Part Two: New Testament Literature
Chapter 13 The Pauline Epistles
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A Historical Introduction to the New Testament by Robert M. Grant
Part Two: New Testament Literature
Robert M. Grant is professor of New Testament at the University of Chicago, A formost scholar in the field, his books include Gnosticism, The Earliest Lives of Jesus, and The Secret Sayings of Jesus. Copyright 1963 by Robert M. Grant.
Originally published by Harper and Row in 1963.
was provided by Marcion (c. 140), who arranged the letters thus:
Galatians, 1-11 Corinthians, Romans, I-II Thessalonians, Colossians, Philemon, Philippians, ‘Laodiceans’ (Ephesians). This sequence too is non-chronological; it seems to be based largely on the importance of the letters for Marcion’s theology. Origen attempted to date the letters in relation to Paul’s growing consciousness of his own perfection, but this criterion is not dependable.
The only way to give a chronological arrangement to the letters is to correlate them with the events described in Acts. On this basis, the earliest letters are I Thessalonians and II Thessalonians (perhaps addressed to Philippi), written from Corinth about AD. 50. The next extant letters are I and II Corinthians, the former written from Ephesus between 52 and 55, the latter probably from Macedonia (II Cor. 2:12-13) within the same period. Galatians was probably written shortly after II Corinthians, and Romans from Corinth or Ephesus a few years later.
The dates assigned to Philippians, Colossians, Philemon and Ephesians depend on the place from which Paul, a prisoner, wrote them.
Traditionally all four have been regarded as written from Rome, perhaps between 58 and 62. Colossians and Philemon are closely related by the mention of Onesimus, Epaphras, Mark, Aristarchus and Luke in both.
The content of Ephesians is strikingly similar to that of Colossians; if genuine, it almost certainly was written at about the same time. Now according to Philemon 22, Paul hopes to be released from prison and to visit Colossae. It has therefore been suggested that the prison is not necessarily at Rome, since Paul was often imprisoned (II Cor.11:23);
Acts describes a lengthy imprisonment at Caesarea, and it has been claimed that he was also a prisoner at Ephesus (II Cor. 1:8-11? I Cor.
15:32?). If he intended to go from Rome to Spain (Rom. 15:24, 28) it is hard to see how he could plan to visit Colossae too; therefore the letters, it is claimed, were not written from Rome. Unfortunately we do not know whether or not Paul’s plans to visit Spain remained fixed; he had a way of changing travel plans, as we learn from II Cor. I:15-2:13; and probably the mention of Mark and Luke (Col. 4:10, 14; Philemon) means that Paul was a prisoner at Rome.
As for Philippians, the mention of the ‘praetorium’ or ‘praetorian guard’
in 1:13 and of ‘Caesar’s household’ in 4:22 seems at first glance to point towards Rome, but there were non-Roman praetoria -- ‘Herod’s’ at Caesarea is mentioned in Acts 23:35 -- and members of Caesar’s household (officials and/or slaves) were to be found in various parts of
the empire. The retrospective look towards ‘the beginning of the gospel’
(4:15) does not necessarily mean that a great deal of time has passed.
Paul hopes to come to Philippi (1:26-7, 2.24); as we have already said, such a hope does not necessarily mean that Rome is excluded. Our conclusion about the origin of Philippians must be even less certain than about the other imprisonment letters. But if one has to assign a place to it, Rome is as likely as anywhere else.
Apart from simple curiosity, we may wonder why it is important to try to determine the historical sequence of the Pauline epistles. The main reason for this concern is probably to be found in the desire to
reconstruct the life of Paul, thus supplementing the rather meagre data given in Acts and gaining some insight into the development, if any, of his thought. Elaborate attempts have been made to ascertain the nature of this development, especially in relation to a more or less
psychological interpretation of Paul’s conflicts. It has been thought that if one could trace the development, at least in the major epistles, one could then use the results in order to date the imprisonment epistles and then to trace further development. Probably, however, in view of our ignorance about Paul’s early life and the occasional nature of his letters we cannot say much about such a development. If we confine our speculations to what can be said with certainty, we know only that Paul wrote to the Thessalonians from Corinth about 50, to the Corinthians from Ephesus about 52, and to the Romans, probably from Corinth, about 55.
On the other hand, consideration of Paul’s style and thought can lead us to see a certain development in the ways in which various topics are handled. Subjects may be treated only briefly or incidentally in one letter and receive greater elaboration in a later one, or subjects discussed in full in one letter can be touched on only briefly when they are taken up again. Unfortunately it is often difficult to determine which way the sequence goes, since both kinds of processes are at work. Moreover, the fact that Paul seems to mention a subject for the first time in such-and- such a letter does not mean that he thought of it for the first time as he wrote the letter.
In other words, the question of development in Paul’s letters and in his theology must remain a question. We can probably assume that like other human beings he did develop to some extent. But, as in the case of other human beings, the precise extent, and to some degree the direction, of this development escapes us. We can describe what Paul said with
some measure of confidence. The same confidence must be lacking when we try to state why he said it.
Therefore in looking at his letters we shall probably do better to try to ascertain (1) what the gospel was which he preached and (2) what the nature of the controversies was in which he was engaged. Each of these points is important. The former is the more important, for the
controversies can be understood only on the basis of what Paul
allusively says about them. When we try to fill in the other side of the conversation, we have the testimony only of Paul himself; and he is hardly an unprejudiced witness. Indeed, he is not really a witness. He refers to the opinions of his opponents only in order to refute them. The background of his letters in such controversies has often been studied in order to relativize the meaning of what Paul says. He presented his gospel as he did, it is argued, because of the peculiar circumstances in which he wrote. The environment therefore conditioned the response, and we who live in a different environment can now reinterpret the response, setting it free from this conditioning. But in view of our
limited understanding of his environment and his opponents it is difficult to apply this principle; furthermore, he did write what he wrote, not something else. For example, he made use of the Graeco-Roman
‘diatribe’ form in his letters. This fact does not mean that what he wrote in diatribe form is any the less his. The most important question remains, as we have said, what his gospel was and what he believed it meant for his hearers.
In attempting to discover what Paul was saying to his churches, the question of the authenticity of his letters arises. At various times, driven by a yearning for consistency, scholars have doubted the authenticity of nearly every letter, as a whole or in part. One of the principal criteria employed in dealing with this problem has been that of Pauline
vocabulary. Though we admit the possibility of using this criterion, we must recognize the severe difficulties involved.
Statistics often look impressive.(Hebrews is not included in these
compilations.) Thus it may seem significant that the letters of Paul, apart from the Pastorals, contain 29,000 words, of which 2,170 are different (the ratio of vocabulary to total is thus 7.5 per cent), while the Pastorals contain about 3,500 words, 900 of them different (a ratio of 25.7 per cent). The difference between the ratios is not so surprising, however, when one recalls that the longer a document is the lower the ratio will be.
Again, there are very wide variations in Paul’s use of words. His usage depends primarily on his subject matter, not on some ideal norm. This fact can easily be demonstrated.
Pauline Epistles
Word (not Pastorals Principal use Non-use Pastorals)
Agathos (good) 37 10 Romans (21) I Cor.
Hamartia (sin) 61 3 Romans (48) II Thess., Phil.
Dikaiosyn 52 5 Romans (33) I-II Thess, Col.
(righteousness, justification)
Thanatos (death) 47 0 Romans (22) I-II Thess., Gal., Eph.
Kauchasthai (boast) 35 0 II Cor. (20) I-II Thess., Col.
Nomos (law) 117 2 Romans (72) I-II Thess., II Cor.,Col.
Peritome 29 1 Romans (14) I-II Thess., II Cor.
(circumcision)
Pistos (faithful) 16 17 -- Rom., Phil.
Sarx (flesh) 90 1 -- I-II Thess.
These examples suggest that word-counting provides no adequate index to an author’s total vocabulary and that this vocabulary depends, as one might expect, on the purpose or purposes for which he writes. (It might also be observed that Paul could and did write letters without
mentioning sin, flesh, death, the law, and circumcision; one danger in interpreting Paul’s thought arises from treating Romans, in which these terms appear, as normative.)
As for Paul’s style, we have already discussed several aspects of it in
Chapter III. Perhaps the single most important feature of it is its personal element. Paul uses the ordinary Greek of the Hellenistic world, with many allusions to and borrowings from the Septuagint; but he makes everything his own. He can vary his words where repetition would produce greater clarity; he can repeat where repetition results in monotony. He can work Out studied sentences almost worthy of a rhetorician, or he can pile up clauses and synonyms in a completely unrhetorical way. Sometimes he breaks off the flow of a sentence
intentionally; sometimes, it would appear, unintentionally. According to his own testimony, some of his correspondents found his letters
‘weighty and powerful’ (II Cor. 10:10), but others misunderstood them (I Cor. 5:9-13; cf. II Peter 3:16).
The Thessalonian Letters
The two letters which Paul wrote to his converts at Thessalonica about the year 51 are probably the earliest extant Christian documents. Both of them were included by Marcion in his collection of Pauline epistles;
their lack of definite attestation in the writings of the Apostolic Fathers and the earlier Apologists can be explained as due to these authors’ lack of interest in the subjects discussed in the letters. Irenaeus quotes from both of them, sometimes as if they constituted only one letter (Adv. haer.
4, 27, 4), but sometimes clearly recognizing that there are two (3,7,2; see also the Muratorian list). No one in antiquity seems to have questioned their canonicity or authenticity, although when Origen laid emphasis on the rôle of Silvanus in their composition he may have been suggesting that the apocalyptic eschatology was not due to Paul.
The style of these letters is characteristic of the Pauline epistles as a whole, as B. Rigaux has shown. Paul is fond of parallelism, often chiastic, and frequently employs antithesis (eighteen times in the two short letters). He makes plays on words. He likes to use long phrases, bound together by participles or prepositions.
Because of the brevity of the letters and the special nature of their
subject matter, it is difficult to lay much emphasis on the peculiarities of the vocabulary of the letters.(I Thessalonians contains 1,472 words and uses a vocabulary of 366 words; II Thessalonians contains 824 words with a vocabulary of 250. It is worth noting, however, that the following words are absent from both I and II Thessalonians: ‘dikajosyne’,
‘thanatos’, ‘kauchasthai’, ‘nomos’, ‘peritome’ and ‘sarx’; ‘hamartia’ is also absent from II Thessalonians.
The two letters were addressed by Paul, Silvanus and Timothy to the Christian community at Thessalonica in Macedonia, the second church founded by the apostle after he crossed from Troas on his mission journey after the apostolic council (Acts 17: 1-9). I Thessalonians was written after Paul had visited Athens alone (3.1; Acts 17:14-16) and had then been joined at Corinth (Acts 18:5) by Timothy and Silvanus (I Thess. 3:6, Timothy). Paul reminds the Thessalonians of their conversion (1:9-10): ‘how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.’ In these words we find a summary of the apostolic message to gentiles; it corresponds with the fragmentary sermons in Acts 14:15-17 and 17:22- 31 (cf. also Rom. 1:18-2:24) and supplements the description of Paul’s argument in the synagogue at Thessalonica (Acts 17:3: ‘it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead’; ‘this Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ’).
The community seems to be largely gentile, for Paul tells its members that they have suffered the same things from their own countrymen as the churches in Judaea have suffered from the Jews (2:14). He finds it necessary to remind them to avoid fornication and, instead, to marry (4:3- 8); they must not be idle but must work (4:9-12). They must not worry about the fate of believers who die, for when the Lord descends from heaven both the dead and the living will rise to meet him in the air, ‘and so we shall always be with the Lord’ (4:13-18). The precise time of his coming cannot be predicted, but he will come
‘May the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (5:23).
It is not absolutely certain that all of Paul’s counsel is based on what he knows about the Thessalonian church. Generally speaking, he seems well pleased with the Thessalonian Christians (1:2-10; 2:13-20; 3:6-10;
4:1, 9-12 5:1, 11). And some of the passages which might suggest the presence of problems can be explained as reflections of real problems which Paul was facing not in relation to Thessalonica but in relation to Corinth. It was there that difficulties arose over fornication (I Cor. 6:12- 20) and marriage (7:1-7). On the other hand, his urging the
Thessalonians to work with their hands (4:11) seems to be related to their preoccupation with eschatological matters (4:13-5:11). This was
not, as far as we know, a problem at Corinth.
The central concern of I Thessalonians, then, arises from the acceptance of Paul’s proclamation of the imminent coming of the Lord. The
Thessalonians were waiting for the coming of Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come, and not all of them were devoting enough attention to the matter of their sanctification in the time before his coming (3:13 - 4:12; 4:5- 24).
II Thessalonians deals with a subject closely related to this. The Lord Jesus will be ‘revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance upon those who do not know God and upon those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus’ (1:7-8); at that time
‘the lawless one will be revealed, and the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by his appearing and his
coming’ (2:8). But these events will not take place in the immediate future. Something (the law and order provided by the Roman empire, according to some patristic commentators) is holding back the
eschatological clock; for before the Lord’s coming ‘the man of
lawlessness, the son of perdition’ must be revealed and must take his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God (2:3-4). If Paul is relying on Jewish apocalyptic ideas, they may have been shaped by events in Palestine a decade earlier, when Caligula’s attempt to place his own statue in the temple at Jerusalem was thwarted by the Roman
governor of Syria and by other Roman officials.
One problem mentioned in I Thessalonians has become even more acute. Here Paul explicitly points out that Christians ought to imitate his example by hard work. ‘Even when we were with you, we gave you this command: If any one will not work, let him not eat’ (3:6-13). Once more, the Thessalonians’ idleness seems to be related to their
misunderstanding of eschatology. They have learned, ‘either by spirit or by word, or by letter purporting to be from us’, that ‘the day of the Lord has already come’ (2:2). Perhaps because of the existence of forged letters, Paul concludes the letter in his own handwriting. ‘This is the mark in every letter of mine; it is the way I write’ (3:17; cf. I Cor. 16:21;
Gal. 6:11).
Critics have sometimes argued that II Thessalonians was not written by Paul, chiefly because of the detailed eschatological time-table which is absent from other letters but also because it is difficult to see why Paul was writing two letters, with much the same content, to the same
community (perhaps to Jewish members) in approximately the same situation. These difficulties do not seem insuperable. The function of historical analysis is not to show why a document should not be
regarded as genuine but to accept it and try to understand its situation.
Paul may have wished to reiterate what he had said before; II Thessalonians may have preceded I Thessalonians, in any event.
Another possibility, suggested by E. Schweizer, is that II Thessalonians was not originally addressed to the Thessalonians. Polycarp, writing to the Philippians early in the second century, refers to letters (plural) which Paul had written them (Phil. 3:2) and, in alluding to this
correspondence, seems to quote some words from II Thess. 1:4 (11:3).
The Corinthian Correspondence
In our canon, as in all the ancient manuscripts of the New Testament, there are two letters from Paul to the Corinthian church. I Corinthians is better attested than II Corinthians, presumably because it is the more practical of the two; Clement of Rome refers to it and uses it, while allusions in the letters of Ignatius prove that he knew it. In later times there was no question about either letter; both were in Marcion’s collection; allusions to both occur in Theophilus of Antioch, and quotations from both in Irenaeus. Most of Irenaeus’s quotations are made in a manner that suggests that he knew the two as one, but this point is not especially significant when we recall that he sometimes treats the Thessalonian letters in the same way. The contemporary Muratorian fragment clearly recognizes two letters.
It is sometimes supposed, however, that the two letters we have are the result of an editing process which produced two letters out of a number considerably larger. The primary grounds for this view are to be found in II Corinthians. (1) II Corinthians 6:14-7:1 has nothing to do with its context (and indeed is close to the thought world of Qumran([J.
Fitzmyer in Catholic Biblical Quarterly] (1961); it might well come from the ‘previous letter’ to which reference is made in I Corinthians 5:9. (2) It is psychologically difficult to regard Paul’s violent ‘boasting’
in II Corinthians 10-13 as coming directly after his emphasis on reconciliation and joy in II Corinthians 1-9. (3) It is strange that after speaking about the collection for the saints in II Corinthians 8, Paul should go on to state that he need not mention it to his correspondents (9:1).
For these reasons and other subsidiary ones J. Weiss and others have