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  • From: Loren Rosson <rossoiii AT yahoo.com>
  • To: Corpus-paul <corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: re: Gal 2
  • Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 04:22:52 -0700 (PDT)



Dieter,

I appreciate you bringing the ideas of honor and shame
into the discussion. Philip Esler has explained
Galatians against this backdrop more thoroughly than
anyone else. Still, I can’t help but wonder if Esler’s
(and your) position is a bit overstated with regards
to Paul’s conflict with the other apostles in general,
and Peter in particular. Paul and Barnabus willingly
brought the Apostolic Decree back to Antioch (Acts
15:22-29), and Rom. 14:1-15:6 shows pretty clearly
that Paul agreed Gentiles were obligated to observe at
least minimal purity standards (= Acts 15:19-20?) when
in the company of Jews. And I know you believe that
all apostles were on the same page with the
circumcision question.

> Gal 2.6-10 is a good example of Paul's subtle
> attempt to establish himself over against the
> apostles.

I see no evidence in the language of Gal. 2:1-10 that
Paul is trying to establish himself over against the
other apostles. He is clearly heaping disdain upon the
“false believers” (2:4)/ “supposed leaders” (2:6) --
whoever they were -- but the remarks in Gal. 2:7-10,
to me, reflect collegial and amicable relations with
the apostles themselves. At Antioch, on the other
hand. . .

> Paul's public denigration of Peter at
> Antioch (or, if you wish, his claim to it in Gal)
> speaks for itself. . . I am quite
> sure you would not call someone a hypocrite and then
> repeat that accusation in a letter - while at the
> same time upholding your own position beyond blemish
> - if you have come to an agreement with that person
> and respected his authority.


I’ll have to think about this some more. Certainly
Paul disputed with Peter and shamed him publicly with
regards to Jew-Gentile table-fellowship, but whether
or not this leads to the conclusion that he disagreed
with Peter in general -- and disrespected his
authority in general -- is far from clear.

> As far as I am concerned, Paul's
> influence was based on hard mission work and an
> immense committment to the task, rather than an
> established position in the early church.

As far as I’m concerned, it was both.

Best,

Loren Rosson III,
Nashua NH
rossoiii AT yahoo.com


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  • re: Gal 2, Kathryn J. S. Smith, 09/21/2000
    • <Possible follow-up(s)>
    • re: Gal 2, Mark D. Nanos, 09/22/2000
    • re: Gal 2, Dieter Mitternacht, 09/22/2000
    • re: Gal 2, Loren Rosson, 09/22/2000
    • re: Gal 2, Dieter Mitternacht, 09/24/2000
    • re: Gal 2, Mark D. Nanos, 09/24/2000
    • re: Gal 2, Loren Rosson, 09/25/2000

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