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corpus-paul - Re: Horsley's use of Draper

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  • From: "David C. Hindley" <dhindley AT compuserve.com>
  • To: "Corpus-paul" <corpus-paul AT franklin.metalab.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Horsley's use of Draper
  • Date: Sun, 26 May 2002 14:59:32 -0400


Mark Nanos said, in response to my post on Horsley's use of
Draper:

>>For my part, I just want to comment upon the portrait of
Paul that Draper appears to work from to determine his
(past) role. The part copied above from your post [my
summary of Draper's position, to the effect that "Gentiles
are admitted without the having to accept observance of the
full Torah, but only as much as they could bear. The minimum
level of observance was abstinence from food offered to
idols, and they were expected to improve their level of
observance in order to reach 'perfection'."] could arguably
be written of Paul rather than in contrast to him;<<

Yes, this also bugs me too. This seems to be a summary of
the instructions sent by the Jerusalem apostles to the
community of Antioch in Acts 15. Draper accepts that there
were at least three redactional levels in the Didache,
representing changes in the circumstances that affected the
community. So perhaps I am misunderstanding Draper here, or
the full theme was not sufficiently worked out in the
article for me to have picked up on it. Perhaps the
instructions he cites refer to the practices in place after
the expulsion *and Paul's return* with the letter from
Jerusalem.

>>I would go even further in portraying his [Paul's]
instructions to Gentiles [as found in the undisputed
letters?] to be to conform with Jewish lifestyles, although
not become proselytes. So here I have a problem with the
portrait of Paul to which he appeals to develop Paul's place
in this proposed scenario. Will his thesis work if the
portrait of Paul is altered from the reformation-oriented
Law-free Paul?<<

Draper, too, may be characterizing the Antioch community's
initial reaction to Paul as being hysterical or extreme.
This might explain his choice of a "witch believing"
anthropological model to explain the expulsion, when such a
model seems somewhat out of place for Antioch and is not
even really necessary to explain why a community may elect
to expel a resident. It raises the specter of the Salem
witch trials, perhaps unfairly.

But yes, I do think Draper conceives of Paul as "anti-Law."
How "anti-Law" we conceive Paul to have been ultimately
boils down to how we try to reconcile the anti-law rhetoric
of the letters with his otherwise quite conciliatory
statements contained in the very same letters. This is, of
course, where your research offers illumination (and
someday, maybe, even my somewhat different view will too).

Respectfully,

Dave Hindley
Cleveland, Ohio, USA






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