Corpus-Paul

[Ian Scott <iscott2 AT uwo.ca>]

Dear Harold,

Yes, as you say, it is commonly suggested that Paul felt the requirement
that common meals be kosher would put undue pressure on Gentiles to keep
Torah. We might go further and say that it would amount to a requirement
that they keep food laws, at least in community contexts. This may be all
there was to Paul's statement that Peter was requiring Gentiles to
"Judaize." In my reply to Mark, though, I wanted to acknowledge that many
commentators still wonder whether this explanation is sufficient. If I am
going to push what I think is required by the expression "living like a
Gentile" I don't want to let myself off the hook too easily in trying to
explain what "living like a Jew" means. At the moment I'm content to allow
for some uncertainty on this point.

Cheers,

Ian

--------------------------------------------------------
Ian W. Scott
Assistant Professor of Religious Studies
King's University College
London, Ontario, CANADA
iscott2 AT uwo.ca
--------------------------------------------------------
The Online Critical Pseudepigrapha: http://www.purl.org/net/ocp
--------------------------------------------------------
Please visit my web-site at http://www.ian-w-scott.com
 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: corpus-paul-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:corpus-paul-
> bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Harold R. Holmyard III
> Sent: March 29, 2006 10:34 PM
> To: Corpus-Paul
> Subject: Re: [Corpus-Paul] The Antioch Incident
> 
> Dear Ian,
> 
> I may be missing something in your thinking.
> 
> >Granted, there still remains a question about why Paul regards Peter and
> >Barnabas' behaviour as pressuring Gentiles to "Judaize," live like a Jew.
> As
> >you note, Mark, one would think they could simply have eaten meals
> together
> >in which the food adhered to Jewish regulations.
> 
> 
> HH: What I'm missing here is how feeling one should prepare one's
> meals according to Jewish regulations is not feeling pressed to
> Judaize. Peter was an apostle. If he withdrew from Gentiles because
> of their Gentile ways, they could easily have felt he looked down on
> those ways as inferior. They could readily conclude that to be really
> spiritual (like the apostle and leaders like Barnabas), one needed to
> live according to the law.
> 
> HH: If they wanted to fellowship with Peter, then they better eat
> like the Law said. Perhaps they should go on and do other things the
> law said.
> 
> Yours,
> Harold Holmyard
> 
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