Introduction

‘Reading Paul’ is not, and never has been, just one thing. It has always been a matter of the particular questions and interests that the reader brings to the corpus of ancient texts written by, about, or in the name of the apostle. En route to this conclusion, this introduction kicks off the volume by performing several essential tasks. It offers a justification for the contents of the volume, explaining what is meant by the label ‘Pauline studies’ and exploring why it constitutes a (sub-)field of study at all. It gives a brief sketch of the recent history and the current state of Pauline studies as of the early twenty-first century, and furthermore outlines the editor’s reasons for hope for the future of the field. Finally, it summarizes the contents of the volume according to their several main sections.

Apocalyptic and the Passions: Overcoming a False Dichotomy in Pauline Studies

This article deals with how to conceive of sin in Romans 5–8. Currently there are two main views concerning the understanding of sin in these chapters. The apocalyptic school describes sin as a power extrinsic to the person. The moral philosophical interpretation, by contrast, contends that sin is a representation of action or the passions. While these schools are usually opposed to each other, this article proposes that the major concerns of the apocalyptic school – to understand sin as a reality that is universally determinative, that precedes human action and exceeds human strength, and from which only God can deliver humanity – are compatible with the interpretation of sin as action in some passages and as the passions in others. There may therefore be space for further collaboration between two views that are often opposed.

Faith in the New Testament

Faith language is prevalent in the New Testament (NT; esp. pistis, pisteuō), but only in the early 21st century did this topic become a major subject of scholarship (leaving aside the pistis Christou debate, which has attracted steady interest and scholarship since the middle of the 20th century). Interest in NT faith language intersects with numerous fields and disciples including classics, lexical semantics, Septuagint studies, and vigorous debates in Pauline studies and Pauline theology.

Jerusalem in Lukasevangelium und Apostelgeschichte

Undoubtedly the city Jerusalem (with its temple) is accentuated in Luke-Acts. This is indicated by the high frequency of the name(s) (Luke-Acts presents ca. 65% of the NT-instances!) Ἰερουσαλήμ and Ἱεροσόλυμα and also by the important role of the town within the structure, i.e. within the composition of the two books (cf. only Lk 1–2; 9:51; Acts 1:8; 19:21). But what does this emphasis mean? Differences in the understanding of the relevant data are obvious (and this matter resembles [not without cause] the intense discussions in the area of Pauline studies during the last decades). Older perspectives (advocated amongst others by F. C. Overbeck, E. Haenchen and H. Conzelmann) try to conceive for instance the Stephanus episode (Acts 6–7) and the last scene of Acts in an „anti-Judaic“ manner. But Acts 7:55–56 (cf. Lk 1:11) could hint at the celestial sanctuary, and Acts 28:20 (cf. v. 26–27, esp. v. 27b) names the „hope of Israel“. So a „New(er) Perspective“ could or should be preferable, paying attention to certain features of Luke-Acts, which possibly point to salvation-historical aims of the author.

Introduction

This introductory chapter provides an overview of theo-economics, an intertwined theological and economic logic in which divine and human beings regularly enter into transactions with one another. There is significant evidence in antiquity that divine and semidivine beings were understood as having vibrant materiality within the economic sphere and that the gods were understood as economic actors, with whom humans could transact. The chapter then turns to theo-economic language in New Testament and early Christian texts, looking at Paul's Letter to the Philippians. It considers the topic of poverty in the field of biblical studies, especially within Pauline studies. One trend in Pauline scholarship — the analysis of charis — has emerged from a broader interest in sociology and anthropology about the phenomenon of gift exchange as well as the long afterlife of the language of gifts in the letters of Paul.

Grace in action: exploring the intersection of soteriology and ethics in the letter to Titus

This article investigates action of grace in Titus 2:11 and argues for a congeniality in this epistle with Pauline thought on grace as interpreted by John Barclay in Paul and the Gift. Barclay's disentanglement of the concept, including his newfound taxonomy for χάρις, advances Pauline studies significantly, yet it has not informed studies of the Pastoral Epistles. The article examines the juxtaposition of soteriology and ethics found in Titus 2:11–14 and 3:4–7, proposing that the subsequent passage is an elaboration of the first, which sheds light on the idiosyncratic notion of God's grace performing ethical training.

Paul and Pistis Christou

An enduring discussion in Pauline studies is the so-called pistis Christou debate. This involves the half-dozen cases in the undisputed Pauline letters where this genitive phrase appears and it is unclear whether the phrase should be read ‘faith in Christ’ or ‘the faithfulness of Christ’. Over the past several decades, numerous books, articles, and essays have engaged vigorously on this issue; more than Greek syntax and proper translation appears to be at stake. This debate involves important questions related to Paul’s understanding of the means and manner of justification with God. How important is human faith and agency in Paul’s theology? To what degree does Paul present Christ not only as saving agent of God’s righteousness but also a model of faithfulness? What exactly does Paul mean when he refers to pistis?

Paul and Postcolonial Studies

This chapter asks the question: What is the relationship between Pauline studies and postcolonial studies? At first glance, it might appear that there is not much of a relationship at all between the two. But expanding the notion of postcolonial approaches shows there has in fact been plenty of work—though of a rather particular kind—on Paul and empire. Thus, depending upon how one classifies and maps postcolonial studies, Pauline interpreters could be cast as relative latecomers, or as having been involved all along, even before the recent vogue for anti-imperial readings. But this chapter also demonstrates an additional layer of complication to this mapping, particularly if one is attempting to grapple with the complex intersections and embodiments of imperial and colonial formations, the sorts of factors that might be characterizing the current, ‘third moment’ space in postcolonial theory. Thus, while there are all sorts of precursors and resources for counter-kyriarchal analyses and uses of Pauline epistles (particularly among feminist and race-critical scholars), it would seem justifiable to argue that these do not yet characterize the landscape of postcolonial approaches to these epistles and interpretations.

Archaeology and the Pauline Letters

Archaeological materials and research have long informed the study of the Pauline letters. These materials have typically been used to provide a ‘background’ to Paul’s writings, to solve interpretive problems, or to ‘prove’ the veracity of a detail in Paul’s biography, as recorded in canonical Pauline literary sources. This chapter looks at the history of how archaeological research has been used to interpret the Pauline letters and the methodological issues that such interdisciplinary conversations touch upon. It pays particular attention to the perils and the promise of bringing archaeological research into conversation with Pauline studies. It then turns to explore case studies of interdisciplinary research by scholars of early Christianity on four cities connected to the Pauline letters: Thessaloniki, Philippi, Ephesos, and Corinth. These projects point to promising avenues forward for how Pauline studies might engage archaeological work. (N.B. This article is a distilled, adapted, and updated version of Concannon 2013.)

History Past and History Present in Calvin’s Reception of Paul

This chapter takes up John Calvin’s central biblical authority, the apostle Paul. Because of Paul’s significance for the entirety of Calvin’s reforming program, this chapter broadens the focus from Calvin’s exegesis in order to determine the character of Calvin’s “Paulinism.” The investigation examines Calvin’s access to Paul; Calvin’s reception of Paul in his biblical exegesis (through his treatment Galatians 2 in commentary, sermon, and Bible study); the role of Paul in his reformation agenda (viewed through the program outlined in a 1543 treatise on reforming the church); and, finally, the ways in which Calvin can be considered a “Pauline” theologian (in the development of the Institutes). On the foundation of a historically informed reading of Paul, Calvin built a distinctive program of biblical exegesis, established a reformed church in Geneva, and developed a systematic theology that constituted the only serious rival to that of his mentor in Pauline studies, Philip Melanchthon.