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  • From: Ray Pickett <rpickett AT lsps.edu>
  • To: Corpus-paul <corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Paul's letters & Acts
  • Date: Mon, 22 May 2000 10:58:53 +0000


I have been working my way through Riesner's PAUL'S EARLY PERIOD in
which he uses Acts as a supplement to the letters to construct the
chronology and strategy of Paul's mission. Hengel has been advocating
this for years. However, to my knowledge, it has only been in recent
years that others have adopted this approach. I am thinking not only of
Murphy-O'Connor (PAUL: A CRITICAL LIFE), but also classicists like
Wallace and Williams (THE THREE WORLDS OF PAUL OF TARSUS) and the
Russian classicist Irina Levinskaya (THE BOOK OF ACTS IN ITS FIRST
CENTURY SETTING: DIASPORA SETTING). It's interesting that classical
historians have typically found Acts
to be a more reliable historical source than NT scholars, even though
they are not naive about Luke's theological agenda.

I am wondering what list members think about the critical use of Acts in
reconstructing Paul's missionary endeavors. Do you use Acts at all (and
if so how) in trying to piece together Paul's missionary journeys? There
are obvious inconsistencies, and I assume preference would be given to
the letters. But in those places where the data agrees, is
there any reason not to use Acts critically?

The fundamental difference which I can't seem to reconcile is that Paul
gives the impression that he is interacting primarily with pagans while
Acts has him in the synagogues. Yet it seems plausible to me that Paul
and his communities have
some kind of relationship with the Jewish communities in these cities. 2
Cor. 11:24 would seem to confirm this, though in a way that corroborates
a negative Jewish response as is
depicted in Acts. What do list members think about Paul's relationship
with Jewish communities in the cities where he established communities?
How do you imagine Paul interacting with Gentiles, and what, if any,
relationship do he and converts have with the synagogues?

Ray Pickett







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