Luke Timothy Johnson - Constructing Paul

THE CANONICAL PAUL

volume 1

Constructing Paul

Luke Timothy Johnson

WILLIAM B. EERDMANS PUBLISHING COMPANY

GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN

Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

4035 Park East Court SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

www.eerdmans.com

2020 Luke Timothy Johnson

All rights reserved

Published 2020

262524232221201234567

ISBN 978-0-8028-0758-8

eISBN 978-1-4674-5849-8

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Johnson, Luke Timothy, author.

Title: Constructing Paul : the canonical Paul / Luke Timothy Johnson.

Description: Grand Rapids, Michigan : William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: First of a two-volume work providing a framework for understanding the life and thought of the apostle Paul Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019036811 | ISBN 9780802807588 (hardcover)

Subjects: LCSH: Bible. Epistles of PaulCriticism, interpretation, etc.

Classification: LCC BS2650.52 .J64 2020 | DDC 225.9/2dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019036811

Unless noted otherwise, Scripture quotations are from Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1946, 1952, and 1971 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org/

CONTENTS

T his is the first of two volumes dedicated to the canonical Paul. The canonical Paul is the term I use for the thirteen letters under his name that have been read in the churchs worship and have been the basis for the churchs debates over Christian belief and behavior. These thirteen letters should be what Christian readers mean when they speak of Paul, because, apart from the Acts of the Apostles, they alone provide secure access to the historical circumstances of their composition, and they alone address present-day readers as the words of Gods chosen vessel to bring the good news to the gentiles, among whom we stand. This first volume takes up in the form of essays all the questions pertinent to the canonical Paul as a set of compositions, only at the very end making a case for why this Paul ought to be heard today as a liberating rather than oppressing voice.

The second volume consists of a series of specific studies of each canonical letter, excepting only Philemon, which gets treated in the present volume. These studies do not purport to provide an adequate interpretation of each letter; exegetical studies of that sort can be found in many places, including my own interpretation of the New Testament. Instead, each study tries to demonstrate how many and different questions can be put to each letter, and how rewarding to thought and life the serious engagement with each writing can be. Far from being exhaustive, the essays show the possibilities for further and better inquiry into these amazing compositions, once we abandon the silly notion of finding and fixing a single Paul who can be abstracted from the actual compositions that he (almost surely together with others) wrote, and turn gladly to the compositions themselvesall the compositionsas an arena for thought and debate.

The circumstances under which this volume was written were difficult, but I hope that clarity in thought and expression did not suffer as a result. I dedicate this book to my late wife, Joy, who was unstinting in her support of all I have done. Special thanks for the encouragement and support of colleagues like Carl Holladay and Steven Kraftchick, who dont agree with much of what I have to say, but seem to enjoy the way I say it. Talented doctoral students, who have feigned interest when afflicted with passages read aloud, have been a sustaining presence throughout many years. Among recent implicit collaborators (or silent victims) are Bo Adams, Brandon Wason, Chris Holmes, Michael Suh, Jennifer Wyant, Jenny Pietz, Jarrett Knight, and especially David Carr, whose intellectual and practical assistance would be difficult to measure.

LUKE TIMOTHY JOHNSON

Emory University

December 31, 2018