Corpus-Paul

["Sheila E. McGinn, Ph.D." <smcginn AT jcu.edu>]

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