Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

corpus-paul - Re: SBL Pauline Theology Group

corpus-paul AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Corpus-Paul

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Michael Thompson" <mbt2 AT cam.ac.uk>
  • To: Corpus-paul <corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: SBL Pauline Theology Group
  • Date: Thu, 13 May 1999 20:42:25 +0000


On Thu, May 13, 1999 1:17 pm Jeff Peterson <peterson AT mail.ics.edu> wrote:

> Your criticism of Dunn's use of Romans seems to me to encapsulate
> the fundamental insight of the SBL group's project, viz., that responsible
> theological interpretation of the letters begins with recognition of the
> occasional character of each letter, rather than with the collection of
> theologoumena for arrangement under loci, harmonization, synthesis, etc.;
> and this insight of course calls into question many magisterial accounts
of
> Pauline theology.

I hope I'm misunderstanding you here, Jeff. If Dunn is being criticized for
irresponsible theological interpretation because he hasn't recognized the
occasional character of Paul's letters, people haven't been reading his
commentaries very closely. Yes, the material in his Theology of Paul book is
arranged under traditional loci, but that is to make Paul's ideas
accessible, not to minimize their contextual nature nor to imply that other
approaches to Paul are valuable.

Dunn certainly would not deny that Romans addresses a historical situation
that coloured its contents. One value of his book is that he makes the fruit
of a critical approach to Paul's letters available in a _form_ that people
who might be less inclined to a critical approach can appreciate. He seems
to be coming under fire for not using some of the methods that promise more
than some of us think they really deliver, but perhaps that's not a fair
comment!

Mike

============================================================================

Michael B Thompson Telephone (0)1223-741066(study)
Ridley Hall (0)1223-741077 (home)
Cambridge, UK CB3 9HG (0)1223-741081 (fax)
http://www.ridley.cam.ac.uk





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page