Corpus-Paul

[Loren Rosson <rossoiii AT yahoo.com>]

Richard wrote:
 
> It is very unlikely that Paul circumcised anyone
> other than Timothy. He
> probably believed in circumcision only when it was
> required for missionary
> reasons to make the candidate acceptable to Jews (1
> Cor 9.20-21). This
> probably only applied to Timothy, because we know of
> no other gentile who
> accompanied Paul as a fellow missionary. Also,
> Timothy was in an
> exceptional situation, being of mixed parentage.

I don’t find find it unlikely at all. In fact, my
novel will present an earlier case somewhat parallel
to Timothy. Keep in mind the long period of time (mid
30s - late 40s) about which we know next to nothing
about Paul’s missionary work, his colleagues,
acquaintances, etc. This is where the imagination of a
novelist begins to take over, and admittedly the genre
I write in allows for more speculation than academic
works which prioritize “burdens of proof” and such.
But in any case, many things would have happened in
that 14-year period to shape Paul’s growing
convictions about the Gentile people, and the
possibilities are almost endless.

While I acknowledged that Gal. 5:11 may well refer to
incidents like the later Timothy episode, the text is
equally applicable to Paul’s general career as a
Christ-believer until the pillars gave him leave to
dispense with the necessity for Gentile circumcision.
I deny, of course, that Paul preached a “law-free”
gospel right from the start -- as if only to emerge as
a controversial issue 14 years later -- even though he
had begun evangelizing Gentiles at an early point (the
late 30s, probably, in Arabia). Only toward the end of
those “lost years” was Paul beginning to put into
practice the radical ideas which brought about the
Jerusalem Council.

> I have proposed that the circumcision of Timothy
> caused confusion in
> Galatia. The infuencers inferred that Paul really
> believed in circumcision,
> and that he had preached gentile liberty only out of
> obedience to the
> Jerusalem apostles. This confusion probably did not
> occur anywhere other
> than Galatia, so I don't think my reconstruction
> requires a reappraisal of
> any other letter.

Yes, okay.

Richard, I will continue thinking about certain
aspects of your reconstruction. A few of them might
well work in my book.

Best,

Loren Rosson III,
Nashua NH
rossoiii AT yahoo.com 


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