Corpus-Paul

[David Denton <drd AT uq.net.au>]

I agree with John Contabile.  

I am not sure though whether you mean Paul's apostolic authority over
against other apostles or in his dealings with the churches.  See, e.g.,
Best, Paul and his Converts, esp. p. 19, & ch.4.  Also JSNT 27 (1986),
3-25.  Also Witherington, The Paul Quest, 156-173.

David

At 10:17 AM 23/06/01 EDT, you wrote:
>I am hoping to begin research into the following area in October full time, 
>and having lurked for some time I wondered whether anyone on this list may 
>have suggestions about articles, or even books, that might be helpful for my 
>research. I am particularly interested in postmodern approaches to Pauline 
>power and authority, socio rhetorical (or more general socio-scientific) 
>approaches to Paul, and any New Perspective work done on Paul's apostleship. 
>What follows is actually an edited version of my proposal for the research.
>
>Best wishes,
>Fred Rich.
>
>Pauline apostleship in (post)modern perspective
>
>In the course of this work I intend to investigate St. Paul's claims to 
>apostleship, particularly with regards his authority, or power, over various 
>early churches. Initially I intend to research the concept from three 
>different perspectives. These are 1) New Perspective , 2) socio-scientific 
>approach , and 3) rhetorical criticism . As the work proceeds I would
propose 
>to concentrate on one, or possibly two comparatively, having concluded which 
>is/are most fruitful. 
>
>My interest in this area has been partially sparked off by a questioning of 
>the legitimacy of the title 'apostle' as a special office within the church, 
>both originally, and today. By investigating this question I hope to 
>understand and analyse how Paul uses this concept to implement his authority 
>over first century churches, despite apparent opposition from other church 
>leaders of the day. I shall also investigate the relevance of this concept
in 
>selected areas of today's church.
>
>I feel that the New Perspective is very relevant to understanding Paul's 
>apostleship, as his authority does come partly through the law. Through 
>socio-scientific methodology I intend to investigate the kinds of structures 
>that existed in Paul's churches, that allowed him to operate as apostle over 
>them.
>
>My third approach is rather more wide reaching and may also include other 
>postmodern methods of literary criticism. My aim in using this kind of 
>methodology is to try to make such questions as Paul's usage of power and 
>apostleship, relevant for today. I intend to critique his usage of power,
and 
>authority, following on from the work already done in this area by Elizabeth 
>Castelli, in her book 'Imitating Paul'4) . I intend to then go on from this 
>to investigate how modern day 'apostolic' church leaders claim to have 
>authority over their churches. 
>
>With regards which texts I intend to study, I shall be concentrating, 
>initially, on Romans, 1 Corinthians and Galatians, partially because I 
>already have some experience of scholarship on two of the letters, and 
>partially because they seem the most relevant Pauline letters to investigate 
>when studying Paul's use of power and authority. I intend to consult both 
>major commentaries on these letters, and other important works on Paul, 
>and/or his theology. Further afield that that, I intend to utilise 
>socio-scientific methods that has been used on other biblical texts, and on 
>other ancient literature. Another source of information and help will be 
>articles and books of postmodern theory, both in general and with regards 
>biblical studies in particular. My approach is consciously
cross-disciplinary 
>in order to find a wider picture of Paul and his texts.
>
>I intend to begin by investigating methodology that I shall then employ on 1 
>Corinthians chapter 9 and Galatians chapter 2. This will then give me an
idea 
>as to what results I can expect from the wider Pauline corpus, using these 
>same methods. My hypothesis is that Paul uses the term apostle to justify
his 
>exercise of, probably illegitimate, power and authority over early Christian 
>churches, in order to counter attacks coming from more established
'apostles' 
>and evangelists. This is also paralleled by so called 'apostolic' church 
>leaders in some churches today.
>
>
>1 I.e. How Paul's claims to apostleship, and usage of power over people
could 
>be related to his Jewish identity, and understanding of the law as a 
>controlling element. In particular I would be concentrating on the work of 
>James Dunn, although I would consult others such as E. P. Sanders and N. T. 
>Wright amongst others.
>
>2 Within this I would hope to investigate how Paul could be seen as a
product 
>of his society, both Jewish and Hellenistic. In particular I would be 
>consulting the work of Bruce Malina and Jerome Neyrey, and using some of 
>their methodologies. 
>
>3 I intend to attempt to deconstruct some of Paul's arguments for his own 
>authority over various churches, as found in his letters, and seek to
analyse 
>this rhetoric.
>
>4 Castelli, Elizabeth A., Imitating Paul: A Discourse of Power (Louisville, 
>KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1991)
>
>
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