Ignatius of Antioch and Early Christian Hymns

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Roman Catholics remember Ignatius of Antioch, the second-century bishop and martyr, on this day. For theologians and historians the letters of Ignatius provide a unique window into the development of Christianity in the early second century. To me, one of the more interesting aspects of his letters is his extensive use of musical imagery and his inclusion of several hymns in his letters. In this regard he continues the practice of the apostle Paul, who regularly utilized the language and content of early Christian worship to support the message of his letters, and to instruct his churches with regard to his understanding of the significance of Jesus (e.g. Phil 2:6-11 and Col 1:15-20). Here is an example of the kind of hymnody represented in Ignatius:

There is one physician,

both fleshly and spiritual

begotten and unbegotten,

come in flesh, God,

in death, true life,

both of Mary and of God,

first passible and then impassible,

Jesus Christ, our Lord. (Ign. Eph. 7:2)

[Translation from William R. Schoedel, Ignatius of Antioch: A Commentary on the Letters of Ignatius of Antioch (Hermeneia; Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1985), 59.]

With its emphasis on paradoxical aspects of the incarnation, this particular hymn emphasizes both the human and divine foci of early christological reflection. It is likely that Ignatius was using this kind of language to counter the emerging threat of docetism, which held that Jesus only appeared to suffer and die as a human, but was really always and only fully divine. As is readily apparent, these kinds of early hymnic compositions move beyond those of the New Testament in terms of their philosophical and theological sophistication. Whether Ignatius composed it himself as a “quasi-creedal statement” (Schoedel) or is quoting an already known hymn, compositions like this show one way that theological reflection serves to meet the needs and challenges of a new generation: through adaptation in the language and content of worship.

For further discussion of the hymns in Ignatius, see my analysis in Teaching through Song in Antiquity: Didactic Hymnody among Greeks, Romans, Jews and Christians (WUNT 2.302; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2011), pp. 353-358. Portions of the volume can be viewed on Google books.

How did Jesus come to be acclaimed as "LORD"?

Wilhelm Bousset’s influential and groundbreaking book on the origins of Christianity, Kyrios Christos, which was originally published in 1913 and translated into English in 1970, has now been reprinted with a new preface by Larry Hurtado (Emeritus Professor; New Testament Language, Literature & Theology at the University of Edinburgh). Hurtado, whose own major work, Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Early Christianity (Eerdmans, 2003) is in close dialogue with Bousset (though he comes to rather different conclusions), has made his 19-page introduction available here at his blog.

For those new to the question of how and when it came about that Jesus was first called “Lord” and was worshipped alongside the Father by his early followers, Hurtado's introduction provides a fascinating historical perspective. While affirming Bousset’s impulse to set earliest Christianity within its historical context, Hurtado identifies a number of problems with Bousset’s conclusions:

• The problem of positing two theologically and culturally distinct early Christian groupings: “Palestinian-Jewish” and “Hellenistic-Gentile” (14). Even widening that to three divergent groups is problematic since the inter-relationships between early Jewish and Gentile Christian communities were much more complicated than such a framework allows.
• The failure to recognize the appropriate background of the title “Son of Man” (15)
• Bousset’s problematic suggestion that the Aramaic mara natha of 1 Cor 16:22 was later than, and influenced by, the Greek attribution kyrios (15-16)

In addition to the historical critique is the identification of the extent to which Bousset was writing in the context of a German intellectual framework which sought to minimize any connection between Christianity and Judaism. Hurtado cites two recent studies which have documented this troubling aspect of German biblical scholarship of the early 20^th century.

For its concise review of the impact of this volume and its attention to these critical points of ongoing relevance, Hurtado’s preface is well worth reading.

Rabbinic perspectives on finding the time to study

In my current project of seeking to identify some aspects of Paul’s thought which may be rooted in his Pharisaic education and training (cf. Phil 3:5), I can occasionally follow rabbit trails to interesting places. Looking up some references in the Mishnah I was reminded of the many references to the value of Torah study. Here are a few of the sayings from Pirke Abot that struck me from among the sayings of Hillel:

He who does not increase (his knowledge) decreases (it). (m. Abot 1:13)

Neither say, ‘When I have leisure I will study’; perchance thou wilt have no leisure. (m. Abot 2:5)

And if not now, when? (m. Abot 1:14)

While these are challenging reminders for those of us who want to pursue the life of the mind out of a sense of vocation, they also attest to the frustration that can come as we face the limits of our time and the pressing demands of our daily lives. For the rabbis, however, the need to work (i.e. have a real job) alongside the study process was regarded as a positive, not a negative. In that respect, I find the following comment most interesting:

Rabban Gamaliel, the son of Rabbi Judah, the Prince, said, “Excellent is the study of Torah combined with some worldly pursuit, for the effort demanded by them both makes sin to be forgotten. All study of Torah without work must at length be futile, and leads to sin.” (m. Abot 2:2)

Finally, Rabbi Eleazar offers an exhortation that is always timely, and that serves as a fitting end to this short post. In addition to being diligent in study:

know also before whom thou toilest, and who thy Employer is, who will pay thee the reward of thy labor. (m. Abot 2:19)

Mishnah citations taken from online translation by Gorfinkle available at http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/8547/pg8547.html.

Textbooks for "Paul and Early Judaism"

Though not yet available on the university bookstore website, textbooks for my spring 2014 class, BNTB 685 Paul and Early Judaism, are now decided. There are many excellent books we could have used, but I have decided to take advantage of the timing of the release of N. T. Wright's Paul and the Faithfulness of God next month to help shape our discussion. Thus, we will be working through the following two texts as we consider the letters of Paul within their Jewish contexts:

• N. T. Wright, Paul and the Faithfulness of God. Fortress Press, 2013. ISBN: 9780800626839
• John J. Collins and Daniel C. Harlow, eds., Early Judaism: A Comprehensive Overview. Eerdmans, 2012. ISBN: 978-0-8028-6922-7

PhD students who are taking this seminar at the doctoral level will read the texts listed above, but will also be required to read and report on an additional text:

• E. P. Sanders, Paul and Palestinian Judaism. Fortress, 1977. ISBN: 978-0800618995

In addition, I am recommending the following text for a general introduction to the variety of ways Paul is being read these days:

• Michael Bird, ed. Four Views on the Apostle Paul. Zondervan, 2012. ISBN: 9780310326953.

With these authors as our conversation partners, I am confident that it will be a challenging and fruitful spring for those of us who will be in this seminar together.

David Aune on Galatians 3:28 and the Problem of Equality

New Testament scholars in a variety of specialties will be pleased to see that a second collection of the essays of David Aune has been released this year by Mohr Siebeck: Jesus, Gospel Tradition and Paul in the Context of Jewish and Greco-Roman Antiquity. I will say more about this rich volume as a whole in a later post. For now I focus on the final essay of this volume, “Galatians 3:28 and the Problem of Equality in the Church and Society” (pp. 524-549), in which David Aune provides some important context for understanding the notion of equality in Christ that Paul outlines in Gal 3:28. The real heart of the issue is the extent to which Paul was only advocating a kind of equality coram deo (before God) in which all have equal access to the possibility of being “in Christ” but which has no significant impact in concrete social relationships; or whether Paul was suggesting that this equality before God must also be somehow physically manifested in concrete social relationships between males and females, slaves and free, Jews and Gentiles, within the churches.

To shed light on Paul’s views, Aune reviews the teaching and example of Jesus with regard to equality and the erasing of hierarchical distinctions. He also reviews contemporary Jewish and Greco-Roman views on each of the relationships of the Gal 3:28 triad: Jew/Gentile, slave/free, male/female.

Most illuminating is comparing Gal 3:28 with what Paul says elsewhere about these distinctions. Notably, in 1 Cor 7 Paul addresses each of the three elements of this triad of conventional hierarchies. Further, by reading Gal 3:28 in light of Paul’s conflict with Peter over table fellowship between Jews and Gentiles (Gal 2:11-14), Aune suggests that Paul fully expected that the abolishment “in Christ” of these conventional social hierarchies would be played out in practice in the real relationships of believers with one another. 

“The very fact that Paul thought national differences were irrelevant for those who belonged to the new people of God suggests that the two other areas of equality, ‘neither slave nor free’ and ‘neither male nor female,’ not only reflect equal status before God, they also signal changed attitudes toward others that ought to prevail in the life of the Church” (549)

Paul’s letter to Philemon offers another concrete instance of Paul’s expectation that being “in Christ” would have concrete implications in the relationships of Christians with one another. How the tensions this expectation created would be resolved is not so clearly addressed by Paul (at least not in the case of Onesimus and Philemon). Aune explains,

“While Paul does not resolve the tension that would have existed between those two quite different roles [i.e. being a slave in the flesh vs. being a spiritual brother in Christ], a transformation of social relationships is surely in view” (549).

Aune thus provides a helpful way of positioning Paul within his first-century context and within the context of early Christian writers. Paul, though surely influenced by the conventions of his day, points to a new way of relating to one another within the community of believers. The dynamic tensions inherent within these new ways of relating will, it seems, need to be addressed in the day to day lives of each new generation of believers who live within the social structures of the world but also find themselves “one in Christ Jesus.”

Francis of Assisi on Interpreting the Bible

In honor of St. Francis of Assisi (whose day is observed on Oct 4 by Roman Catholics), I provide here a brief selection from The Writings of Saint Francis of Assisi. In this excerpt from his “Words of Admonition,” we encounter a perspective on biblical interpretation that is quite relevant for this particular biblical studies blog, as well as for all Christians who seek not only to interpret but also to embody the teachings of Scripture in their lives. Francis offers both a warning and an encouragement:

 

The Apostle says, “the letter killeth, but the spirit quickeneth.” They are killed by the letter who seek only to know the words that they may be esteemed more learned among others and that they may acquire great riches to leave to their relations and friends. And those religious are killed by the letter who will not follow the spirit of the Holy Scriptures, but who seek rather to know the words only and to interpret them to others. And they are quickened by the spirit of the Holy Scriptures who do not interpret materially every text they know or wish to know, but who by word and example give them back to God from whom is all good.*

In the spirit of this excerpt, especially on this day, may we seek to know not only the words of Scripture and their meanings, but also how to embody the “spirit of the Holy Scriptures” in our words and deeds.

*Admonition 7 from The Writings of Saint Francis of Assisi, newly translated into English with an Introduction and Notes by Father Paschal Robinson (Philadelphia: The Dolphin Press, 1906). Available online at: http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=1172

 

Sarah Ruden's "Paul among the People"

I recently read Sarah Ruden’s Paul among the People (New York: Pantheon Books, 2010). In this volume Ruden, a trained classicist, examines several aspects of Paul’s writings by comparing them with ancient Greco-Roman writings. The topics she covers include perspectives on sin and sinful behavior, sex, homosexuality, marriage, slavery, and submission to rulers. In each case she brings clarity to Greek and Roman perspectives on these topics, and sheds light on Paul’s meaning by reading Paul against the Greco-Roman backdrop. In some cases, her readings are very plausible and provide much needed correctives to contemporary mis-readings of such passages (chapters 2, 4, 6, for example). In other cases, in spite of creative effort, the results are not as persuasive (chapter 5, on Paul and the state). Even in cases where her readings do not convince, she offers a rich treasury of primary source materials for contemporary readers of Paul to consider.

In this regard, Ruden is to be commended for her fresh approach to reading Paul in his Greco-Roman context. She seeks to defend Paul from negative interpretations and views such as she herself had previously had. As she began reading Paul in context, she writes,

It seemed to me that many reactions to him across the centuries had been distorted or incomplete in ways that would not have survived a look at his main contemporary and near-contemporary audiences through their own books. For every implausible reading of Paul, there were Greco-Roman works through the lens of which he showed more plausibly (4)

Ruden, in spite of having been what she refers to as a “knee-jerk anti-Paulist” (5), has a high view of Paul and his contributions to the history of Western thought. She credits Paul with foundational ideas that shape all of Western history: “no other intellect contributed as much to making us who we are” (xix). Nevertheless, she still seems to maintain some commonplace stereotypes of Paul: “His faults are obvious enough: his bad temper, his self-righteousness, his anxiety” (4-5). And “he never overcame his touchiness, his fussiness, or his arrogance” (26). On the buildup to 1 Cor 13 in 1 Cor 12:29-30, she writes, “The lecture is showing typical irritability” (171).  She seems to cast events and conflicts in Paul’s life in the worst light: “Paul is just not a nice guy” (183).

It seems to me that greater attention to another aspect of Paul’s Greco-Roman context might have helped Ruden position Paul even a little more sympathetically. Specifically, attention to the context of ancient rhetoric and debate, particularly the agonistic paradigm in which Paul wrote, could perhaps help to reframe those otherwise stereotypical ways of reading Paul. It may be that his apparent arrogance, bad temper, and so forth, as Ruden (and others) have perceived them, were simply reflections of how an educated person wrote to persuade others in antiquity (cf. the work of Margaret Mitchell). Sensibilities about how to persuade others in the first century were indeed quite different than our own.

Regardless of this omission about the significance of Pauline rhetoric, overall Ruden rightly appraises Paul’s approach: “The first efforts at setting Paul’s words against the words of polytheistic authors helped explain why early Christianity was so compelling, growing as no popular movement ever had before” (7). In coming to grips with the essence of Paul's message to his communities of believers, Ruden explains: “To those asking, ‘But how do we live, right here, right now?’ his answer was always in essence the same: ‘In a way worthy of God’s infinite love for each of you” (7). Ruden's volume provides some new perspectives on how contemporary readers of Paul can ask and answer that same question.

I hope this volume will also encourage its readers toward additional efforts to read Paul more fully within his Greco-Roman context.