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An examination of Paul
of Tarsus life and teachings as seen in the early Christian
literature likely written by him
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Paul of Tarsus Unit Three
The Interpretation of Paul in the
Early Church
1. Earliest receptio
a) within Pauline churches in the NT era
b) 2 Pet 3.14-16:
Therefore,
beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be
found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; and regard the
patience of our Lord as salvation. So also our beloved brother
Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, speaking of
this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in
them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist
to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures.
c) 1 Clement (AD 96) [Clement of Rome]
ch5: But not
to dwell upon ancient examples, let us come to the most recent
spiritual heroes (lit.: ‘those who have been athletes’). Let us
take the noble examples furnished in our own generation. Through
envy and jealousy, the greatest and most righteous pillars [of
the church] have been persecuted and put to death. Let us set
before our eyes the illustrious apostles. Peter, through
unrighteous envy, endured not one or two, but numerous labours;
and when he had at length suffered martyrdom, departed to the
place of glory due to him. Owing to envy, Paul also obtained the
reward of patient endurance, after being seven times thrown into
captivity, compelled to flee, and stoned. After preaching both
in the east and west, he gained the illustrious reputation due
to his faith, having taught righteousness to the whole world,
and come to the extreme limit of the west, and suffered
martyrdom under the prefects. Thus was he removed from the
world, and went into the holy place, having proved himself a
striking example of patience.
Ch. 47: Take
up the epistle of the blessed Apostle Paul. What did he write to
you at the time when the Gospel first began to be preached?
Truly, under the inspiration of the Spirit, he wrote to you
concerning himself and Cephas, and Apollos, because even then
parties had been formed among you.
Knew: Romans, 1 Cor,
(2 Cor), Gal, Eph, Phil, (Col), 1 Tim, (2 Tim), Tit. 'Clement
thus provides us with indications that the greater part, if not
the whole, of the Pauline corpus was probably known to him and
was present to his mind as he wrote in c. 95 AD.' (Hagner, p.
237)
d) Ignatius of Antioch (c. 35 – 107)
Ephesians
12.2: Ye are initiated into the mysteries of the Gospel with
Paul, the holy, the martyred, the deservedly most happy, at
whose feet may I be found [JBL: ‘in whose footsteps I would fain
be found treading’], when I shall attain to God; who in all his
Epistles makes mention of you in Christ Jesus.
Romans
4.3: I do not, as Peter
and Paul, issue commandments unto you. They were apostles of
Jesus Christ, but I am the very least [of believers]: they were
free, as the servants of God; while I am, even until now, a
servant. But when I suffer, I shall be the freed-man of Jesus
Christ, and shall rise again emancipated in Him. And now, being
in bonds for Him, I learn not to desire anything worldly or
vain.
knowledge of
1 Cor, also Eph and Phil (possibly Romans and 1 Timothy).
e) Bibliography:
A. Lindemann, 'Paul in the
Writings of the Apostlic Fathers', Paul and the Legacies of
Paul (ed. W.S. Babcock; Dallas: Southern Methodist
University Press, 1990), pp. 25-45. A. Lindemann, Paulus im
ältesten Christentum: Das Bild des Apostels und die Rezeption
der paulinischen Theologie in der frühchristlichen Literatur bis
Marcion (BhT 58; Tübingen: JCB Mohr, 1979). D.A. Hagner,
The Use of the Old and New Testaments in Clement of Rome (NovTSS
34; Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1973). H. Rathke, Ignatius von
Antiochen und die Paulusbriefe (TU xcix; Leipzig, 1967). C.
Trevett, A Study of Ignatius of Antioch in Syria and Asia
(SBEC 29; Lewiston/New York/Lampeter: UPA, 1992). W.R. Schoedel,
Ignatius of Antioch: A Commentary on the Letters of Ignatius
of Antioch (Hermeneia; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1985).
Paul of Tarsus
2. The collection and preservation
of the Pauline epistles: Corpus, codex, canon Formation
I.
Importance of Seven churches (Muratorian Canon,
Hippolytus of Rome, Cyprian, Victorinus of Pettau): used to
prove catholicity of the Pauline Epistles (Dahl; [cf. Rev 2-3;
Ignatius by Polycarp]
a.
Muratorian Canon (late 2nd Cent): ‘the blessed
Apostle Paul himself, imitating the example of his predecessor,
John, wrote to seven churches only by name in this order [Cor,
Eph, Phil, Col, Gal, Thess, Rom] … although he wrote twice of
the Corinthians and to the Thessalonians, for reproof,
nevertheless [it is evident that] one Church is made known to be
diffused throughout the whole globe of the earth’.
b.
Cyprian (d. 258), Testimonia, I.20:
Cyprian, Treatises [scroll down]
‘Whence also
Paul wrote to seven churches; and the Apocalypse sets forth
seven churches, that the number seven may be preserved; as the
seven days in which God made the world …’
c.
Victorinus’ Commentary on Rev 1.20 (d. c. 304):
[Victorinus'
Commentary on the Apocalypse]
‘In the whole world Paul taught that all
the churches are arranged by sevens, that they are called seven,
and that the Catholic Church is one. And first of all, indeed,
that he himself also might maintain the type of seven churches,
he did not exceed that number. But he wrote to the Romans, to
the Corinthians, to the Galatians, to the Ephesians, to the
Thessalonians, to the Philippians, to the Colossians; afterwards
he wrote to individual persons, so as not to exceed the number
of seven churches.’
d.
repeated pattern of using proof-texts (Is 4.1; 1 Sam
2.5): ‘these texts have led to a combination of the argument for
the catholicity of the Pauline letters with traditional,
originally Jewish, lists of testimonia for the importance
of the number seven’ (Dahl, p. 166)
II.
The Reception of the Pastoral Epistles
a.
C. Looks, Das Anvertraute bewahren: Die Rezeption der
Pastoralbriefe im 2. Jahrhundert (Munich: Herbert Utz,
1999):
i.
Lists all possible allusions: Apostolic Fathers, Gnostic
Writings, Apologists, Jewish-Christian texts, Irenaeus,
Hippolytus, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Didache,
apocryphal writings, martyrdoms, etc. Rated one scale from
certain to impossible.
ii.
Conclusions: fairly widespread influence on early
Christian thought, with allusions form throughtout the
Pastorals, alongside some commonly quoted texts such as 1 Tim
1.4f, 10, 15-17; 2.4-6. NB. 6 certain uses and 25 fairly
probable in Irenaeus.
iii.
From review by J.K. Elliott JTS 52 (2001) 877-879.
LINK: On the Letter Collection: {The
previous text is a slightly edited version of the first chapter
of Paul's Letter Collection: Tracing the Origins
(Fortress Press: Minneapolis, 1994) by David Trobisch.}
D. Trobisch,
Paul's Letter Collection: Tracing the Origins
(Minneapolis: Fortress, 1994): basically an english summary of
Die Entstehung der Paulusbriefsammlung: Studien zu den
Anfängen christlicher Publizistik (NTOA 10; Göttingen:
Vandenhock & Ruprecht, 1989). Cf. also Die Endredaktion des
Neuen Testaments: Eine Untersuchung zur Entstehung der
christlichen Bibel (NTOA 31; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck and
Ruprecht, 1996).
N.A. Dahl, ‘The Particularity of the
Pauline Epistles as a Problem in the Ancient Church’
Neotestamentica et Patristica (FS O. Cullmann; ed. W.C. van
Unnik; NovTSS 6; Leiden: Brill, 1962), 261-271. Reprinted (with
some additional notes) in N.A. Dahl, Studies in Ephesians
(ed. D. Hellholm et al; WUNT 131; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2000),
165-178.
3. Marcion
a)
Introduction
b)
Harnack’s famous statement that ‘in the 2nd century only
one Christian—Marcion—took the trouble to understand Paul;
but. . .he misunderstood him.’ (‘Marcion and the Marcionite
Churches’, 534, cf. also History of Dogma [ET of 1893;
3rd German edition; 7 vols.; London, Williams & Norgate
1894-1899] vol. 1, 89).
c) Euaggelion and Apostolikon
d) Antitheses:
18.The
Jewish Christ was designated by the Creator solely to restore
the Jewish people from the Diaspora; but our Christ was
commissioned by the good God to liberate all mankind.
19. The Good
is good toward all men; the Creator, however, promises salvation
only to those who are obedient to him. The Good redeems those
who believe in him, but he does not judge those who are
disobedient to him; the Creator, howeve, redeems his faithful
and judges and pubishes the sinners.
20. Cursing
characterizes the Law; blessing, the faith.
29. The
Christ [of the OT] promises to the Jews the restoration of their
formaer condition by return of their land and, after death, a
refuge in Abraham's bosom in the underworld. Our Christ will
establish the Kingdom of God, an eternal and heavenly
possession.
30. Both the
place of the pubishment and that of refuge of the Creator are
placed in the underworld for those who obey the Law and the
Prophets. But Christ and the God who belongs to him have a
heavenly place of rest and a haven, of whcih the Creator never
spoke.
e) Bibliography:
Primary Text: E. Evans (ed.),
Tertullian Adversus Marcionem (OECS; Oxford; Clarendon,
1972; 2 vols) [Also in ANCL]
A. von
Harnack, Marcion: Das Evangelium vom fremden Gott. Eine
Monographie zur Geschichte der Grundlegung der katholischen
Kirche (2nd ed.: TU 45; Leipzig, Hinrichs 1924); partial ET:
Marcion: the gospel of the alien God [ET: J.E. Steely &
L.D. Bierma; Durham NC, Labyrinth 1990]). U. Schmid, Marcion
und sein Apostolos: Rekonstruktion und historische Einordnung
der marcionitischen Paulusbriefausgabe (ANTF 25; Berlin: de
Gruyter, 1995) [pp. 315-319 for reconstructed Greek text]. P.M.
Head, ‘The Foreign God and the Sudden Christ: Theology and
Christology in Marcion’s Gospel Redaction’ Tyndale Bulletin
44(1993), pp. 307-321 J. Knox, Marcion and the New Testament.
An Essay in the Early History of the Canon (Chicago,
University of Chicago Press 1942). E.C. Blackman, Marcion and
his influence (London: SPCK, 1948). R. Joseph Hoffman,
Marcion: On the Restitution of Christianity: An Essay on the
Development of Radical Paulinist Theology in the Second Century
(AAR Academy Series 46, Scholars Press, Chico, Cal. 1984).
NB. Chap. 7 is on "the Constructive Themes of Marcion's
Paulinism" (Note critical review by C.P. Bammel in JTS 39
[1988] 227-232); also ‘How then Know This Troublous Teacher?
Further Reflections on Marcion and his Church’, SecCent 6
(1987-1988) 173-191.
f) LINK:
http://www.webcom.com/~gnosis/library/marcion.htm
Paul of Tarsus
4. Gnostic Interpretations
a) Very complex phenomena,
diverse groupings, fragmentary information (Irenaeus, Adv.
Haer. I; Nag Hammadi Codices).
b) General: began using
allegory, first writers of commentaries (e.g. Heracleon on John)
c) positively revere Paul as
“the apostle”, a gnostic intitiate and primary source of gnostic
theology (e.g. Ep. Rheginos, 45.24; see Pagels, pp. 1-12)
e.g. ‘they say that Valentinus was a
hearer of Theudas, and Theudas, in turn, a disciple of Paul’
(Clement, Strom. VII.17)
d) provide evidence for
Pauline collection; e.g. Gospel of Philip (Valentinian): knows
Romans, 1 & 2 Cor, Gal, Phil [poss. Eph, Thess, Col, Heb]
(opposed to pastorals).
e) reflect Pauline themes,
e.g. election, identification with Christ’s death and
resurrection, freedom
f) Claimed that Paul’s
own secret wisdom tradition provides hermeneutical key.
Irenaeus (Adv.
Haer. III.2.1): “When, however, they are confuted from the
Scriptures, they turn round and accuse these same Scriptures, as
if they were not correct, nor of authority, and [assert] that
they are ambiguous, and that the truth cannot be extracted from
them by those who are ignorant of tradition. For [they allege]
that the truth was not delivered by means of written documents,
but viva voce: wherefore also Paul declared, "But we speak
wisdom among those that are perfect, but not the wisdom of this
world."(1 Cor 2.6)
E. Pagels,
The Gnostic Paul: Gnostic Exegesis of the Pauline Letters
(Phil.: Fortress, 1975).
5. Irenaeus
a) Introduction
b) Christian Bible
c) Irenaeus and Paul:
i) orthodox rule of faith (e.g. Adv. Haer.
I.10.1)
ii) Christ's headship and Idea of
Recapitulation (Eph 1.10)
iii) Adam typology (Adv. Haer. III.18.2,
7; III.21.10; V.16.3) (cf. Rom 5.12ff).
d) Adv. Haer. IV.41.4:
Inasmuch as
the words of the Lord are numerous, while they all proclaim one
and the same Father, the Creator of this world, it was incumbent
also upon me, for their own sake, to refute by many [arguments]
those who are involved in many errors, if by any means, when
they are confuted by many [proofs], they may be converted to the
truth and saved. But it is necessary to subjoin to this
composition, in what follows, also the doctrine of Paul after
the words of the Lord, to examine the opinion of this man, and
expound the apostle, and to explain whatsoever [passages] have
received other interpretations from the heretics, who have
altogether misunderstood what Paul has spoken, and to point out
the folly of their mad opinions; and to demonstrate from that
same Paul, from whose [writings] they press questions upon us,
that they are indeed utterers of falsehood, but that the apostle
was a preacher of the truth, and that he taught all things
agreeable to the preaching of the truth; [to the effect that] it
was one God the Father who spake with Abraham, who gave the law,
who sent the prophets beforehand, who in the last times sent His
Son, and conferred salvation upon His own handiwork--that is,
the substance of flesh. Arranging, then, in another book, the
rest of the words of the Lord, which He taught concerning the
Father not by parables, but by expressions taken in their
obvious meaning (sed simpliciter ipsis dictionibus), and the
exposition of the Epistles of the blessed apostle, I shall, with
God's aid, furnish thee with the complete work of the exposure
and refutation of knowledge, falsely so called; thus practising
myself and thee in [these] five books for presenting opposition
to all heretics.
e) Bibliography:
R.A. Norris, 'Irenaeus' Use of
Paul in His Polemic Against the Gnostics' in W.S. Babcock (ed.),
Paul and the Legacies of Paul (Dallas: Southern Methodist
University Press, 1990), pp. 79-98. R. Noormann, Irenäus als
Paulusinterpret. Zur Rezeption und Wirkung der paulinischen und
deuteropaulinischen Briefe im Werk des Irenäus von Lyon (WUNT
II/66; Tübingen: JCB Mohr, 1994). M. Jouron, ‘Irenaeus’s Reading
of the Bible’ in The Bible in Greek Christian Antiquity
(ed. & trans P. M. Blowers; The Bible Through the Ages volume 1;
Notre Dame: Uni Notre Dame Press, 1997), pp. 105-111. D.L.
Balas, 'The Use and Interpretation of Paul in Irenaeus's Five
Books Adversus Haereses' Second Century 9(1992),
27-40.; D. Jeffrey Bingham, ‘Irenaeus’s Reading of Romans 8’
SBL Seminar Papers (2001), 131-150.
C. Mount,
Pauline Christianity: Luke-Acts and the Legacy of Paul (NovT
SS 104; Leiden: Brill, 2002).
f) LINKS:
Useful page on Irenaeus and the NT Canon:
DAVIS
Online Catholic Encyclopedia on
Irenaeus
6. Jewish-Christian Opponents
a) “The Ascents of James”
(from Epiphanius, Panarion 30.16.6-9)
“Ebionite”
view of Paul: ‘they declare that he was a Greek, child of a
Greek mother and a Greek father. He went up to Jerusalem, they
say, and when he had spent some time there, he was seized with a
passion to marry a daughter of the priest. For this reason he
became a proselyte and was circumcised. Then, when he failed to
get the girl, he flew into a rage and wrote against circumcision
and against Sabbath and Law.’
b) Kerygmata Petrou:
Paul as deceiver, supposed commission
based on a dream or vision:
‘can anyone
be qualified by a vision to become a teacher? And if you say it
is possible, then why did the Teacher remain for a whole year
conversing with those who were awake? How can we believe even
your statement that he appeared to you? How could he have
appeared to you, when your opinions are opposed to his teaching?
No, if you were visited and taught by him for a single hour and
thus became an apostle, proclaim his utterances, interpret his
teachings, love his apostles – and do not strive against me, who
was his companion. For you have “opposed” me, the firm Rock,
foundation of the church. If you were not an enemy, you would
not slander me and disparage what is preached by me, as if I
were obviously “condemned” and you were approved. If you call me
“condemned”, you are accusing God who revealed Christ to me, and
are opposing the one who blessed me because of the revelation.
Rather, if you really want to work together for the truth, first
learn from us what we learned from him. Then, having become a
disciple of the truth, become our fellow-worker.’
G. Luedemann,
Opposition to Paul in Jewish Christianity (Minneapolis:
Fortress, 1989 [ET 'with emendations and additions by the
author' of Paulus der Heidenapostel, vol. 2: Antipaulinismus
im frühen Christentum (FRLANT 130; Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht,
1983)]
7. Supplements to the Canon:
Apocryphal Acts and Letters
a) Acts of Paul (c. 190?):
model ascetic, miracle worker.
Description:
‘a man of small stature, with a bald head and crooked legs, in a
good state of body, with eyebrows meeting and nose somewhat
hooked, full of friendliness; for now he appeared like a man,
and now he had the face of an angel’.
E.M. Howe,
'Interpretations of Paul in the Acts of Paul and Thecla',
Pauline Studies (FS F.F. Bruce; eds. D.A. Hagner & M.J.
Harris; Exeter: Paternoster, 1980), pp. 33-49; D. MacDonald,
'Apocryphal and Canonical Narratives about Paul' in W.S. Babcock
(ed.), Paul and the Legacies of Paul (Dallas: Southern
Methodist University Press, 1990), pp. 55-70; R. Bauckham, 'The
Acts of Paul as a Sequel to Acts', The Book of Acts in
Its Ancient Literary Setting (BAFCS 1; eds B.W. Winter &
A.D. Clarke; Carlisle: Paternoster & Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
1993), pp. 105-152; Peter W. Dunn, The Acts of Paul and the
Pauline Legacy in the Second Century, Cambridge PhD, 1996.
b) Epistle to Laodiceans; Epistle to the
Alexandrians; Third Epistle to the Corinthians
V. Hovhanessian, Third Corinthians:
Reclaimnig Paul for Christian Orthodoxy (StBL 18; New York:
Lang, 2000) places the composition of the apocryphal Third
Corinthians in late second century period, associating it with
other examples (such as Irenaeus and Tertullian) of a
rehabilitation of Paul among the orthodox (given its warnings
against general gnostic heresies).
G. Luttikhuizen, ‘The Apocryphal
Correspondence with the Corinthians and the Acts of Paul’ in
The Apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla (ed. J.N. Bremmer;
SAAA 2; Kampen: Kok Pharos, 1996), 75-91.
J.K. Elliott, The Apocryphal New
Testament (Oxford: Clarendon, 1993)
Paul of Tarsus
The
Interpretation of Paul in the Patristic Period
1.
Introduction:
a) Bible
interpretation the fundamental activity for church Fathers.
b)
Alexandrian (e.g. Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Dionysius,
Didymus the Blind, Cyril of Alexandria, Gregory of Nyssa);
Antiochene (e.g. Theophilus of Antioch, Diodore of Tarsus,
John Chrysostom, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Ephraem); and
Western tradition (Tertullian, Tyconius, Amrosiaster,
Jerome, Augustine): legal.
c) A. Souter,
The Earliest Latin Commentaries on the Epistles of St. Paul
[Oxford: Clarendon, 1927]: Marius Victorinus, Ambrosiaster,
Jerome, Augustine, Pelagius.
C.H. Turner,
'Greek Patristic Commentaries on the Pauline Epistles' in James
Hastings (ed.), A Dictionary of the Bible (Edinburgh: T&T
Clark, 1904), Extra Volume, pp. 484-532.
T. Oden
(general editor), Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture.
(Downer's Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 1999-).
K. Staab,
Pauluskommentare aus der griechischen Kirche aus
Katenenhandschriften gesammelt und herausgegeben (NTAbh 15;
Münster: Aschendorff, 1933) [containing Eusebius of Emesa, d.
359; Severianus of Gabala, d. c. 409; Gennadius of
Constantinople, d. 741; Oecumenius of Triccs, VI; Photius of
Constantinople, d. 891].
M.F. Wiles,
The Divine Apostle: The Interpretation of St. Paul's Epistles
in the Early Church (Cambridge, 1967). [studies commentaries
on Paul up to Augustine]
2. Origen
(185-254): Alexandrian scholar
a)
introduction: Christian parents, AD 203: head of catechetical
school in Alexandria (as 17 y.o.), after 231 founded school in
Caesarea (tortured under Decius in 250).
b) Textual
critic: Hexapla (LXX; vast), commentaries on most books of
Bible, many homilies; but many of his writings have not survived
(condemned as a heretic), although some ideas preserved in Latin
works of Jerome and Rufinus.
c) Origen
expounded all the Pauline epistles (except 1 & 2 Timothy)
d)
Exegetical method based on analogy from Pauline anthropology
(cf. 1 Thess 5.23): threefold level of meaning:
i) literal,
verbal meaning (cf. body, offensive and foolish, need to rise
above to ...)
ii) moral
sense (cf. soul
iii)
mystical/allegorical sense (cf. spirit; hidden, allegorical)
e) For
general statement see On First Principles, esp. Book IV.
e) Issues
raised in Preface to Romans (from Bammel):
f)
Centrality of Phil 2.6-11 in Origen's theology: self-emptying,
humiliation and submission, restitution of glory; magnificent
expression of love (of God).
R.P.C.
Hanson, Allegory and Event: A Study of the Sources and
Significance of Origen's Interpretation of Scripture
(London: SCM, 1959). K.J. Torjesen, Hermeneutical Procedure
and Theological Method in Origen's Exegesis (PTS 28; Berlin
& New York: Lang, 1986). M.F. Wiles in The Cambridge History
of the Bible (eds. P.R. Ackroyd & C.F. Evans; Cambridge:
CUP, 1970), pp. 454-489. Ruth Clements, ‘(Re)Constructing Paul:
Origens Readings of Romans in Peri Archōn’ SBL Seminar
Papers (2001), 151-174.
Origen,
Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans Books 1–5. 6–10
(trans T.P. Scheck; 2 vols: The Fathers of the Church 103–4;
Washington DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2001, 2002)
. ET based on Latin abridgement by Rufinus, as edited by C.P.H.
Bammel, AGLB; 1990–98.
Victorinus Afer, Caius/Fabius Marius
(4th Cent)
a)
Leading rhetor and teacher in Rome, became a Christian,
resigned in 362 (conversion narrated in Augustine, Confessions,
viii.2-5), wrote on doctrinal and philosophical topics; see C.
Gore in DCB IV.1129-38 for general information.
b)
Mostly wrote on doctrinal and philosophical themes (e.g.
Trinity; ET: M.T. Clark, Theological treatises on the Trinity
(Fathers of Church 69; Washington DC: Catholic University of
America Press, 1981)
c)
Wrote commentaries on Eph, Gal and Phil: earliest Latin
commentaries on Paul; A. Souter, The Earliest Latin
Commentaries on the Epistles of St. Paul [Oxford: Clarendon,
1927], 8-38; W. Erdt, Marius Victorinus Afer, der erste
lateinische Pauluskommentar: Studien zu seinen Pauluskommentaren
im Zusammenhang der Wiederentdeckung des Paulus in der
abendländischen Theologie des 4. Jahrhunderts (Europäische
Hochschulschriften. Reihe 23, Theologie; 135; Frankfurt am Main
: P.D. Lang, 1980).
d)
For texts: J.P. Migne, PL 8.993-1310; A. Locher (ed),
Marii Victorini Afri Commentarii in epistvlas Pavli ad Galatas
ad Philippenses ad Ephesios (Leipzig : Teubner, 1972); F.
Gori (ed), Marii Victorini Opera. Pars II, Opera exegetica
(CSEL 83; Vindobonae : Hoelder-Pichler-Tempsky, 1986).
S.A. Cooper, Metaphysics and morals in
Marius Victorinus' commentary on the Letter to the Ephesians: a
contribution to the history of neoplatonism and Christianity
(American university studies. Series 5, Philosophy 155; New
York: P. Lang, 1995).
S.A. Cooper, Marius Victorinus's
Commentary on Galatians for Oxford Early Christian Studies
(forthcoming)
e)
‘He is an intensely ardent follower of St. Paul, devoted
to St. Paul’s strenuous assertion of justification by faith’
(Gore, DCB IV.1137). Justification by faith is especially
emphasized in the commentaries (Gore), also Cooper: ‘the first
to insist on justification by faith (the scholarly literature is
a bit misleading on this point)’ (email 18.9.2002)
f)
Not highly rated as commentator: Lightfoot said 'his work
on the Galatians is obscure, confused, and as an exposition
almost worthless, but it now and then preserves a curious fact
... and is interesting as the earliest extant commentary on this
epistle' (Comm. Gal., p. 231f). Gore wrote: ‘he has no
special merits as a commentator … almost all his importance lies
in his metaphysical and speculative capacities’ (DCB
IV.1131; cf. 1129-38)
3. John
Chrysostom (347-407)
a) born in
Antioch (interesting and complicated life, layman, monk,
preacher at Antioch, bishop of Constantinople), Antiochene
emphasis, "golden-mouthed"
b) Greatest
of early preachers; 4,000 manuscripts, many spurious works; but
over 700 sermons extant. 'Chrysostom is undoubtedly the most
comprehensive commentator on the Pauline epistles from the
patristic era' (Mitchell, p. 5).
c) earliest
extant commentary on Galatians (homilies on other Pauline
letters): Text: Migne, PG 61.611-682; F. Field, Oxford,
1852. ET: Commentary of St. John Chrysostom, Archibishop of
Constantinople, on the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the
Galatians (ET G. Alexander; NPNF I.13; Grand Rapids, 1956),
pp. 1-48. [An earlier ET was Oxford: J.H. Parker, 1845]
d)
grammatical and historical principles, personal individuality of
writers of Scripture; interpretation followed by practical
ethical application (Cranfield: 'with his moral earnestness and
deep compassion for the poor and weak, Chrysostom is specially
strong in exposition of the explicitly ethical sections and
specially alert to the ethical implications of what is not
primarily ethical', Romans, p. 33).
e) Value as
native Greek speaker.
f)
Especially devoted to Paul:
"I love all
the saints, but I love most the blesed Paul, the chosen vessel,
the heavenly trumpet, the friend of the bridegroom, Christ. And
I have said this, and brought the love which I have for him out
into the public eye so that I might make you, too, partners in
this love charm."
g) Used
portrait of Paul for inspiration. Key to John's exegesis is
'author-centred devotion to the person of Paul', involving
technique of portraiture and biography (Mitchell). Isidore of
Pelasium: 'if the divine Paul had taken up the Attic tongue to
interpret himself, he would not have done it differently than
this renowned man has done' (Ep. V.32; from Mitchell, p.
31). Thus legend of Paul inspiring Chrysostom (pictures).
h) Very
controversial (to modern hearers) on Jews and Judaism, and role
of women.
notable that
he supports the feminine interpretation of Junia in Rom 16.7
(‘To be an apostle is something great. But to be outstanding
among the apostles - just think what a wonderful song of praise
that is! They were outstanding on the basis of their works and
virtuous actions. Indeed, how great the wisdom of this woman
must have been that she was deemed worthy of the title of
apostle’.)
i) popular
and valued by Erasmus, Luther, Calvin.
R.L. Wilken,
John Chrysostom and the Jews: Rhetoric and Reality in the
Late 4th Century (Berkeley: Uni Cal Pres, 1983). Margaret M.
Mitchell, The Heavenly Trumpet: John Chrysostom and the Art
of Pauline Interpretation (HUzT 40; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck,
2000).
4. Theodore of Mopsuestia (350-428)
a)
studied under Diodore, bishop of Tarsus from 378
b)
biblical scholar and commentator; best re. Of Antiochene school:
emph on literal and historical interpretation to discover
author's intention (opposed allegorical method because
undermined historical truth of OT narrative; unlike Paul in Gal
4.24)
c)
392-428, bishop of Mopsuestia (Cilicia)
d)
exegetical task: ‘explain words that most people find difficult’
… ‘give the meaning and do it concisely’, defend orthodoxy
(Intro to Comm. John)
e)
wrote commentaries on almost every book of Bible (most are
lost); Psalms, Minor Prophets, John (in Syriac trans.), epistles
of Paul (Latin trans.)
f)
On Paul: attention to detail, concern for continuity of
argument; grasped much of Paul’s theology, especially his
eschatological perspective. Opposed predestinarian strands in
Paul (e.g. Rom 9.18 is objector whom Paul is refuting, rather
than Paul himself).
g)
Commendations
g)
Edition ed. H.B. Swete (2 vols; CUP, 1880, 82);
ET of comm. on Gal 4.22f in J.W.
Trigg (ed.), Biblical Interpretation (Message of the
Fathers of the Church, vol. 9; Wilmington, DE: M. Glazier,
1988), pp. 172-177; Discussions:
H.B. Swete
in Dictionary of Christian
Biography (ed. W. Smith & H. Wace; London: J. Murray, 1887),
vol. 4, pp. 934-948; M.F.
Wiles in The Cambridge
History of the Bible
(eds. P.R. Ackroyd & C.F. Evans; Cambridge: CUP, 1970), pp.
489-510.
5. Jerome
(347-420)
a)
brought up in Christian home, wealthy, good education: Latin,
Greek (as Christian in Rome), Hebrew (from converted Jew in
Antioch, Ep. 125.12)
b)
Commissioned by Pope Damasus to work on revision of Latin Bible
(produced Vulgate)
c)
Bethlehem: teaching, writing, translating, etc.
d)
On Commentaries:
We have to
do now with Commentaries. In those which I wrote upon the
Ephesians I only followed Origen and Didymus and Apollinarius,
(whose doctrines are very different one from another) so far as
was consistent with the sincerity of my faith: for what is the
function of a Commentary? It is to interpret another man's
words, to put into plain language what he has expressed
obscurely. Consequently, it enumerates the opinions of many
persons, and says, Some interpret the passage in this sense,
some in that; the one try to support their opinion and
understanding of it by such and such evidence or reasons: so
that the wise reader, after reading these different
explanations, and having many brought before his mind for
acceptance or rejection, may judge which is the truest, and,
like a good banker, may reject the money of spurious mintage. Is
the commentator to be held responsible for all these different
interpretations, and all these mutually contradicting opinions
because he puts down the expositions given by many in the single
work on which he is commenting? (Apol. I. 16)
e)
Jerome’s commentaries important: learning, variety:
philological, textual, historical, exegetical comments; also
preserve early exegetical traditions (esp. imp. On OT prophets).
Not particularly influential on Paul (not clear that Pauline
Epistles in Vulgate stems from Jerome)
f)
Commentary on Galatians (Latin text: Migne, PL
26.331-468; broadly dependent upon Origen?). See
M.A. Schatkin, 'Influence of Origen upon St. Jerome's Commentary
on Galatians' Vig. Chr. 24(1970), 49-58.
g)
General: H.F.D. Sparks, 'Jerome as Biblical Scholar' in The
Cambridge History of the Bible (eds. P.R. Ackroyd & C.F.
Evans; Cambridge: CUP, 1970), pp. 510-541; J.N.D. Kelly,
Jerome: his life, writings, and controversies (London:
Duckworth, 1975).
6.
Augustine (354-430)
a) Paul’s
writings instrumental in Augustine’s conversion
b) did not
know Hebrew, didn't really have an independent knowledge of
Greek. Exegetically speaking it is the doctrine underlying the
text, rather than the words of the text themselves that is
important.
c) attracted
to allegorical interpretation in earliest writing (e.g. On
Genesis against the Manichees, 389); later, esp. under
influence of Ambrose and Tyconius’ Seven Rules of
Interpretation (cf. DC III.30.42-56), more historical and
typological.
d)
Principles stated in De Doctrina Christiana (final form
427).
e)
Importance of truthfulness of Scripture. Makes interpretation of
Scripture possible.
f) note on
Rom 5.12: in quo omnes peccaverunt “in whom all sinned”
(never seems to have consulted Greek: exegesis in conformity
with Christian Doctrine). In general fondness for allegory and
use of Latin text based on Septuagint produced strange
interpretations.
g)
Importance of preaching (DC IV)
h) Ecclesial
context of interpretation (not individual); goal is development
of faith, hope, love; Christocentric interpretation.
i)
specifically influential in areas such as interpretation of
Romans 7.7-25 (as a Christian); and Rom 9 (predestinarian); cf.
controversy with Pelagius over free will etc.
j)
Controversy with Jerome about Antioch incident (Gal 2.11-14):
Exercise.
R.J.
O'Connell, 'When Saintly Fathers Feuded: the Correspondence
between Augustine and Jerome' Thought 54(1979), pp.
344-364. C. White, The Correspondence (394-419), between
Jerome and Augustine of Hippo (SBEC 23; Lewiston: E. Mellen
Press, 1990). Joseph W. Trigg, Biblical Interpretation
(Message of the Fathers of the Church vol. 9; Wilmington,
Delaware: Michael Glazier, 1988), pp. 250-95 on
"Augustine/Jerome, Correspondence."
k)
Bibliography:
Duane W.H. Arnold & Pamela Bright,
ed., De Doctrina Christiana: a Classic of Western Culture,
Christianity and Judaism in Antiquity, vol. 9 (Notre Dame:
University of Notre Dame Press, 1995). Gerald Bonner, "Augustine
as Biblical Scholar," in The Cambridge History of the Bible
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970) vol. 1, pp.
:541-563. Pamela Bright, ed., Augustine and the Bible,
Vol. 2 of Bible Through the Ages (Notre Dame: Notre Dame
University Press, 1999. Joseph T. Lienhard, "Reading the Bible
and Learning to Read: The Influence of Education on St.
Augustine’s Exegesis," St. Augustine Lecture 1995,
Augustinian Studies 27 (1996) 7-25. Bertrand de Margerie,
An Introduction to the History of Exegesis: Vol. 3: Saint
Augustine, trans. Pierre de Fontnouvelle (Petersham, MA: St.
Bede’s Publications, 1995). Gerhard Strauss, Schriftgebrauch,
Schriftauslegung und Schriftbeweis bei Augustin (BzGBH =
BtrGeschHerm 1; Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr, 1959). Frederic van
Fleteren, ‘Augustine's Principles of Biblical Exegesis’
August. Stud. 27,2(1996)107-128. R.F.Collins,
‘Augustine of Hippo Precursor of Modern Biblical Scholarship’
Louvain Stud. 12(1987)131-151.
Eric Antone
Plumer, Augustine’s Commentary on Galatians: Introduction,
Text, Translation and Notes (Oxford Early Christian Studies;
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003).
P.L.
Fredriksen (ed.), Augustine on Romans.
Texts and translations of Expositio 84 Propositionum ex
Epistola ad Romanos and Epistolae ad Romanos Inchoata
Expositio. Society of Biblical Literature, Text and
Translation Series (Chico: Scholars Press 1982). Articles by
Fredriksen: "Allegory and Reading
God’s Book: Paul and Augustine on the Destiny of Israel,"
Interpretation and Allegory: Antiquity to the Modern Period,
ed. Jon Whitman (Leiden: Brill 2000) 125-149; "Excaecati
Occulta Iustitia Dei: Augustine on Jews and Judaism,"
Journal of Early Christian Studies 3 (1995) 299-324;
"Augustine on History, the Church, and the Flesh," Saint
Augustine the Bishop, ed. F. LeMoine and C. Kleinhenz
(New York: Garland Publishing 1994) 109-24; "Vile Bodies. Paul
and Augustine on the Resurrection of the Flesh," Biblical
Interpretation in Historical Perspective. Studies in Honor of
Karlfried Froehlich, ed. M. Burrows and P. Rorem
(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans 1991) 73-85; "Beyond the Body/Soul
Dichotomy. Augustine on Paul against the Manichees and Pelagians,"
Recherches augustiniennes XXIII (1988) 87-114. An earlier
version appears in Paul and the Legacies of Paul,
ed. William S. Babcock (Dallas: Southern Methodist University
Press 1990); "Paul and Augustine. Conversion Narratives,
Orthodox Traditions, and the Retrospective Self," Journal of
Theological Studies N.S. 37 (1986) 3-34.
AUGUSTINE
LINKS:
Augustine of Hippo
In 1465,
Benozzo Gozzoli completed a cycle of 17 scenes from the life of
Augustine which surround the choir of the Church of Saint
Augustine in the now-tourist-ridden hilltown of San Gimignano.
Those frescoes survive in a remarkable state of preservation:
Gozzoli's Augustine
7. Some General Issues:
a) Style
b)
Manuscripts: whole NT; objects of devotion
c) Lections
and Liturgy
d)
Iconography
e) Gen 49.27
J.T. Lienhard, ‘The Exegesis of 1 Cor 15,
24-28 from Marcellus of Ancyra to Theodoret of Cyrus’ Vig.
Chr. 37 (1983) 340-359.
F.M. Young, ‘Christological Ideas in the
Greek Commentaries on the Epistle to the Hebrews’ JTS 20
(1969), 150-163.
J.A. Cerrato, Hippolytus
between East and West. The Commentaries and the Provenance of
the Corpus (Oxford Theological Monographs; Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2002).
(From BMCR 2003.10.02 Eugene V. Afonasin)
A clear and
detailed survey of the early Christian exegetical commentary
(Chapter 2) aims to show that this tradition, rooted in the
Hellenistic grammatical and philosophical as well as Jewish
Biblical commentaries -- the latter, in its turn, also adapted
from Hellenistic academic models -- was typical for the Eastern
rather than Western Christian communities. This assumption, if
correct, would be a strong argument for the Eastern milieu of
the Hippolytan commentaries.
Chapters
11-13 aim to demonstrate the Asian milieu of apocryphal sources
of the commentaries. Paul is the dominant apostolic figure of
the commentaries. The commentaries rely on Pauline
eschatological and soteriological doctrines and other minor
points. It is important that the apocryphal works associated
with Paul and widely circulating in the east are known and
approved by the author of the Daniel Commentary.
Trinity College of Biblical
Studies
Trinity College of Biblical
Studies-Undergraduate Studies
Trinity College of Biblical Studies
Library
An examination of Paul
of Tarsus life and teachings as seen in the early Christian
literature likely written by him
Paul of Tarsus Unit Three