Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

corpus-paul - Re: Bultmann and Stowers on the Diatribe

corpus-paul AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Corpus-Paul

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Christopher Hutson <crhutson AT salisbury.net>
  • To: "Corpus-paul" <corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Bultmann and Stowers on the Diatribe
  • Date: Wed, 15 Sep 1999 08:24:13 EDT



>From: "Jeffrey B. Gibson" <jgibson000 AT mailhost.chi.ameritech.net>
>
>Can anyone provide me with a quick and dirty rundown on the approaches
>to the diatribe taken by Bultmann on the one hand and Stowers on the
>other?
>
>What is Bultmann's position on its function? What is Stowers'?


Jeffrey,

Bultmann described the form but saw it more as a rhetorical device for
public oratory. Stowers relocated the diatribe to a classroom setting.
Epictetus' diatribes, for example, reflect the give and take between teacher
and students. This could be seen as a natural development from the dialogic
form of Plato--conversations between teacher and students. The imaginary
interlocutor with false inferences and objections is not a creation of the
speaker/writer but reflects realistic exchanges with types of individuals
the teacher is likely to encounter. Thus, in his _Rereading of Romans_
Stowers identifies the imaginary interlocutor of Rom 2 as a familiar type, a
Jewish missionary to gentiles, with whom Paul has an imaginary but plausible
conversation.

That's the quick and dirty as filtered through my own understanding of what
is going on. It's been a few years since I ready Stowers dissertation
myself. You might check Stowers' article "Diatribe" in the Anchor Bible
Dictionary for a quick rundown of his views.

XPIC

------------------------------------
Christopher R. Hutson
Hood Theological Seminary
Salisbury, NC 28144
crhutson AT salisbury.net
------------------------------------




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page