Corpus-Paul

[Don Garlington <dongarlington AT yahoo.com>]

Dear Mark,

I'm afraid I don't have any literature at hand.
However, I have found suggestive the proposal that
'thorn' is an allusion to Gen 3.18, where 'thorns and
thistles' symbolize the powers of chaos that will once
again overtake the creation. This seems to make sense
in light of Paul's further characterization of the
thorn as a 'messenger of Satan'. Of course, this is
very general and says little about Paul's particular
ailment. I wonder if anyone has considered the
possibility of a link with Luke 22.31, according to
which, Peter was to be handed over to Satan for
'sifting'.

I should think it worth the while to explore the
possibility of a 'thorn motif' in the Second Temple
lit. (maybe someone has).

Yours,

Don
Toronto


> Anyone willing to help me out with my earlier
> question on the thorn 
> in the flesh?
> 
> Thanks very much
> Mark
> -----------------------------
> Dr Mark Goodacre                
> mailto:M.S.Goodacre AT bham.ac.uk
>   Dept of Theology                  tel: +44 121 414
> 7512
>   University of Birmingham      fax: +44 121 414
> 4381
>   Birmingham    B15 2TT  UK
>   
> http://www.theology.bham.ac.uk/goodacre
> http://NTGateway.com
> 
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