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2023, Reading Acts
Discussion of Paul’s view of the Roman Empire continues to generate articles and monographs, beginning with J. C. Scott, Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts (Yale, 1990) and Brian Walsh and Sylvia Keesmat, Colossians Remixed: Subverting the Empire (IVP Academic, 2004), and the essays in Jesus is Lord, Caesar is Not (McKnight and Modica, eds.; IVP Academic, 2013, reviewed here). More recently, N. T. Wright argued Paul used coded language to challenge imperial propaganda. Wright represents the standard view that Paul is anti-imperial, but his criticism of the empire is below the surface. Paul used coded language or hidden transcript to keep a low profile and avoid provoking the empire. John Barclay objected: does Paul seem like the type to avoid confrontation? Chapter 12 of Wright’s Paul and the Faithfulness of God deals with Barclay’s criticisms. Heilig’s The Apostle and the Empire is an excellent and up-to-date introduction into a narrow, yet controversial, sub-field of Pauline studies. He demonstrates with clarity Paul’s triumph metaphor does in fact have a subversive element, even if it is not a developed critique of the empire. Heilig’s call to revisit how we understand Paul’s relationship with Rome as “unease” rather than “criticism” is welcome.
Collectanea Theologica 93 (2023) nr 2, 57–103
The Lion Against the Eagle: A Critical Appraisal of the Anti-Imperial Reading of Paul2023 •
The article presents a synthetic analysis of empire criticism in Pauline letters, beginning with the omnipresence and character of imperial cult in Paul's time. Subsequently, the author highlights the places in Pauline letters that are usually associated with anti-imperial rhetoric. The following part of the article critically appraises the arguments for the presence of an anti-imperial script in Paul's letters. The conclusions critically assess the methodology and premises of empire criticism, which essentially ignores Paul's argumentative context, refers to the problematic "hidden transcript," and can be strongly informed by contemporary ideologies. According to the author, Paul does not fight with the Empire, accepting its institutions and social order and trying to change them from within. Although the apostle does not consciously use the anti-imperial script, the Good News he preached and the communities he founded possess an anti-imperial potential. In light of this, the article ultimately advocates a careful application of empire criticism to Paul, which can serve a better understanding of the New Testament background and the message of Paul.
2015 •
Paul has been regarded as being uncritical of the Roman Empire for a long time, not least because of his apparent call to obey the state in Rom 13:1-7. However, recent scholarship has questioned this assumption by pointing to "hidden criticism" in the letters of the apostle. But how can we decide, in a methodologically sound way, whether such a counter-imperial message lies beneath the surface of the text? On the basis of insights from the philosophy of science, Christoph Heilig suggests several analytical steps for examining this paradigm. He concludes that the hypothesis that we can identify critical "echoes" of the Roman Empire in Paul's letters needs to be modified for it to be maintained. In particular, concern over the danger of overt criticism and subsequent persecution do not sufficiently justify this interpretative hypothesis. Nevertheless, Heilig concludes that the search for a counter-imperial subtext in Paul could turn out to be heuristically fruitful so long as the limitations of the approach are heeded. Hence, a re-evaluation of Pauline passages in light of Paul's engagement with ideas from his Roman environment is encouraged.
Paul, Child of the Greek-Roman World
THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN THE LETTERS OF PAUL2021 •
This article contains chapter 3 of the book 'Paul, Child of the Greek-Roman world'. Possibly Paul is the most complex biblical author. His letters were written in a complicated colloquial language. His arguments often ramble from one subject to another. The contrasts are almost always black-white: flesh as opposed to spirit, works as opposed to faith, the Law of Moses as opposed to the Law of Christ, slavery as opposed to freedom, etc. How did Paul come to his theology? There is a romantic image of Paul. He is said to be born in a pious Pharisaic family and educated by the great Pharisaic scholar Gamaliel in Jerusalem. But this is hardly noticeable in Paul’s letters. However, they show a lot of affinity with the Greek-Roman culture of those days. In volume 1 of Paul’s Youth and Early Years the author discussed at some length that this romantic image of Paul’s isn’t correct historically. In reality he came from a Hellenistic-Jewish milieu in the Greek Diaspora. In this second volume (which could be read independently) the author investigates the broader Greek-Roman environment of Paul's youth. The book shows that Paul has been very much influenced by Roman culture. This is especially where chapter 3 is about. Moreover, the philosophical movements of Stoicism and Platonism – merged into Middle Platonism – have left their marks on his theology. But also the widespread mystery cults didn’t pass Paul unnoticed. These four phenomena from Paul’s time are explained, whereupon the author examines which traces they left in the letters. Then the image arises of Paul as a child of the Greek-Roman world. At a later age all these influences from his youth and early years have also contributed to the development of his theology. By scrupulously reading Paul’s letters against the Greek-Roman background of his cultural, philosophical and religious environment many difficult passages become quite understandable. The question whether Paul has preached the original doctrine of Jesus of Nazareth unchanged, is mentioned briefly in this book, but will remain open for further investigation.
HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies
Paul, empire and eschatology2021 •
Various approaches to Paul’s relationship with the Roman Empire have come to the fore, including those who see Paul’s discourse as anti-imperial, pro-imperial, ambiguous towards empire and those who argue that Paul’s discourse transcends that of empire. The nature and influence of the Roman Empire are examined, and the various scholarly approaches to Paul’s relationship to empire are considered. Romans 13:1–7 is used as a test case to better understand Paul’s stance towards the Roman Empire or government authorities in general. Although it has been argued that Paul’s stance towards empire was influenced by Jewish apocalyptic’, in this contribution, it is argued that Paul’s eschatology as laid out in his letters rather than ‘Jewish apocalyptic’ as such is key to understanding the seemingly ambiguous statements about the Roman Empire in his letters.
Buried History 47, pp. 3-21
‘“More Than Conquerors” (Rom 8:37): Paul’s Gospel and the Augustan Triumphal Arches of the Greek East and Latin West’2011 •
This paper investigates the social and theological import of Romans against the iconography of the Augustan arches, focusing on Paul's indebtedness to Greeks and barbarians, the reconciliation of enemies, the victory of Christ on behalf of believers, and his rule over the nations. D.C. Lopez and B. Kahl investigated the iconographic evidence of Aphrodisias and Pergamon when discussing the political implications of Paul's gospel in the Roman province of Asia. Paul visited neither city, so arguments about the apostle's interaction with the imperial ideology of 'victory' depends more on the ubiquity of the Julio-Claudian propaganda than on any contact Paul might have had with those specifi c monuments. The Augustan arches throughout the Empire stereotypically depict the humiliation of barbarians at the sites of Pisidian Antioch, a city visited by Paul (Acts 13:14-50), as well as at La Turbie, Glanum, Carpentras and the triple arch at the Roman Forum. However, there were other iconographic motifs on the arches that confl icted with the relentless triumphal ideology of Augustus. They articulated an alternate vision of social relations between conqueror and conquered.
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Biophysical Journal
Physical Determinants of Bipolar Mitotic Spindle Assembly and Stability in Fission Yeast2017 •
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Proceedings of International Conference on Power Electronics, Drives and Energy Systems for Industrial Growth
PC based data acquisition system for measurement of switched reluctance motor (SRM)Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity
circFAM160A2 Promotes Mitochondrial Stabilization and Apoptosis Reduction in Osteoarthritis Chondrocytes by Targeting miR-505-3p and SIRT32021 •
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