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  • From: "Mark D. Nanos" <nanos AT gvi.net>
  • To: "Corpus-paul" <corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Mark's Article for Review
  • Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 14:32:57 -0500


Troy,
Thank you for the continued interaction. You have made several good points,
and I appreciate the clarification of your own position, as well as the
challenge to continue to re-examine as well as try to better communicate my
own. I will clip a few points to make "other" comments upon.

>I would not go as far as you, however, in restricting Paul's view of
>them to Paul alone. If Paul's letter was successful in convincing the
>Galatians to
>return to his Gospel, the Galatians, at least must have concurred to some
>degree with
>his assessment. Furthermore, the tradition that preserved this text sided
>with Paul
>and concluded that the position advocated by the "influencers" was not in
>line with
>the Gospel. Thus, I am far more comfortable referring to them as
>"agitators" than
>you.

I do not have any quarrel with what the addressees may have thought after
receiving this letter, or later views that resulted, but I do not see how
this supports your conclusion. The concern for the interpreter on this
point is to maintain an openess to the possibilities for interpreting the
implied situation that shapes the meaning of the rhetoric they seek to
interpret. Labeling those influencing the addressees in a way that does not
account for their identity before the arrival of the letter disputing that
this level of influence is appropriate for the addressees limits the
interpretive possibilities. At least one unhelpful way it does this is in
negatively stereotyping them and their motives, and thus allowing for quick
dismissal, as do the consensus views: they are the bad guys, what more do
we need to know? The point of Paul's rhetorical style is at points obscured
if the situation into which Paul wrote is assumed to be the situation after
the receipt of the letter. It is interesting to note that many
interpretations of Galatians pre-suppose the influence of the letter before
its receipt. But the situation is addressed in the polemical manner perhaps
precisely because it had not been regarded in this way by the addressees,
perhaps even by Paul, at least to this degree, beforehand. Thus I suggest
that "agitators" is still derived from a limited range of possibilities for
the identity of these people, and thus limits the interpreter's
interpretation of situation, and thus the message, in ways that it need not
and should not. It is part of Paul's polemical description, but the purpose
of this is at least in part to undermine the trust that the addressees have
shown toward them to date; in other words, that they were being trusted as
helpful, not regarded as agitating or trouble-making. What Paul calls now
"hindering" or moving them off course, they had "naively," from Paul's
perspective, seen as helpful persuasion in the course they were running
(5:7). I wonder what the influencers or the addressees thought they were up
to before Paul's letter arrived, or how this was dawning on them while it
was being read/heard.

>
>Your interpretation of Gal 3;1 as the "evil eye of envy" is at least as old
>as
>Chrysostom, who writes on 3:1, "Who hath cast an envious eye on you?"
>What is new in
>your interpretation is that this envy indicates the "influencers" are
>Gentile converts
>to the Jewish Religion. This indication is not necessarily conclusive,
>for Chrysostom
>agrees about the envy but nevertheless identifies the "influencers" as Jewish
>Christians as in Acts 15. The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard also
>indicates
>that those with an evil eye of envy (20:15) were brought into the vineyard
>at the
>beginning and resent the "Johnnies-come-lately" who were hired later in
>the day.
>Would you also say that this parable addreses Gentile converts to the
>Jewish Religion
>rather than those who participate in this Religion from birth? Since envy
>is not the
>sole prerogative of any one group, there are many candidates for
>expressing the "evil
>eye of envy."

I am surprised by this comment, and concerned that what I had written could
be taken this way; although I appreciate your response, had I meant what
you appear to have thought that I meant. I did not mean to imply in any
way that envy was itself indicative of any particular group per se, and I
would resist strongly as unthinkable any association of this with Jewish
people or proselytes in any way greater than other people or groups (I am
after all Jewish)! My suggestion is entirely within the rhetorical context
of Paul's comments about the identity attributes of the addressees that he
suggests are being envied by the influencers. They suggest the viewpoint of
proselytes who have paid their dues, so to speak, since it is gentiles to
whom Paul writes, who have received attributes that might be regarded as
inappropriate for "mere" gentiles who have not "yet" finished the ritual
process of proselyte conversion. You are, of course, right to note that
this understanding of Paul's phrase is quite old, it is also found among
many other interpreters. But the concern to re-read the implied historical
context in terms of historical criticism is relatively new, pace Chrysostom.
>
>We agree that the context rather than the presence of QAUMAZW decides the
>issue of
>whether Galatians is an ironic letter of rebuke. Since we both agree that
>the
>exception clause in verse 7 requires circular reasoning to argue either
>side of the
>issue, I assume we both agree that this clause cannot decide the issue
>either.

We do not agree here. This phrase and others throughout the letter follow
the lines of the rhetorical handbooks for such a letter of ironic rebuke,
and reflect similarities with surviving papyrus examples of such usage. If
there was only this word for "surprise" the point would be less secure. But
it is cast in the context of other markers that indicate irony at work.
Quintillian supplied at least three that can be indicated here: "This is
made evident to the understanding either by the delivery, the character of
the speaker or the nature of the subject. For if any one of these three is
out of keeping with the words, it at once becomes clear that the intention
of the speaker is other than what he actually says" (Inst. Oratore 8.6.54).
These points may be made at other places in the letter as well. The first
point, the delivery, is indicated by the conventions for usage of QAUMAZW.
This is all that is needed, but it is certainly enough to begin questioning
if the others are present. This takes formulating hypotheses to see if it
may be detected. The third is indicated by calling this other message a
"gospel," if it has not been so called, or if it has but not in the sense
of a message of Christ, and not on the level of a message of Christ. This
is reinforced by Paul's comment: it is not another. The second takes prior
knowledge of the writer we do not have, but it can be implied by his
comment in 1:9 that he is not actually "surprised" in the sense of failing
to anticipate that this other message existed or would be presented to the
addressees. Thus his surprise is feigned; it is ironic in the Socratic
sense, undermining their confidence and suggesting their naivete: things
are not "really" as they "appear." The overall effect is not one of
surprise, but of disappointment, and like parental ironic rebuke, it would
naturally shame the recipient thereof for thinking or behaving
inappropriately.

>That leaves only the hETEROS/ALLOS argument.

I disagree, as the obove comments illustrate. But as my comments below will
show, I could work with your reading of hETEROS/ALLOS, although I think it
tries to do too much.

>In your post to B-Greek, you assert the two
>words are synonymous and used interchangeably. You also conclude that
>interpretations
>such as the one I proposed require a distinction in nuance that forces
>these words to
>carry "freight they . . . simply cannot." If the words are as synonymous and
>interchangeable as you hold, could we invert their order in Gal 1:6-7 and
>still have
>the same meaning?

Yes!

Would a statement that the Galatians have exchanged Paul's Gospel
>for another (ALLO) gospel, which is not another (hETERON) gospel, mean the
>same as the
>text we have? I see a distinction in meaning between the two statements.
>From your
>post to B-Greek, I infer that you would not. Do you?

No. I appreciate the additional arguments you bring out, and I will give
them the consideration they deserve, but I do not see how they prove your
point at the linguistic level beyond doubt. I thus suggest that such an
important point should not hang upon this "possible" meaning. There are
plenty of markers and meanings that offer more substantial possibilities
for resolving the difference of opinion; this one simply does not offer any
certainty. I suggest that the interplay of these two words is guided by the
ironic undermining of the other message as not on a par with that of the
message of Christ, although the addressees have failed to realize that the
way they are responding to it is putting it on a similar, and thus from
Paul's perspective inappropriate level that necessarily undermines the
message of Christ. Actually, the way that you see the two words working may
be used to support my own view, but I do not appeal to it because I do not
think it can be demonstrated sufficiently to warrant the point.


>You inquired if I see irony in the use of DOKEW and EINAI in chapter 2 or
>in Paul's
>argument with Peter in 2:14ff or in 3:2, 4:8-10, 12-20, and 5:15. My
>response depends
>upon how you define irony. I do not see in any of these passages the type
>of irony
>you see in Gal 1:6. According to your interpretation, Paul states that the
>"influencers" proclaim another gospel, when in actuality they do not.

In actuality they do proclaim another gospel, that is, another message of
good for how the addressees can negotiate the identity crises they now face
(whether anyone else has called it a euangelion is beside the point, for my
view; they have represented it as a message that is good for the
addressees, and they have regarded it as good for themselves to consider).
The ironic inversion is based not upon the fact that it not another message
of good, but rather on the fact that it is one; yet it is bad "for the
addressees" because they are already believers in the message of good in
Christ, and it is not another message of Christ, but necessarily undermines
that message for how they become certain of their identity as children of
God, again, from Paul's perspective.

Your view, and the consensus one, depend upon an assumption that this label
"euangelion" is the sole property of the Christ-movement, when it is not.
Paul can even appeal in this letter to the euangelion proclaimed to Abraham
of the gentiles coming in in the age to come, a claim that other Jewish
people and groups who do not believe in Jesus Christ may very well agree
with, although they might take this to imply something different than does
Paul, in the current context of Paul's addressees that is. I do not need
for this label to have been used or not by the influencers for the ironic
element to come across.

> In the other
>examples of irony you cite, Paul's words do not carry such an inverted
>meaning. The
>leaders in Jerusalem are reputed to be pillars, and I think they probably
>were.

Irony is multifaceted. This does seem to be a case where Paul is
undermining a label that is used. The ironic dimension is indicated by the
appeal to their "appearance" or "seeming" identity as such, and yet the
shakiness of their support, although they did uphold the "truth of the
gospel" in the end, with Paul's help. Paul does not suggest they are not
pillars, but he does undermine their right to such an identity had they "in
reality" failed to live according to that for which they "seemed" to stand.
He explores this nuance more directly in the following incident of Peter's
hypocrisy, masking his "real" beliefs by departing from they principles in
which he believed because of extenuating circumstances, thus "seeming" not
to hold to those principles when he "feared" social reprisals. I suggest
that these examples are applied to the Galatians by inference, so that they
will resist the social pressure at the point that it would require them to
move off the course that they have begun by faith in Christ; a temptation
that one no less than Peter had to face for maintaining "the truth of the
gospel" in the face of competing interest groups, who had the ability to
apply pressure that was hard to resist. So too Paul faced such pressure as
he now calls them to face, and resist, as did he, in keeping with the
"real" beliefs of the other leaders of this coalition as well.

The
>inversion you see in these passages operates at the level of
>characterization or
>expectation but not at the level of a direct textual contradiction as you
>suggest for
>1:6. In some of these passages such as 3:2, I perceive no inversion. I
>do not think
>Paul "undermines" the Galatians' "own knowledge and experiences in order
>to make them
>relaize the implicit compromise . . . their other choice involves." As I
>have argued
>in my article "Apostasy to Paganism" (JBL 114[1995] 449), Paul appeals to
>the
>Galatians' knowledge and experience to refute the circumcision gospel.
>Undermining
>their experience would undermine his argument. I do not perceive these
>passages as
>irony in the same way as you.

You have made a good point, but the example is one with which I agree, even
if my phrasing may suggest otherwise. Perhaps our agreement would be
clearer if I had written that Paul "appeals" to their "own knowledge and
experiences in order to make them realize the implicit compromise ... the
other choice involves."

>Even if I were to accept that Galatians is an ironic
>letter, are all the statements in the letter ironic? If not, what
>criterion or
>criteria do you use to determine which are and which are not? Perhaps,
>some others
>would care to join our discussion at this point?

It would be useful to discuss irony further perhaps; I have made a few
brief comments earlier and above about its characteristics. It is one of
the interesting things that the identification of irony has much to do with
the shared experiences and viewpoints of those involved in using or
recognizing its use. It is communal in nature. One often misses the ironic
comment or irony of situation if one does not share the prior knowledge of
the situation or persons in view that is assumed by the ironist. The result
can have, ironically, the opposite result of that intended. Let me give you
an example. A guy was recently introduced to a group of guys who formed a
regular golfing group. One of the comments of one of the guys trying to
make him comfortable played off of self-deprecation, but since the new guy
did not know that this was such and thought it was a truthful comment about
his (lack of) ability, he responded sympathetically. This was supposed to
have elicited laughter, actually, and a sense of welcome, but it had the
effect, once the reality of the ill-informed response was realized, of
furthering the distance from the group, of accenting the "outsiderness,"
since the new guy did not "get" the insider humor without explanation. If
one were to analyze only one side of this conversation, as we must, in
order to reconstruct it, they would have to recognize or at least sense
some ironic markers and then hypothesize a situation in which this irony
was expected to work one way but worked another.

Thus, as long as one believes that Paul is no longer Torah-observant, for
example, one would not be likely to observe an ironic comment predicated
upon his own Torah-observance. Much has to do with what one assumes about
Paul, and specifically what the Galatians know and assume about Paul, as
well as the influencers, as well as themselves.

In the case of our discussion of 1:6-7 I am appealing to the indication of
an ironic marker, actually several, to suggest that some new hypotheses of
the situation and message are in order. Is there some a priori reason that
this other message could not have been the traditional and apparently
"normative" message of welcome, of good news that the boundary of Jewish
identity could be negotiated by gentiles becoming proselytes, and thus
entitled to regard themselves as children of Abraham, of God? Might this
not be welcome in the situation of the addressees, if they are being
marginalized for failure to conform with this procedure while claiming this
result? Would not Paul regard this, for gentiles who have already become
such by way of faith in Christ, as "another" message that "turns upside
down the message of Christ"?

>
>In regard to your query about the seed of Abraham in 3:16, I need to see
>your argument
>in more detail. As a general rule, I do not accept the assumption that every
>assertion Paul makes in his arguments must be contrary or opposed to the
>view of his
>opponents. George Lyons and others have convinced me of the dangers
>associated with
>this type of "mirror-reading."

Mirror-reading does indeed have many dangers, and I do not think I am
proposing it here. Rather, my point is that the teeth of Paul's rhetorical
point for the "one" seed of Abraham is not a point that other
Christ-believers would disagree about, would they? The mirror-reading which
has been demonstrated to be weak is, for example, to take this comment of
Paul's as a reaction to an argument against the "one" seed, or some similar
argument, to which he now responds with the opposite view, or a defense. I
merely am indicating that the rhetorical point Paul makes suggests that he
believes it is salient for the case for the identity of the addressees
based upon the gospel of Christ so that they need not become proselytes in
order to gain this identity. He may very well be on the offensive on this
point, anticipating rather than reacting. But this point, at least, is not
a very strong point if the others are proposing Christ, the one seed,
plus...

Regards,
Mark Nanos
Kansas City






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