Corpus-Paul

["Frank Jacks" <cfjacks AT comcast.net>]

Several comments to add to both these postings, since for some time I have
felt that connections with the House/School of Shammai have been ignored too
much in NT studies, both about Paul and Jesus.  Thus, I welcome these
postings as raising possibilities which I hope others will consider.  For
example, if Jesus were of the "School of Shammai" then his arguments with
Pharisees would make more sense, especially if they were "from Jersualem"
and thus quite possibly of the House of Hillel.  And although both houses of
Pharisaic teachings accepted gentiles "becoming Jews" by full conversion (a
mikvah AND being circumcised) perhaps the House of Hillel was less resistant
to the Diarpora practice of accepting "washed gentiles" as clean enough to
be welcomed into services of worship and even to meal; perhaps Paul as a
follower of Shammai was even more
resistant to this practice, when he encountered it in Damascus, so that he
was not just objecting to Christians but to all those
Jews who accepted "god-fearing gentiles" as acceptable companions.  The
advantage of this approach is that it provides a reason for Paul's intense
opposition to early Christians, something which I must say still puzzles me
and is the "sticking point" in any reconstruction of "the historic Paul."
So my real appreciation for the raising of these possibilities ... and if
anyone finds out
a source for this presentation, do please post it so that we can all "take a
look."

Thanks,

C. F. Jacks, Th.D.
Professor of Religion, Emeritus
Pikeville College
Pikeville, KY

(but now happily retired back home in the metro Atlanta area)


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Liz Fried" <lizfried AT umich.edu>
To: <corpus-paul AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Friday, July 04, 2003 12:09 PM
Subject: [Corpus-Paul] Paul a follower of Shammai ?


>
> > >
> > What has been the critical reaction (if any) to N.T. Wright's
> > assertions that Paul, because of his zealous persecution of the
> > church, was likely a follower of Shammai (i.e., a more radical
> > "fundamentalist" brand of pharasaism) instead of the more
> > moderate Hillel (and Gamaliel, one assumes)?
> >
> > (Wright's assertions are in *What Saint Paul Really Said*.)
> >
> > Perry L. Stepp, Ph.D.
> >
> > Associate Professor, Biblical Studies, Kentucky Christian College
> >
> Dear Perry,
> At the Association for Jewish Studies Meeting in Los Angelos
> last winter Prof. Townsend (I think) gave a very convincing (to me) talk
> on just that topic.
> Actually, now that I think about it, he was arguing that *Jesus* was a
> follower of Shammai not Hillel. He compared a long list of decisions
> of Jesus to the disputes in the Talmud and found that on all but a few
> Jesus came down on the side of Shammai.
> I don't remember the particulars. Maybe you can write him and
> get his talk.
> Liz Fried
>
>
> Lisbeth S. Fried
> Visiting Scholar
> Department of Near Eastern Studies
> University of Michigan
> 2068 Frieze Bldg.
> 108 S. State Street
> Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1285
>
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