Corpus-Paul

[kraft AT ccat.sas.upenn.edu (Robert Kraft)]

I find it interesting in this discussion that the old argument based on
the reading of Acts 8.1 and 26.10 (Paul as agreeing and voting) to mean
that Paul was a member of the (or a) Jewish judicial group (sanhedrin) --
which according to later rabbinic tradition required married status for
membership -- has not (yet) surfaced. Does it mean that at long last,
scepticism about the details in Acts coupled with reticence to read
rabbinic materials back into the first century situation has left its mark
on such discussions? Probably not, but it seemed worth observing in any
event.

If anyone cares, my own view (not very strongly held) is that Paul had
been married. Wasn't it David Daube who suggested that Paul's view of the
arrival of the not-yet-fully-realized eschatological "new age"  meant, for
Paul, the dissolving of such "this age" relationships as marriage,
including his own? That sort of scene makes sense to me. Paul's
eschatological perspective seems to have played a major role in his own
conduct, as well as in his advice to others.

Bob 

-- 
Robert A. Kraft, Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania
227 Logan Hall (Philadelphia PA 19104-6304); tel. 215 898-5827
kraft AT ccat.sas.upenn.edu
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rak/kraft.html