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  • From: "Mark D. Nanos" <nanos AT gvi.net>
  • To: "Corpus-paul" <corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Gal. 6:12: Fear of persecution for the cross of Christ
  • Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000 14:16:09 -0500


Dear Dieter,
Just a few comments below some of your remarks. Overall we are in general agreement on issues of constructing from rhetoric with great care, several elements of the situation, and the message of the letter as the call to imitate suffering instead of seeking the comfort that comes with compliance with the prevailing norms. The ones noted below are minor compared to these agreements.

With regard to the identification of the influencers, we seem to agree that their concern was not only for themselves, but also for others. You think of the larger minority (which I have no problem with), I think, they also had a concern for the addressees. "They make much of you" (4.17) Paul admits, but in the next moment turns their motives into bad ones. Here, I think, we must apply the same critical mind as we do in 6.12, where we allow for the concern of the influencers to be a concern for others too, especially when considering the denigration of motive throughout the letter. And in order to keep that in mind, I like to call them 'advisors'.

It is my view, in agreement, that the influencers have the interests of the addressees in mind in their advice as well as any motivating factors they can bring to bear, in whatever role they may have had. In fact, I like "advisors" in terms of their probable role as those who oversee the entrance of gentiles into the Jewish communities, just as I like Martyn's "teachers" in this way. My criticism of such labels is that until this role has been established, it can limit the possibilities to consider in the investigation of influence, which extends beyond formal or occupational roles.

Now what leads to the production of such a letter? To my mind (based, among other things, on an epistolographic analysis of Galatians, that puts 4.12 right into the center of the letter, with a frame around it that streches from 3.26 to 5.1), the conflict between Paul and the Galatian addressees is caused by Paul's deep sense of loss of friendship and loyalty. The addressees had been so promising, so full of selfless loving-kindness towards him from the very beginning. But now, in his perception, they had betrayed the very sign of their brotherhood, not seeking the crown of glory but earthly serenity. With that cognition in his heart and his mind, Paul, with great rhetorical skill, sets an example of intolerance and misuse of authority that has caused, at times, a rather devastating Wirkungsgeschichte. For that, however, we cannot and should not blame him. He was just writing a little letter to a few people in a remote part of Asia Minor.

I agree that Paul was writing but a letter to a few people, and would add that it is to those whom he regards as his children, so it is merely in-family rhetoric, which can be quite sharp in the most congenial of households, but which can seem anything but that when repeated in public, especially if not sympathetic to the situation at the moment of utterance.

I would suggest that, while it may be Paul is sensing a loss of friendship and loyalty toward himself, that this might be differently put. Parents often feel and express a sense of betrayal when their
children take a course that the parents believe is destructive for the child, at the same time probably also reacting to the shameful impact upon themselves, since the children remain a part of their own identity, whether they recognize this element at work in their reaction or not. It is probable in the cultural terms of the time that this was more clear than it might be for some parents now, since they might now ascribe to a more independent identity for their children than was probably normal then. Anyway, I agree, but would push this in a slightly different direction as far as it reflects upon Paul and his self-interest in the addressees' compliance if not conformity with the norms proclaimed in his message. And this accounts for his adoption of ironic rebuke and ridicule, as parents often do, for it undermines the certainty of the children's cognitive perceptions while also shaming them for their naivete and lack of appropriate respect/trust in the parents, thus furthering the impact at the emotional as well as cognitive level.

Take care,
Mark Nanos





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