Reclaiming Paul?: Reconfiguration as Reclamation in 3 Corinthians
This article pursues an alternative approach to situating the historical circumstances and rhetorical strategies of the author of 3 Corinthians. Whereas most scholarship on 3 Corinthians has set out to ascertain the specific opponents lurking behind the polemic of the text (Simon Magus, Saturnilus,...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2009
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| In: |
Journal of early Christian studies
Year: 2009, Volume: 17, Issue: 4, Pages: 497-523 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
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| Summary: | This article pursues an alternative approach to situating the historical circumstances and rhetorical strategies of the author of 3 Corinthians. Whereas most scholarship on 3 Corinthians has set out to ascertain the specific opponents lurking behind the polemic of the text (Simon Magus, Saturnilus, Marcion, Valentinus, etc.), I believe that this task is futile and that a close reading of the "Paul" constructed by the text's author pays more fruitful dividends in situating the text. Specifically, I will argue that 3 Corinthians is a late second-century proto-orthodox invocation of the "Pastoral" Paul (i.e. the Paul of the Pastoral Epistles), who stands as the defender of apostolic teaching in the face of "deviant views" of a generally "gnostic" variety. Its closest rhetorical analogue is Irenaeus of Lyons. Both the author of 3 Corinthians and Irenaeus participate in a broad, late second-century move to reclaim Paul from the "heretics." Yet in each of these cases, the reclamation projects involve a tacit reconfiguration of the "historical" Paul. Among other things, Paul ironically becomes a defender of σάρξ. |
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| ISSN: | 1086-3184 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of early Christian studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1353/earl.0.0291 |