Paul and the Discourse of Power 9781474213929

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A book may be the product of many solitary hours' work, but it is nonetheless never accomplished alone. Special thanks are due to my dissertation advisor, Professor Richard B. Hays, who helped me transform interesting but amorphous ideas into a workable project, read the text in various stages, and offered numerous helpful suggestions along the way. Thanks, too, to the members of my dissertation committee: Professors Dale B. Martin, D. Moody Smith, Mary McClintock Fulkerson and especially William Hart, whose guidance concerning Foucault and theory challenged me continually to sharpen my critical thinking. I also appreciate the assistance of Roberta Schaafsma, research librarian extraordinaire of the Duke Divinity School Library, and members of the staff at Morton Library, Union Theological Seminary/Presbyterian School of Christian Education. There are many friends without whom this book would never have happened. Members of Watts Street Baptist Church, Durham, North Carolina, and Ginter Park Baptist Church, Richmond, Virginia, have been a constant source of encouragement. I am grateful for the support of some very special people: Sandie Gravett, Joy Aldridge Craig and Ron Craig, and Adele Pfrimmer Hensley and Frank Hensley (and their host of dogs, snakes, frogs and turtles). My colleagues in the Religion Department at Furman University saw me through the completion of the dissertation with kind tolerance and unfailing good cheer. Among these persons are the professors whose example, during my undergraduate days at Furman, encouraged me to pursue the academic study of religion. An amenable teaching schedule and collegial encouragement at the Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond (BTSR) made it possible for me to pursue the work of revision for publication in a timely fashion. For editing and for the work of publication itself Cheryl Exum has provided valuable assistance; without her suggestions these chapters would have been both less complete and less clearly expressed. Errors, omissions and infelicities remain, of course, my own.

ABBREVIATIONS

AB ABD

ANRW

ATR BAGD

BDF

BEvT BibInt BZNW

CGTC EKKNT ExpTim FRLANT HNT HTKNT HTR ICC JBL

JRH JSNT JSNTSup JSOT JSOTSup JSPSuP KJV

LCL NCBC

Anchor Bible David Noel Freedman (ed.), The Anchor Bible Dictionary (New York: Doubleday, 1992) Hildegard Temporini and Wolfgang Haase (eds.), Aufstieg und Niedergang der riimischen Welt: Geschichte und Kultur Roms im Spiegel der neueren Forschung (Berlin: W. de Gruyter, 1972-) Anglican Theological Review Walter Bauer, William F. Arndt, F. William Gingrich and Frederick W. Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Early Christian literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2nd edn, 1958) Friedrich Blass, A. Debrunner and Robert W. Funk, A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian literature (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1961) Beitrage zur evangelischen Theologie Biblical Interpretation: A Journal of Contemporary Approaches Beihefte zur ZNW Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary Evangelisch-katholischer Kommentar zum Neuen Testament Expository Times Forschungen zur Religion und Literatur des Alten und Neuen Testaments Handbuch zum Neuen Testament Herders theologischer Kommentar zum Neuen Testament Harvard Theological Review International Critical Commentary Journal of Biblical literature Journal of Religious History Journal for the Study of the New Testament Journal for the Study of the New Testament, Supplement Series Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, Supplement Series Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha, Supplement Series King James Version Loeb Classical Library New Century Bible Commentary

INTRODUCTION

References to power and the exercise of power appear throughout Paul's letters in the New Testament. Paul speaks, of course, of the power of God, notably of the power of the cross. But complex relationships of power also exist. Paul's congregations are related to God, to Christ and to one another. Paul expects his congregations to relate to him; he instructs his correspondents and elicits their compliance. From where does Paul's power come? What is the origin of the whole set of circumstances that makes Paul's position of power possible? Where does Paul get the authority to say what he says and to do what he does? And why do-or should-the churches with which he corresponds listen to what he has to say? Further, since Paul claims his right to speak by virtue of his apostleship given by God, what is the relation of Paul's power claims to the gospel that he preaches? Finally, do interpreters of the New Testament have any standing for comparing the relations of power seen in Paul's letters to the dynamics of contemporary churches? The answers to these questions lie not only in reading carefully Paul's letters, particularly the passages in which he makes power claims, but also in formulating a theoretical approach to the power relationship which is appropriate to the Pauline situation, an approach that is adequate to analyze not only Paul's statements about power relations but also the rhetorical maneuvers that sometimes seem to work at cross purposes to his own teachings. Having described and investigated this complex relationship puts the interpreter in a better position to evaluate Paul's letters and to describe the discourse of power at work there.

Paul the Authority Paul the apostle, proclaimer of the gospel of Christ, founder of churches and author of epistles which became a major portion of the New Testament canon, strove in all he did to point his congregations toward God through Christ. The claim, it might seem, is very nearly so self-evident as not to need stating. From his earliest writings, Paul commends those

1 Talking about Power The letters of Paul in the New Testament reflect power relationships: relationships between God and Paul, between Paul and the persons in communities to which he writes, among persons in those communities and between the communities and God. These are not relationships developed by long practice. New religious beliefs have brought new social structures into being. The communities to which Paul writes frequently cross cultural boundaries of various sorts. Paul himself is a leader whose role is not explicitly defined. Most important of all, the advent of Jesus as the Christ creates, at least in Paul's theological reasoning, a new relationship between human beings and God. Yet as different as these relationships are, they can all be fruitfully described as asymmetric relations of power, in which one actor relinquishes a certain amount of autonomy to the other, and the other influences the actions of the first. What is particularly interesting in Paul's letters is that readers observe in them not just a power relationship between two actors, but complex relational systems of power involving many actors, numerous asymmetric constructions and constantly shifting circumstances of power. These observations, which the rest of this book will seek to demonstrate from the New Testament texts, are made possible by the work of social scientists and theorists who have reflected on the operations of power and authority among human beings in societies. Such influential nineteenth-century figures as Comte and Marx, arguing that human conduct could be understood from a scientific point of view, brought into focus a number of questions that previous exegetes had not thought to ask. 1 Twentieth-century sociological theorists have built on these foundations in a dizzying variety of ways. Some, like Max Weber, addressed 1. A helpful overview of the nineteenth-century foundations of the social sciences may be found in Anthony Giddens, New Rules of Sociological Method: A Positive Critique of Interpretative Sociologies (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2nd edn, 1993), pp. 16-27.

2 Identifying the Discourse of Power The letter to Philemon is scant as biblical books go: a mere 335 words, a vocabulary of 143, as Adolf Deissmann has commented, 'written upon a single sheet of papyrus'. 1 Yet Deissmann's observation that in this wann, personal letter, 'everything is really so perfectly simple', 2 is disputed, if not downright disproved, by the observations of a vast array of exegetes who have turned their attention to this text. 3 Over and over again the letter to Philemon foils the expectations of its readers. It seems to be a 1. AdolfDeissmann, Paulus: Eine kultur- und religionsgeschichtliche Skizze (Tiibingen: ].C.B. Mohr, 1911); ET Paul: A Study in Social and Religious History (trans. William E. Wilson; New York: Harper & Row, 1957), p. 19. 2. Deissrnann, Paul, p. 19. 3. Among the significant works that deal with the book of Philemon are the following: Ernst Lohmeyer, Die Briefe an die Kolosser und an Philemon (Kritischexegetischer Kommentar iiber das Neue Testament; Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1961 [1929)); John Knox, Philemon among the Letters of Paul: A New View of its Place and Importance (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1935; New York: Abingdon Press, rev. edn, 1959); Martin Dibelius and Henrich Greeven, An die Kolosser, Epheser an Philemon (HNT, 12; Tiibingen: ].C.B. Mohr [Paul Siebeck], 1953); Jacob]. Miiller, The Epistles of Paul to the Philippians and to Philemon (NICNT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1955); C.F.D. Moule, The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Colossians and to Philemon (CGTC; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1957); Eduard Lohse, Colossians and Philemon (trans. William R. Poehlmann and Robert]. Karris; Henneneia; Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1971); Gerhard Friedrich, 'Der Brief an Philemon', in Jiirgen Becker, Hans Conzelmann and Gerhard Friedrich, Die Briefe an die Galater, Epheser, Philipper, Kolosser, Thessalonicher und Philemon (NTD, 8; Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1976); Ralph P. Martin, Colossians and Philemon (NCBC; Grand Rapids: Eerdrnans, 1981 [1973]); Peter Stuhlrnacher, Der Brief an Philemon (EKKNT; Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener-Verlag, 1975); Joachim Gnilka, Der Philemonbrief(HTKNT, 10.4; Freiburg: Herder, 1982); N.T. Wright, The Epistles of Paul to the Colossians and to Philemon: An Introduction and Commentary (TNTC; Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986); Sara C. Winter, 'Paul's Letter to Philemon', NTS 33 (1987), pp. 1-15; S. Scott Bartchy, 'Philemon, Letter to', ABD, V, pp. 305-10.

2. Identifying the Discourse of Power

53

private letter regarding a personal matter; yet both the sender and the addressee are plural. Although short by epistolary standards, it is significantly longer than the papyrus letters with which it is often compared, and analysis of its structure has demonstrated its complexity as well; it has all the constituent parts of Paul's much longer letters. Furthermore, certain elements of the letter's content seem odd. The runaway slave 4 is never said to be penitent, and the master's forgiveness is not invoked. Paul seems exceptionally hesitant to say just what it is that he wants. Yet other passages seem infused with confidence, or even a sort of high-handed manipulation on Paul's part. The genuineness of this text as a Pauline letter has rarely been doubted. 5 The date and place of its composition, however, are bound up with the vexed questions of the genuineness of Colossians and the historical trustworthiness of Acts. Traditionally Paul's imprisonment mentioned in this epistle is taken to be the imprisonment in Rome. 6 For interpreters who regard Acts as providing a discontinuous account of Paul's career, however, an imprisonment in Caesarea or Ephesus, while not narrated in Acts, seems more likely.7 And how old would Paul have to be to refer to himself as an 'elder' (1tp£apu'tT\~)?8 Philemon and the 4. IfOnesimus is indeed a runaway; see pp. 56-59 below. 5. Serious objection to the letter's genuineness has come mainly from F.e. Baur and other 'tendency critics' of the Tiibingen School. Baur called it 'a Christian romance setving to convey a genuine Christian idea' (Paul, the Apostle ofJesus Christ: His Life and Work, his Epistles and his Doctrine. A Contribution to a Critical History of Primative Christianity [2 vols.; trans. Eduard Zeller; London: Williams and Norgate, 2nd edn, 1876 (1845)), II, p. 84). Wolfgang Schenk amasses three full pages of arguments and references for the letter's genuineness: Schenk, 'Der Brief des Paulus an Philemon in der neueren Forschung (1945-1987)" ANRW, 11.25.4, pp. 3439-95 (3443-45). Miiller is, 1 think, inaccurate when he claims that the genuineness of Philemon stands or falls with that of Colossians: Miiller, Philippians and Philemon, p.166. 6. Among modern commentators holding this view are Werner Bieder, Der Philemonbriif(Prophezei; Ziirich: Zwingli-Verlag, 1944), p. 5; and Moule, Colossians and Philemon, pp. 24-25. 7. Dibelius and Greeven, Kolosser, Epheser an Philemon, pp. 52, 102; and Lohmeyer, Kolosser und Philemon, p. 172, opt for Caesarea. Lohse, Colossians and Philemon, p. 188, among many other recent writers, argues for Ephesus, which makes the most sense geographically. 8. Gnilka, Der Philemonbriif, for example, uses this reference to try to establish Paul's approximate age at the time of writing (p. 43). Another view takes

3 Power Negotiations and Power Structures An attempt to gain further understanding of the discourse of power in which Paul operates will need to observe how Paul relates to a variety of others in his set of power relations, how he attempts to negotiate conflict, and how his assumptions, attitudes and perspectives shape his interactions with other persons. The opening chapters of Galatians (Gal. 1-2) demonstrate several issues of interest. Paul is passionately engaged in a defense of his divinely given gospel against what he considers the humanly transmitted 'gospel' of others, so the claim of immediate relation to God is strongly advanced. Yet what this relation to God means, in terms of Paul's relations to other people, is not immediately clear. How does Paul portray his place in the events he narrates, and what does this portrayal reveal about the economy of power Paul seeks to describe? The reader of Galatians will recognize at the outset that this text is anything but a dispassionate reporting of events. I It is not even completely clear what took place at the meeting or meetings between Paul and the other leaders (particularly given seemingly parallel but quite different reports in the book of Acts), nor who misunderstood the intentions of whom in the incident between Cephas and Paul at Antioch. 2 1. It has frequendy been noted that Galatians is rhetorically crafted, and that, therefore, the categories and characteristics of ancient rhetoric are appropriate tools to advance understanding of the letter. Less universally agreed is the genre of rhetoric the Episde to the Galatians exemplifies. These distinctions, of course, give rise to differing interpretations of the letter's main themes, concerns and issues. For an overview of rhetorical treatments of Galatians, see J.D. Hester, 'The Use and Influence of Rhetoric in Galatians', TZ 42 (1986), pp. 386-408. 2. Since this study will be mainly concerned with Paul's perspective on the events reported, the issue of the comparative historical value of Galatians and Acts is of secondary concern. I do not find Paul's report unbiased, and I acknowledge that modem interpreters cannot be certain which facets of the story Paul exaggerates, omits or tells so as to cast his own actions and motives in the best possible light. But

4 Power Organizing Reality This study has investigated the bases of the Pauline discourse of power and explored how Paul negotiates conflict and handles disputes. But it still needs to demonstrate how these events and interactions are part of an overarching whole. By using the tenns 'discourse of power' and 'discourse of revelatory authority', I am claiming that the characteristics of Paul's texts noted in the preceding chapters are not just occasional occurrences, but that they contribute to a way of construing reality that underlies everything Paul says and does. To return to the question posed in Chapter 1, How does this discourse of power organize reality? And how may the interpreter identify and describe that organizing process?

Power, Authority and Grace The language of 'power' and 'authority' turns up regularly in the Pauline texts. The noun ouvaJ.l.lI;, 'power', appears 36 times in the undisputed Pauline letters; E~ou(Jia ('authority'), 17 times. Often, Paul makes reference to the power of God, which is eternal (Rom. 1.20) and greater than the powers of the world (Rom. 8.38; 1 Cor. 15.24). God grants power to human beings through the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 1.24; Phil. 3.10) or the Spirit (Rom. 15.13, 19; Gal. 3.5). Governmental authority is ordained by God (Rom. 13.1-7). Paul also speaks, however, of his own rights or authority, of which he says he voluntarily does not make full use (1 Cor. 9.3-18). Paul says that God has given him power to proclaim the gospel, and to perfonn signs and wonders (Rom. 15.19; 1 Cor. 2.4-5; 2 Cor. 13.3-4). Occasionally, Paul speaks of his power and authority in tenns that do not distinguish clearly whether the power being invoked is God's or his own (1 Cor. 5.4; cf. 2 Cor. 10.8; 13.10). On the whole, however, Paul's use of the specific terms ouVallt~ and E~ouma does not greatly advance interpreters' understanding of the larger discourse of power that underlies the Pauline texts. Since this study has used the phrase 'the discourse of revelatory

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Achtemeier, Paul)., The Quest for Unity in the New Testament Church: A Study in Paul and Acts (philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1987). Agnew, Francis H., The Origin of the NT Aposde-Concept: A Review of Research',jBL 105 (1986), pp. 75-96. Allison, Dale C., Jr, 'Peter and Cephas: One and the Same', jBL 111 (1992), pp. 489-95. AlIo, Ernest-Bernard, Premiere ep.tre aux Coritlthiens (Etudes Bibliques; Paris:). Gabalda, 2nd edn, 1956 [1934]). Althusser, Louis, Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays (trans. Ben Brewster; New York: Monthly Review Press, 1971). Anderson, Janice Capel, and Jeffrey L. Staley, 'Taking It Personally: Introduction', Semeia 72 (1995), pp. 7-18. Arac, Jonathan (ed.), After Foucault: Humanistic Knowledge, Postmodern Challenges (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1988). Bal, Mieke, Death and Dissymmetry: The Politics of Coherence in the Book qf judges (Chicago Studies in the History ofJudaism; Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988). Banks, Robert, Paul's Idea of Community: The Early House Churches in their Historical Setting (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1980; Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, rev. edn, 1994). The Baptist Faith and Message: A Statement Adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention

(Nashville, TN: The Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1963). Bartchy, S. Scott, 'Philemon, Letter to', ABD, V, pp. 305-10. Baur, Ferdinand Christian, Paul, the Apostle ofjesus Christ: His Life and Work, his Epistles and his Doctrine. A Contribution to a Critical History qf Primitive Christianity (2 vols.; trans. Eduard Zeller; London: Williams and Norgate, 2nd edn, 1876 [1845]). Bauckham, Richard)., 'Barnabas in Galatians',jSNT2 (1979), pp. 61-70. Beker, Johan Christiaan, Paul the Apostle: The Triumph qf God in Life and Thought (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1980). Bernauer, James, and Thomas Keenan, The Final Foucault (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1988). Best, Ernest, 'Paul's Apostolic Authority-?',jSNT27 (1986), pp. 3-25. Betz, Hans Dieter, 'Apostle', ABD, I, pp. 309-11. -'Eine Christus-Aretalogie bei Paulus (2 Kor 12,7-10)', ZTK 66 (1969), pp. 288-305. -Galatians: A Commentary on Paul's Leiter to the Churches in Galatia (Hermeneia; Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1979). The Bible and Culture Collective, The Postmodem Bible (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995). Bieder, Werner, Der PhilemonbrieJ(Prophezei; Zurich: Zwingli-Verlag, 1944). Black, Matthew, Romans (NCBC; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2nd edn, 1989).

INDEXES INDEX OF REFERENCES

BIBLE

2 Maaabees 9.8

Old Testament

Genesis 49.33

63

63 New Testament

Exodus 34.29-35

61

Esther 8.8

63

Isaiah 42.6 49.1-6 49.1 49.6

79,80 79 80,81 80

Jeremiah 1.5

79,80

Apocrypha Wisdom of Solomon 2.25 44

Ealesiaslicus 1.1 6.37 15.1-10 19.20 24.1-3 24.32-33 39.1-11

44 44 44 44 44 44 44

1 Maccabees 10.81

63

Matthew 8.27

63

Mark 1.27 4.41 6.27 6.39 9.25 10.42

63 63 63 63 63 86

Luke 4.36 8.25 8.31 14.22

63 63 63 63

John 1.42 7.4 7.13 7.26 10.24 11.14 11.54 16.25 16.29 18.20

91 61 61 61 61 61 61 61 61 61

Acts 11 15 15.2 15.4 15.6 15.22 15.23 16.17 23.2 Romans 1.1-6 1.1 1.2-4 1.3-4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.16 1.17-18 1.20 5-6 5.1-2 5.17 5.20 5.21 6.1 6.14 6.15 8.18 8.38 9-11

84 84, 86 86 86 86 86 86 79 63

111 12, 111 111 111 12, Ill, 122 111 123 89, 98 105 104 107 117 116 116 116 116 116 116 105 104 28

INDEX OF AUTHORS

Achtemeier, P.J. 84 Agnew, F.H. 24,25 Allison, D.e. 91 Allo, E.-B. 115 Althusser, L. 38, 39 Anderson, J. e. 127 Arac,]. 13 Bal, M. 39 Banks, R. 13 Bartchy, S.S. 58, 59 Bauckham, R.J. 94 Baur, F.e. 53 Beker,].e. 106,107,118 Bernauer, J. 13 Best, E. 64, 74 Betz, H.D. 13, 75, 76, 79, 80, 82, 84, 86,91,92,95, 112 Bieder, W. 53 Black, M. 108, 111 Borgen, P. 77 Bomkamm, G. 92 Bove, P.A. 37 Boyarin, D. 93 Brinsmead, B.H. 76 Brown, R.E. 94 Bultrnann, R. 106 Burton, E. 75

Camp, e. 44 Campenhausen, H. von 26, 31, 32, 86, 96 Castelli, E. 12, 14,43, 101, 102, 129 Chow, J.K. 98 Church, F.F. 54-56, 60 Clines, D.J.A. 38 Conzelmann, H. 106, 114, 115

Couchoud, P.-L. 61 Cousins, M. 13 Cranfield, e.E.B. 108, 111 Crenshaw,].L. 44 Cullmann, O. 28 Deissmann, A. 52 Deleuze, G. 13 Derrett, ].D.M. 55, 56 Diamond, 1. 13 Dibelius, M. 52-54 Dodd, e.H. 82 Donaldson, T.L. 99 Doughty, D.J. 106 Dreyfus, H.L. 14,15,19,40 Dubuis, E. 77 Dunn, ].D.G. 13,81,82, 87, 88, 90, 94 Ehrman, B. 91 Elliott, J.H. 56 Esler, P.F. 88,91, 92 Fee, G.D. 114 Felder, e.H. 126 Fitzmyer, J.A. 110, 112 Foucault, M. 13,15,19-21,40-43,47, 49, 50, 51, 59, 69, 70, 85, 100, 134, 135 Fraser, N. 14 Friedrich, G. 52 Garnsey, P. 57 Gaventa, B.R. 83, 90 Georgi, D. 84 Getty, M.A. 67 Giddens, A. 23, 36-38 Girard, R. 17