convinced by his proposal that Rom 7
>gives us a "before and after" look at Paul, or
>any insight into his "zeal" (DONALDSON, "Convert
>or Zealot?"), I DO think the political realities
>in Roman-controlled Judea had a lot to do BOTH
>with the crucifixion of Jesus AND with Paul's
>subsequent actions against "the churches of Judea"
>(Gal).
>
>Fredriksen (FROM JESUS TO CHRIST) has made a
>persuasive case that Paul's motives for persecuting
>the churches (which she reads as routine synagogue
>discipline) were not related to supposed breaches
>of Torah or inclusion of gentiles, but to the
>political danger of "messiah" talk in the politically
>volatile mixed communities outside of Judea.  Her
>case must be rather circumstantial, since Paul does
>not SAY as much.  On the other hand, the more tradi-
>tional attempts to explain the persecuting activity
>(indicated above) ALSO rely on circumstantial
>evidence AND on a tendentious reading of Paul, who
>never says he objected to Torah violations OR to
>gentile inclusion, either.
>
>Cal Roetzel's new book on Paul and John Barclay's
>book on the Mediterranean Diaspora both emphasize
>the tension between "universalism" and Torah-
>inspired particularity and distinctiveness that
>EVERY Jew in the hellenistic period had to negotiate.
>These improve on the old dichotomies, EITHER
>hellenistic OR Jewish, EITHER universal OR particular
>(or "ethnocentric," etc.).  I think we do better
>to ask how Paul and the Jerusalem Temple regime
>would have differed in their negotiating that
>SHARED TENSION.
>
>Neil Elliott
>
>
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