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corpus-paul - Re: [Corpus-Paul] Authority in Pauline Churches (was: Ecclesiology in the Pastorals & the DSS)

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  • From: "Sheila E. McGinn, Ph.D." <smcginn AT jcu.edu>
  • To: Corpus-Paul <corpus-paul AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Corpus-Paul] Authority in Pauline Churches (was: Ecclesiology in the Pastorals & the DSS)
  • Date: Mon, 14 Apr 2003 12:57:50 -0400



Jeff Peterson wrote:
(snip) What I have some reservation about is e.g. the use of
Gal 3:28 as a basis for imagining that there were no distinctions among the members of Pauline churches at all, but that every individual member enjoyed an equal say in the conduct of church life, discipline, etc. This strikes me as a democratic misreading of a text composed in an authoritarian, hierarchical culture.

I agree with this up to a point, but the program in Gal flies in the face of that cultural context, and I am not eager to read it back into the situation. Theocracy is neither democracy nor autocracy.

(snip) It's
doubtful he would encourage the membership to take a survey and nominate a replacement for Philemon.

I don't see any indication one way or another. If leadership arises out of the community, then why is their "nomination" less conceivable than Paul's "appointment" of a successor. The former has the benefit of being clearly attested as the pattern for selecting leaders in II CE churches.
Sheila McGinn




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