Additional Materials for Founders of Christianity course

Contents:

• Some Biographical Information about Paul
• A Comparative Chronological Sketch of Paul's activity: The Letters and Acts
• Situation and Response: Some questions to ask when reading each of Paul's letters (A Guide)
• Thessalonica: Some Background Information
• Paul and Slavery in the Greco-Roman World
• Jews and Christians at Rome
• Some background to the deutero-Pauline letters 
• Mark's story of Jesus: Suffering Son
• Matthew's story of Jesus: Davidic Messiah and New Moses
• John’s story of Jesus: Jesus the Son and Revelation (Self-Expression) of the Father

_____________________________________________

Some Biographical Information about Paul

Paul's letters (autobiographical references: esp. Gal 1:10-2:21; Phil 3:2-11; 2 Cor 11:21-12:10)

-A Hebrew, Israelite, descendant of Abraham, tribe of Benjamin (2 Cor 11:22; cf. Rom 9:3-4; Phil 3:5-6); "I was advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors" (Gal 1:14)-Pharisee (Phil 3:6)-Unmarried (at the time of the writing of 1 Cor 7:8)-Handworker (1 Thess 2:9; 1 Cor 9:15, 18; 2 Cor 11:9)-Persecutor of the church (1 Cor 15:9; Gal 1:13; Phil 3:6)-"Calling"/conversion (Gal 1:15-16)-Visions and revelations (2 Cor 12:1-10) -Let down in a basket at Damascus in order to avoid the governor under king Aretas (2 Cor 11:32)

Acts of the Apostles

-Saul (Acts 9:4, 17; 22:7, etc) -Born in Tarsus, Cilicia (22:3), and citizen of that city (21:39) -Brought up in Jerusalem (22:3; 26:4) -Roman citizen (from birth) (16:37-39; 22:25-29; 23:27; cf. 25:10-11; 28:19) -A Jewish Pharisee (22:3; 23:6; 26:5) -Bilingual (Hebrew and Greek) (cf. 21:37-22:2) -Education under Gamaliel I (a Pharisaic Rabbi) in Jerusalem (22:3; 26:5) -Tentmaker (Acts 18:3) -Persecutor of the church (Acts 9:1-3; 22:4-5; 26:9-11) -Conversion on the road to Damascus (9; 22:6-16) -Escapes from the Jews in Damascus by being lowered in a basket through a hole in the city-wall (9:23-25)

 

______________________________________________

A Comparative Chronological Sketch of Paul's activity: The Letters and Acts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

______________________________________________

Situation and Response: Some questions to ask when reading each of Paul's letters(A guide for class discussion and participation)

1) The Situation(s) (within the Christian groups at a particular locality):

What difficulties are there in determining the situation? Is Paul presenting an objective picture of what is happening or does his direct involvement in the situation complicate matters? That is, what is the nature of our evidence? What evidence is there in a particular letter of the social-economic status or ethnic composition of the groups Paul addresses at a specific city? What is going on within these groups? Are there divisions and if so between who? Has Paul's authority been questioned? Are there other Christian leaders who disagree with Paul? That is, what is involved in the situation Paul addresses? How does the situation relate to the specific social-cultural context of the city in which the groups are living? What does Paul object to or agree with concerning the situation? Are the issues or perceived problems primarily ideological (“theological”), practical or social-historical, or a bit of each? How would you characterize the relation between the Christian groups at a particular city and facets of surrounding society (open/involvement, closed/separation or somewhere in between)?

2) Paul's response:

 

What is Paul's overall tone in addressing Christians in a particular place? What does this tell us about his relationship with these groups? What are Paul's main concerns? What does Paul want his addressees to do or not do? What rhetorical and other methods does he use to convince them of what they should do? What economic, social or cultural factors influence the way in which Paul both understands and addresses the situation? What is Paul's underlying world view or ideological framework and how and when does it emerge?

3) Comparison:

 

How do the answers to the above questions compare with Paul's relations with Christian groups at other localities? What does this tell us about the nature of early Christianity and broader issues regarding Christian origins? What does this overall profile reveal about the person of Paul and his purposes? 

______________________________________________

Thessalonica: Some Background Information 

1) Guilds and associations in Macedonia

Thessalonica:

"The association of purple-dyers from eighteenth street honour Menippos, son of Amion, who is also called Severus the Thyatiran, for the sake of remembrance."(IG X.2, no. 291, II CE [trans. mine]; cf. Acts 16:14 [Lydia the purple-dyer at Philippi, also in Macedonia])."To good fortune! The fellow-worshippers' association of the great god Sarapis honour their benefactor, Publius Aelius Nikanoras, the most worthy Macedonian in accordance with the decree of the greatest Council and the most sacred People."(IG X.2, no. 192, III CE [trans. mine]).

Stobi (Northwestern Macedonia):

"...I Claudius Tiberius Polycharmos, also called Achyrios, father of the synagogue at Stobi, having lived my whole life according to Judaism, donated my houses for the holy place--in fulfilment of a vow--along with the dining-room and its fourfold-pillars out of my household accounts without touching the sacred treasury. However, I retain the ownership and disposition of all the upper chambers for myself, Claudius Tiberius Polycharmos, and for my heirs for life. If anyone seeks to make changes beyond what has been set down by me, he shall give the patriarch two hundred fifty thousand denarii; for this have I agreed. As for the upkeep of the rooftiles of the upper chambers, it will be done by me and my heirs."(CIJ, no. 694, late II-early III CE; trans. by L. Michael White, The Social Origins of Christian Architecture [Valley Forge: Trinity Press, 1997] 2.352-56, no. 73, with adaptations).

2) Debates on handwork and support among the Hellenistic philosophers

One of the Pseudo-Socratic epistles (c. II CE) praises Simon the Shoemaker, a Cynic philosopher, since he "continues to devote himself to the teachings of Socrates and uses neither his poverty nor his trade as a pretext for not doing philosophy, as certain others do who do not want to understand fully or to admire Socrates' teachings and their contents." (Epistles 18; trans. by A.J. Malherbe, The Cynic Epistles: A Study Edition [Missoula: Scholars Press, 1977] 267). In contrast, Philodemos, an Epicurean philosopher (I BCE), thought it best to live off the manual labour of others, "for then one is least entangled in business, the source of so many annoyances; there indeed is found a becoming way of life, a withdrawal into leisure with one's friends, and, for those who moderate their desires, the most honourable source of revenue." (Peri Oikonomias 23; translation by D.L. Balch in Malherbe, Moral Exhortation, A Greco-Roman Sourcebook [Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1986] 146).

______________________________________________

Paul and Slavery in the Greco-Roman world

1) Punishment of, and cruelty towards, slaves

"If a man adheres to the practice of never striking any of his slaves with his hand, he will be less likely to succumb [to a fit of anger] later on...my father trained me to behave in this way myself...There are other people who don't just hit their slaves, but kick them and gouge out their eyes...The story is told that the Emperor Hadrian struck one of his attendants in the eye with a pen. When he realised that [the slave] had become blind in one eye as a result of this stroke, he called him to him and offered to let him ask him for any gift to make up for what he had suffered. When the victim remained silent, Hadrian again asked him to make a request of whatever he wanted. He declined to accept anything else, but asked for his eye back -- for what gift could provide compensation for the loss of an eye?" (Galen, The Diseases of the Mind, 4; second century CE. Translation from T. Wiedemann, Greek and Roman Slavery [London: Croom Helm, 1981] 180-81).

2) Manumission

"...I, Chreste...set free in the prayer-house my house-bred slave Heraclas once and for all in fulfilment of a vow to move without let or hindrance from any of my heirs wherever he wants unimpededly...on condition that he honours the prayer-house and is conscientious in his attendance there, with the agreement of my heirs Heraclides and Heliconias and also under the joint guardianship of the Jewish community" (CIJ I 683; inscription from Panticapaeum in the Bosporus.  Translation from I. Levinskaya, The Book of Acts in its Diaspora Setting [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996] 231-32.)

3) Philosophers on the treatment of slaves

"Why do I have to punish my slave with a whipping or imprisonment if he gives me a cheeky answer or disrespectful look or mutters something which I can't quite hear? Is my status so special that offending my ears should be a crime? There are many people who have forgiven defeated enemies -- am I not to forgive someone for being lazy or careless or talkative? If he's a child, his age should excuse him, if female, her sex, if he doesn't belong to me, his independence, and if he does belong to my household, the ties of family" (Seneca, Dialogue 5: On Anger, 3,24; first century CE. Translation from Wiedemann, Greek and Roman Slavery, 179-80).  

______________________________________________

Jews and Christians at Rome

1) Synagogues and the Jews at Rome

There were at least 10-15 synagogues in Rome, one of which named itself in honour of Augustus, as this epitaph shows:

"Here lies Annius, the chief-elder of the synagogue of the Augustesians.  He sleeps in peace" (CIJ 301; trans. mine).

 

The Roman historian Suetonius refers to the expulsion of Jews from Rome in the 40s C.E.:

"Because the Jews at Rome caused continuous disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus, [Claudius] expelled them from the city" (Claudius 5.25; cf. Acts 18:2.  Trans. from Robert Graves, Suetonius.  The Twelve Caesars [London: Penguin Books, 1957] 202).

2) Stories of Paul's death (at Rome?)

Clement, a leader at Rome, wrote to the church at Corinth in the 90s C.E., referring to Paul's death:

"Let us set before us the noble examples which belong to our own generation...After [Paul] had been seven times in chains, had been driven into exile, had been stoned, and had preached in the East and in the West, he won the genuine glory for his faith, having taught righteousness to the whole world and having reached the farthest limits of the West.  Finally, when he had given his testimony before the rulers, he thus departed from the world and went to the holy place, having become an outstanding example of patient endurance" (1 Clement 5.1-7.  Trans. from J.B. Lightfoot and J.R. Harmer, The Apostolic Fathers [2nd. edition; Michael W. Holmes, ed.; Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1989] 31).

3) Emperor Nero, the fire of 64 C.E. and the Christians at Rome

(go to Tacitus passage on earlier handout on Christians Through Greco-Roman Eyes)

______________________________________________

Some background to the deutero-Pauline letters

  

1) Colossians (2:8-23) and angels in the religious life of Asia Minor 

A Greco-Roman association of angel devotees (north-western Asia Minor):

"Aurelius...and the association of friends of angels set up this votive offering for Holiness (personified) and Justice (personified)" (SEG 31 1130; trans. mine). 

Jewish magic amulet from Kyzikos invokes protection of angels:

"Michael, Gabriel, Ouriel, Raphael, protect the one who wears this amulet.  Holy, holy, holy....  Evil angel Araaph, flee, O hated one; Solomon pursues you." (Trans. with adaptions from Clinton E. Arnold, The Colossian Syncretism [Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1996] 64-65). 

Jewish grave inscription from Eumeneia (western Asia Minor):

"If anyone tries to bury someone else here, he will have to reckon with God and the angel of Roubes" (Robert, Hellenica 11-12 [1960] 429-35; trans. mine).

  

2) Greco-Roman parallels to the household codes

Aristotle (the Greek philosopher) discusses the importance of instruction on household management:

"[W]e have first of all to discuss household management; for every city is composed of households.  Household management falls into departments corresponding to the parts of which the household in its turn is composed...The investigation of everything should begin with its smallest parts, and the primary and smallest parts of the household are master and slave, husband and wife, father and children; we ought, therefore to examine the proper constitution and character of each of these three relationships..." (Aristotle, Politics, 1253b; trans. by H. Rackham, Aristotle, Volume 21 [Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1944]).

__________________________________

Mark’s story of Jesus

Central themes in Mark’s narrative:

• Jesus’ identity (as son of God and Messiah): Jesus’ authority; Secrecy about Jesus’ identity
• Jesus’ message about the impending rule of God
• Jesus at odds with others: Ongoing conflicts between Jesus and other characters, especially a) Non-human forces (demons); b) Authorities (Pharisees, scribes, Herodians); c) Disciples/students

Flow of the narrative:

• 1 - Introduction of Jesus and the key themes of the plot
• 2:1-3:6 - Conflict with Jewish authorities in Galilee
• 3:7-4:34 - Exemplary public and private teaching: Theme of misunderstanding
• 4:35-6:56 - Exemplary miracles illustrating Jesus authority and identity
• 7:1-8:26 - Conflicts with Jewish authorities, reception by Gentiles
• 8:27-9:10 - Core of the story - Revelation of Jesus’ identity and his impending death
• 9:11-12 - Impending crisis and suffering in Judea (Son of Man and his sufferings) and the final week of conflicts with authorities
• 13 - The apocalyptic discourse
• 14-16: Preparation, arrest, death and resurrection: Tragedy and triumph
  • Identity: “Are you the Messiah?” (Jewish high-priest); “Are you the king of the Jews” (Roman governor); “Truly this man was God’s son!” (Roman centurion)

________________________________

Matthew’s story of Jesus: Davidic Messiah and New Moses

Central themes in Matthew’s narrative:

• Presence of God: Jesus is “God with us” (1:23; cf. 28:20)
• Identity: Jesus as fulfilment of God’s plan for the salvation of Israel
  • Fulfilment of Jewish scripture and prophecy
  • Davidic Messiah and Son of God
  • New Moses
• Jesus’ conflict with the Jewish authorities
• Rejection of Jesus

Flow of the Narrative

(3-part structure based on Jack Dean Kingsbury, Matthew as Story [2nd edition; Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1988].)

Part I: Presentation of Jesus (1-4:16)

• Jesus’ identity and purpose: God has come in Jesus to bring to completion his plan for saving God’s people
• Fulfilment motif (1:22-23; 2:5-6, 15, 17-18, 23; 4:14-16; etc.)
• Birth narrative (ch. 2): Jesus, the new Moses
• Baptism (ch. 3): “This is my Son, the Beloved...”

Part II a): Ministry of Jesus (4:17-11:1)

• Transition phrase: “From that time Jesus began to proclaim, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’”
• Sermon on the Mount (chs. 5-7; Discourse 1) -- Jesus and the Jewish law
• Miracles (ch. 8-9): Rehabilitating the disciples -- “You of little faith” (8:26)
• Missionary discourse (ch. 10; Discourse 2)

Part II b): Repudiation of Jesus (11:2-16:20)

• Key motifs: Identity and “offence”/repudiation (11:2-6; cf. 13:54-58)
• Jesus, the “glutton and drunkard” (11:19), the demon (12:24)
• Galilean cities’ rejection of Jesus message (11:20-24)
• Building tensions and conflict with Jewish leaders: Sabbath (12:1-21)
• Kingdom parables (ch. 13; Discourse 3): Eschatological worldview of Mt’s Jesus
• Worshipping Jesus? (14:33; cf. 2:11; 28:9-10, 17)

Part III: Journey of Jesus to Jerusalem and his passion and resurrection (16:21-28:20)

• Transition phrase: “From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem...”
• Transfiguration (ch. 17)
• Community discourse (ch. 18; Discourse 4): Jesus on “the church”
• Conflicts with Jewish leaders come to culmination (chs. 21-23)
• Eschatological discourse (chs. 24-25; Discourse 5)
• Arrest, trial, death and resurrection (chs. 26-28): Who was guilty?

__________________________________

John’s story of Jesus: Jesus the Son and Revelation (Self-Expression) of the Father

Distinctive features and key themes:

• Widespread use of symbolism (“I am” sayings; dualism)
• Content and style of Jesus teaching: Lengthy discourses primarily about himself
• Emphasis on the role of the Spirit/Paraclete as revealer of truth
• Jesus’ miracles as “signs”
• Emphasis on love of one another as the key commandment of Jesus
• Salvation and life in the present (lack of references to future return [parousia])

Outline:

1.  Intro: Jesus as Son and Word (self-expression) / revelation of God (1:1-18)

2. Signs of being the Son (1:19-12:50)

• Lamb of God, Son of God, Messiah, King of Israel, Son of Man -- no secrecy here (1:19-51)

• Sign 1: Water into wine (2:1-4:42)
  • Cleansing of the Temple / death and resurrection
  • Son of Man “lifted up” (cf. 8:27-29; Nicodemus discourse)
  • Messiah and Saviour of the world (Samaritan woman)
• Signs 2 and 3: Healing of the official’s son, healing of the sick man at the pool (4:43-5:47)
  • Son sent by the Father to judge and give life
• Sign 4: feeding 5000 = Festival of Passover fulfilment no.1 (ch. 6)
  • I am the bread of life
  • Festival of Tabernacles / Booths fulfilment no. 2 (chs. 7-8)
  • The water and the light
  • “I am” (8:58)
• Sign 5: Healing of the blind man (9:1-10:21)
  • I am the light, I am the gate, I am the shepherd
  • Festival of Temple-dedication (Hannukah) no. 3 (10:22-38)
  • God’s Son: “The Father and I are one” (10:30)
• Sign 6: Raising of Lazarus from the dead (11:1-54)
  • I am the resurrection and the life
  • Jesus, the triumphant king (11:55-12:50)

3.  Preparation, passion and resurrection (chs. 13-20)

• Discourses for the disciples in the upper room (chs. 13-17; “farewell discourse”)
• Love commandment
• Oneness of Father, Son and Advocate (Spirit): “As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us” (17:21)
• Death and resurrection (chs. 18-20)
• Purpose of the work (20:30-31): “Now Jesus did many other signs....But these are written so that...”

4. Epilogue: Mission of the church (ch. 21)

• Sign 7: Miraculous catch of fish

________________________________________________

 Outline of John’s Apocalypse (Revelation)

(Based on Aune)

1-3 Opening, vision of Jesus and messages to the churches in Asia

4-11 Vision in Heaven:

Heavenly worship around the throne (4)

The Lamb (= Jesus) and the scroll with the seven seals

six opened (5-6)

The twelve tribes of Israel (144,000) worship God and the Lamb (7)

The seventh seal and the six of seven trumpets/disasters (8-9)

The little scroll and its consumption (10)

The heavenly temple (measuring it), the two witnesses and the seventh trumpet (11)

12-14 Vision of Signs:

The woman giving birth (to the Messiah = Jesus), the great dragon (= Satan) and the cosmic battle (12)

Religious and military critique of the empire: Worship of the beast from the sea (= emperor), the beast from the land and the image of the first beast (13)

The song of the 144,000 virgins, the messages of the three angels and the “one like a son of man” (14)

15-16 Vision of plagues:

Seven angels/seven plagues/seven bowls of wrath and the songs of those who “conquered the beast” (15-16)

17-18 Vision of Babylon (= Rome), the great harlot, riding the beast:

Babylon’s fornication and the meaning of the seven heads of the beast (17)

Economic critique of the empire: Fall of Babylon (= Rome) and the lament of the nations, kings, merchants and shippers (18)

Call to God’s people in Asia: “Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins....” (18:4-8)

19-20 Vision of final judgement and victory for those who refused to worship the beast:

Heavenly celebration at the fall of Babylon and the marriage banquet of the Lamb (“to eat the flesh of kings....”) (19)

Thousand year reign with Christ and the defeat of Satan, the dragon (20)

21-22 Vision of the New Jerusalem:

Description of the heavenly city (21)

The coming of Christ and the call to “worship God”