Corpus-Paul

["Mitternacht Dieter" <dieter.mitternacht AT teol.lu.se>]

Mark,

Your response seemed to me as though you exposed an inconsistency where there is none. And since I know that you are aware of my reasoning I was surprised. But, if that wasn't your intention, I am sorry I misunderstood.


> Dieter:
> The way I look at it, Paul did indeed express his independence, because he
> wanted to make sure to his readers in Galatia that HE would never vacillate
> just because he found himself in a tight spot. His message of weakness and
> crucifixion with Christ had apparently been mistaken for spinelessness. Paul
> makes sure to rebut that misconception beyond doubt. I believe that Gal 1:10
> makes sense once you view ch's 1-2 from this point of view.

Mark:
Good point. I am not sure that they have accused Paul....

Dieter
Please note, I did not argue that anyone "accused Paul". It is not my perception that the Galatian Christ-believers accused Paul (not prior to the letter anyway, and what heppened afterwards, I have no way of knowing). Quite the opposite, actually. I see the choices made by the Gentile believers to result from them thinking of Paul as someone who would understand (as I have written in your book, remember...?). The arguments for this I deduce from my reading of 1:10 in context.

Dieter earlier
> However, "what is a burden" may shift from place to place. Suddenly we have
> a situation in Galatia where circumcision  of Gentile Christ-believers was
> considered lifting a burden. And so the advice from Jerusalem may have been:
> Go ahead!

Mark:
It is that statement that raised my criticism that you are introducing an
outside influence, "advice from Jerusalem" to "a situation in Galatia." No?

Dieter:
I understand that.  The reason why I can see no inconsistency between my two assertions is that I see the initiative for advice coming from Galatia. A socio-religious problem that was born out of a complicated situation in Galatia led the believers there to ask for advice from people they believed had some authority. Paul may have been difficult to reach, and Jerusalem (via Antioch) was not that far off. Quite a logical course of action to my mind, and quite in line with a tradition that attributes special wisdom to those that have seen and been with the "Lord". The suprise in this whole drama lies in Paul's reaction (as expressed in the letter), including his need to show his independence so fervently.

Can you see that I am not involving outsiders in a way I had eschewed in arguments before?

Anyway file mou, s' agapo.

Dieter