Regression in Galatians
Paul and the Gentile Response to Jewish Law
1st Edition
Published on 9. October 2020
306 pages
978-3-16-159763-3 (ISBN)
Description
In the first scholarly treatment of the topic, Neil Martin argues that the regression language in Galatians holds the key to understanding Paul's perception of the underlying crisis. Repeated references to going backwards describe the reanimation of expectations intimately associated with the basic religious practices ( stoicheia) of his readers' pagan past. As the Galatians embraced the superficially-similar observances of Jewish Christianity, familiar practices were triggering the resumption of familiar modes of thought. With striking consequences for historic and contemporary debates about faith and works, the author finds a pagan misappropriation of Judaism, not Judaism itself, in the crosshairs of Paul's supposed anti-law polemic, uniting his warnings and commands in an integrated response to a pastoral emergency caused by the failure of the strong to accommodate the weakness of the weak.
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Person
Author
Born 1973; 2008-11 Vice President of Innovation for Zondervan Harper Collins in Grand Rapids, Michigan; 2011-13 Associate Pastor of Crossroads Bible Church in Grand Rapids; 2019 DPhil in New Testament at Oxford University; currently Biblical Studies Tutor at the Pastors' Academy in London as well as serving on the staff of Oxford Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
Content
- Cover
- Title
- Acknowledgements
- Table of Contents
- Maps, Figures, and Tables
- Chapter 1: Introduction
- 1. Regression in Galatians
- 2. Proposal
- 3. Consequences
- 4. Methodology
- 5. Argument
- Chapter 2: Galatians in Context: Where? When? Who?
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Where Were the Galatian Churches?
- 3. When Was Galatians Written?
- 4. Galatians: Dramatis Personae
- 4.1 Paul
- 4.2 The Galatians
- 4.3 The Influencers
- 5. Conclusion
- Chapter 3: Galatians in the Pagan Religious Context of Asia Minor
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Sources
- 2.1 Literary Sources
- 2.1.1 Strabo
- 2.1.2 Pliny the Younger
- 2.1.3 Dio Chrysostom
- 2.1.4 Pausanias
- 2.1.5 Aelius Aristides
- 2.1.6 Apollonius of Tyana
- 2.2 Epigraphic Sources
- 2.2.1 Votive Offerings
- 2.2.2 Confession Inscriptions
- 2.2.3 Funeral Dedications, Doorstones, and Honorary Inscriptions
- 2.2.4 Curses and Magical Texts
- 3. Analysis
- 3.1 Regional Specificity
- 3.2 Religious Change
- 3.3 Ethical Consciousness
- 3.4 Religious Motivation
- 3.5 Reciprocity in Divine-Human Relationships
- 3.5.1 Non-Circularity
- 3.5.2 Priority
- 3.5.3 Incongruity and Efficacy
- 3.5.4 Superabundance and Singularity
- 3.6 Tangible and Lasting Memorialisations of Devotion
- 4. Galatians in the Pagan Religious Context of Asia Minor
- 4.1 Galatians and the Emperor Cult
- 4.1.1 Background
- 4.1.2 Application and Critique
- 4.1.2.1 Bruce Winter
- 4.1.2.2 Brigitte Kahl
- 4.1.2.3 Justin Hardin
- 4.1.2.4 Thomas Witulski
- 4.2 Galatians and "Indigenous" Anatolian Cults
- 4.2.1 Background
- 4.2.2 Application and Critique
- 4.2.2.1 Clinton Arnold
- 4.2.2.2 Susan Elliott
- 5. Conclusion
- Chapter 4: Paul and Returning to Paganism
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Paul and the Gentiles
- 3. Paul and the Challenge of Pastoring Gentile Converts
- 3.1 1 Corinthians 8.1-13
- 3.2 Romans 14.1-15.13
- 3.3 Pastoral Priorities in Galatians
- 4. Enslavement to the Stoicheia
- 4.1 Enslavement in Context
- 4.2 Enslavement to the Stoicheia as a Jewish Experience
- 4.3 Enslavement to the Stoicheia as a Gentile Experience
- 4.3.1 Knowledge of God in Gal 4.8-11
- 4.3.2 Repetition Vocabulary in Gal 4.8-11
- 4.4 The Stoicheia as Common Components of Religious Practice
- 4.4.1 Martinus de Boer - Judaism, Paganism, and Calendrical Observances
- 4.4.2 J. Louis Martyn - Judaism, Paganism, and Cosmic Dualities
- 4.4.3 John Barclay - Judaism, Paganism, and Components of Worth
- 4.4.4 Returning to the Stoicheia tou Kosmou
- 5. Enslavement to the Stoicheia and its Parallels
- 5.1 Enslavement to the Stoicheia and the Curse of the Law
- 5.2 Paul on Jews and Religious Works
- 5.3 Paul on Gentiles and Religious Works
- 6. Conclusion
- 7. Excursus - Mission and Habituation after the New Testament
- Chapter 5: Galatians in the Jewish Religious Context of Asia Minor
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Sources
- 2.1 Literary Sources
- 2.1.1 Jewish Literary Sources
- 2.1.2 Pagan Literary Sources
- 2.1.3 Christian Literary Sources
- 2.2 Material Culture
- 2.2.1 The Synagogues at Sardis and Priene
- 2.2.2 The Noah Coins of Apamea Kibotos
- 2.3 Epigraphic Sources
- 2.3.1 Vows
- 2.3.2 Grave Inscriptions
- 2.3.3 Dedications
- 2.3.4 Declarations of Loyalty
- 2.3.5 Magical Texts
- 3. Analysis
- 3.1 Distinctiveness
- 3.2 Hostility
- 3.3 Engagement
- 3.4 Sympathisation
- 3.5 Integration
- 3.6 Conversion
- 4. Galatians in the Jewish Religious Context of Asia Minor
- 4.1 Is Paul Talking About Regression to Godfearer Status?
- 4.2 Is Paul Talking About Regression Construed More Broadly?
- 5. Conclusion
- 6. Postscript - Regression and Pauline Christianity
- Chapter 6: The Galatian Reception of the Influencers' Message
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Paul Within Judaism
- 2.1 Matthew Thiessen - Proselyte Status as an Invalid Category
- 2.2 Michael Wyschogrod - Ongoing Obligation to the Noachide Laws
- 2.3 Paula Fredriksen - Gentile Circumcision as an Historical Anomaly
- 3. Regression as a Rhetorical Ploy
- 3.1 Similarities Between Jewish Christianity and Paganism
- 3.2 Similarities and Differences Between Jewish Christianity and Paganism
- 4. Regression and Non-Circularity
- 4.1 Different Forms of Non-Circularity
- 4.2 Non-Circularity and the Actors in Galatians
- 4.2.1 Paul's Audience
- 4.2.2 Paul Himself
- 4.2.3 The Influencers
- 4.3 Regression and Non-Circularity
- 5. Postscript: Regression in the History of Reception
- 5.1 Ignatius' Letters
- 5.2 Justin's Dialogue with Trypho
- 5.3 Origen
- 6. Conclusion
- Chapter 7: Conclusion
- Bibliography
- 1. Primary Sources
- 2. Secondary Literature
- Index of Ancient Sources
- Index of Modern Authors
- Index of Subjects
- Index of Places
