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  • From: "Jon Peter" <jnp AT home.com>
  • To: "Corpus Paulinum" <corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Paul & Authority
  • Date: Tue, 6 Jul 1999 09:24:37 -0700


Jeffrey wrote:

>
> Two reactions to this:
>
> First, even assuming you've interpreted the "powers" language of Ephesians
and
> Colosians correctly, a view rendered highly suspect when Walter Wink's
work on the
> "powers" language of the NT is taken into account -- I wonder if you could
actually
> make Paul as much a proponent of this essentially Gnostic view if you were
to limit
> yourself to Epistles that have no suspicion of being Deutero-Pauline ?.
>

I'm not sure which parts of the view you're referring to as essentially
Gnostic. I do think Paul shared some basic cosmological beliefs and
demonology with the Gnostics. Such beliefs are reflected in Ephesians and
Colossians as well as in all the Gospels and Revelations. These are not
uniquely Gnostic ideas at all. The basic belief-system is that the world is
enthralled by Satan & co. inhabiting people and speaking/acting through
them. Even the Christians' enemies in Judaism thought this was so. This
cosmology goes back to Persian dualism which suffused Jewish thought for
half a millenium.

Another citation to offer here would be the DSS War Scrolls. As you probably
know, the gist of WS theology is that, in the endtimes battle between Good
and Evil, angelic spiritual powers will wage war against demons while mortal
counterparts rise up against earthly oppressors.

What is Wink's take on "powers" anyway?


> Second, and perhaps more importantly, how would you square your view up
with a theme
> that is not only unquestionably Pauline but also appears in Colossians
and especially
> Ephesians, namely, that what Jesus does -- or more accurately, what God
has done in
> Jesus -- is the fulfilment of a national not a metaphysical, let alone an
> individualistic, hope and brings to fruition the promise that Israel
should be the
> source of blessings on all nations, reversing a curse that plagues this
world, not the
> next?
>

I don't disagree with you, except perhaps with your adding the conditions
"not metaphysical" and "let along individualist." Yes, Paul understood
Jesus as an historical fulfillment. But this understanding does not preclude
a simultaneous and parallel metaphysical event and an individualized one
too. On the contrary, the various dimensions are necessarily linked in
Pauline thought and in the rest of the NT as well.

Your point about reversing the Adamic curse or whatever, is a paradoxical
problem, which I'm not sure Paul or any gospel has completely solved. The
question is: "Well, if Christ's death carries such potency in history, why
is Satan still winning both in the world and in the spirit?"

For Paul the answer centers on the Jesus' ending of the Torah, which was
Death's ultimate stinger and control-device --1Co 15.56. Evil authorities
oppress the earth via law codes (which, originally, were meant for human
wellbeing). Liberation from them is not instantaneous, but is a processes of
proclamation and individual hard work. In Paul's mind this salvation has
already occurred, in one sense, because Jesus was crucified within history.
Yet again, the salvation must be translated into ongoing struggle.

Best regards,

Jon





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