Thesis advisor: Angela Kim Harkins / Thesis advisor: Mary Rose D'Angelo / Paul of Tarsus has been considered a prominent figure in early Christianity, and his writings are major influence for the Western Christianity. Traditional interpretations of Paul as a heroic and authoritative figure have neglected his personal experiences, particularly his embodiment of weakness. In this thesis, I suggest that Paul’s embodied experience of weakness appears as the axis that articulates his argument in 2 Cor 10-13. I argue that if we take Paul’s weakness seriously, it turns out to be a decentering experience because he is claiming for a spot within the community as one-among-others, and not as its authoritative hero. The thesis is divided in three consecutive chapters. The first chapter of the thesis discusses the interpretative tradition of 2 Cor 10-13, highlighting how the major interpreters of the letter have shifted from rhetorical and linguistic perspectives to culturally embodied analyses that acknowledge Paul’s weakness. The second chapter examines the usage and function of weakness in Paul’s social and literary context as a Second Temple Jew and minister in Corinth. I discuss how the term 'σθένεια was employed in various texts from Greco-Roman, Second Temple Judaism, and early Christianity backgrounds and explores how diverse are the meanings regarding this word. The third chapter delves into how reading 2 Cor 10-13 through the lens of Paul’s weakness decenters him from an authoritative figure. I argue that the discussion in the letter of tears revolves around Paul’s identity, recognition of the Corinthians as agents in the discussion, and Paul’s claim for a spot as one-among-others in the community. Finally, I present conclusions to the study and ecclesiological projections of reading the Pauline correspondence through the decentering-Paul project’s eyes. / Thesis (STL) — Boston College, 2023. / Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry. / Discipline: Sacred Theology.

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Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T14:27:27Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Elcio Bernardino Correia.pdf: 2026364 bytes, checksum: 2b31eb0bf9d0be23e832ee3444756028 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-08-27 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The object of this study is the role of the apostle Paul as master of sound doctrine. The main focus states that although the call of the Apostle is comprehensive and highlighted the multiplicity of roles, everything ends converging in the characterization of Paul as a master of sound doctrine to the nations.This master will find a multitude of contexts while the task of exposing the Gospel. Paul is called by God to present a doctrine, but not only once but the doctrine of God, the Gospel. Paul is called to teach the truth of Christianity in a world full of "truths." He is both a receiver and interpreter of biblical revelation.The work presents as foundation first whole biblical picture of the master's role in the Old Testament, with the underlying emphasis that God is the Master, the source of all truth. God is presented as the one who educates mankind and sets his pedagogy directly or intermediate way. Secondly discusses the maximum translation of God's teaching, Jesus Christ himself. This is presented as the Master Teacher. Finally, the Apostle is presented in the exercise of his calling as a master of sound doctrine to the nations / O objeto deste estudo é o papel do apóstolo Paulo como mestre da sã doutrina. O principal enfoque estabelece que embora o chamado do Apóstolo seja abrangente e destacado pela multiplicidade de papeis, tudo acaba convergindo na caracterização de Paulo como um mestre da sã doutrina para as nações. Este mestre irá encontrar uma profusão de contextos enquanto estiver na tarefa da exposição do Evangelho. Paulo é chamado por Deus para apresentar uma doutrina, mas não somente mais uma e sim a doutrina de Deus, Evangelho. Paulo é chamado para ensinar a verdade do cristianismo em um mundo cheio de verdades . Ele é tanto um receptor quanto intérprete de revelação bíblica. O trabalho apresenta como alicerce primeiramente todo um panorama bíblico do papel do mestre no Antigo Testamento, com a ênfase subjacente de que Deus é o Mestre, fonte de toda a verdade. Deus é apresentado como aquele que educa a humanidade e estabelece sua pedagogia de forma direta ou mediatária. Em segundo lugar aborda a tradução máxima do ensino de Deus, o próprio Jesus Cristo. Este é apresentado como o Mestre por excelência. Finalmente, o Apóstolo é apresentado no exercício de seu chamado como mestre da sã doutrina às nações

Many may have noticed that Paul employs large number of passages from the book of Isaiah in his various Epistles. Some of those Isaianic texts are used as explicit citations whilst others are used in a more nuanced manner such as allusions and intertextual echoes. Yet, in spite of the importance of Isaiah in Paul’s letters and the centrality of Paul’s vocation as an apostle to the Gentiles in Paul’s life, no specialized study of the relationship between these two significant aspects has appeared to date. More specifically, amongst those who notice the significance of Isaiah in Paul’s Epistles, it has been widely held that Paul identifies himself with the Isaianic Servant in the way that he sees himself as the fulfilment of the Isaianic Servant. The present study seeks to explore how Paul reads Isaiah as reflected in Galatians, Romans, and 1 and 2 Corinthians, four of his undisputed authentic letters, where explicit citations and clear allusions are detected. It is not so much a study of the mechanics of citation or allusion per se as of seeing Paul as a reader and interpreter of the scriptural text. Special attention is paid to the interplay of Paul’s reading of the Isaianic texts, the role of the servant figure portrayed in Isaiah 40-66, and his understanding of Jesus as well as his own Gentile mission in the light of Isaiah. Based on a slightly modified model set out by Richard Hays, the study proceeds by looking at some of the major instances of Paul’s using of Isaianic texts within the larger literary contexts, both in Isaiah and in the flow of Paul’s argument. The goal of the study is fourfold: First, to see whether Paul’s use of these ancient texts is ‘atomistic’, taken the text out of context and applied it to his argument to serve his own purpose or given consideration of the wider context of the original text. Second, to explore how Paul reads Isaiah in the light of his special called ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles, and how the reading of the scriptural text provides him insights to God’s ongoing salvific work in the history of Israel and the person of Jesus. Third, to clarify Paul’s sense of identification with the Isaianic servant figure in relation to the ministry of Jesus and his own mission; and finally, how Paul views the Gentile mission in which he is involved in relation to the final salvation of Israel and humanity. Particular attention has been paid to Paul’s identification of the Isaianic Servant. It has been argued that he sees Jesus as the eschatological fulfilment of the Isaianic Servant. Jesus’ death and resurrection established the foundation of hope and provided a paradigm for his apostolic existence. He sees himself as the Isaianic servant in the sense that he lives a life in total identification with that of Christ, who, though experiences suffering and death, will be vindicated eventually by God.

A common theme in examining Christian identity focuses on the emergence of that identity, on locating the point in time within the history of the Christian church that one can first observe a clearly identifiable community which can be called ‘Christian.’ There is evidence that a clear sense of a Christian identity existed by the second century CE. This is expressed in several authors from the second century CE, who employ ‘ethnic’ terminology to refer to the Christians as a ‘new’ or ‘third’ race. What allowed these authors to identify the Christians as a distinct ‘race’ so soon after the emergence of the group? This study explores the origins of this ‘race’ of Christians. Examination of the earliest existent Christian texts, the undisputed letters of the apostle Paul, demonstrates a group which exists partially within the Jewish identity group, and yet simultaneously displays features of a unique group identity. Two methods of investigation are employed to explore the origins of a Christian ‘race.’ First, from those authors who describe the Christians as a ‘race,’ a ‘vocabulary of identity’ is identified, and instances of this vocabulary are examined in the undisputed Pauline corpus to demonstrate the continued Jewish identity of Paul and many of his congregants. Second, a series of group identity features which are unique to the Jewish identity group are drawn from the work of John Hutchinson and Anthony D. Smith, James D.G. Dunn, and E.P. Sanders. An examination of these features in the undisputed Pauline corpus shows the beginnings of a distancing between the nascent Christian movement and its Jewish parent body. Continuing the investigation, the study explores the Pauline epistles for evidence of uniquely Christian group identity features. A series of these identifiers are examined, demonstrating the methods by which the earliest Christ-followers were identified as Christ-followers. These Christ-following identifiers served as the basis for the eventual ‘ethnic’ distinction of the Christian movement. The thesis concludes that the Pauline epistles reveal the origins of the later Christian ‘race’, and that during the first century Paul and his congregations simultaneously existed within the Jewish identity group, and alongside this group as members of an identifiable Christ-following identity group.

Thesis advisor: Thomas Stegman / Thesis advisor: Colleen Griffith / The fundamental premise underlying this work is that in Rom 5:1-11, Paul presents God’s reconciliation of humanity with Godself through Jesus’ death as both a key expression of God’s salvific activity and as the foundation and model of reconciliation among peoples. Contrary to studies which create a dichotomy in Paul’s understanding of reconciliation as either a reconciliation between God and humans or a reconciliation among humans themselves, this study presents reconciliation as a key Pauline soteriological expression which has both vertical and horizontal implications with emphasis on how Paul’s theology of reconciliation shapes his discourse on God’s righteousness and the social relationship of the new people of God, especially in reference to gender and ethnic/racial relationships. While there may be no explicit reference to the horizontal dimension of reconciliation in the text of Rom 5:1-11, it is the task of this study to demonstrate that in the letter to the Romans, horizontal reconciliation presupposes vertical reconciliation and both are inseparable. Among ndi Igbo, the perennial cultural practice of inequality and the subordination of persons because of ethnicity/class (Osu Caste System) and gender (discrimination and subordination of women) are among the major causes of disaffections that breed tensions, conflicts, and division within the community. This study proposes that embodying Paul’s ethics of vertical and horizontal reconciliation by the Igbo Christian communities can go a long way towards enhancing social and cultural transformation that can lead to peaceful interpersonal relationships and a just Christian community. / Thesis (STL) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry. / Discipline: Sacred Theology.

Thesis advisor: Thomas D. Stegman / Thesis advisor: Christopher R. Matthews / The history of interpretation of the phrase nous Christou, which Paul employs in 1 Cor 2:16, mainly focuses on tracing the Hellenistic influence on his writings. No doubt, the Greek language Paul employs in explaining the gospel and the dominant culture of his world make this scholarly proclivity a credible one. But Paul, being a faithful Jew and a creative writer, is capable of appealing to his rich and diverse religious heritage, and his literary ingenuity to communicate his message. This angle of interpretation is seldom explored in discussing the nous Christou. / Thesis (STL) — Boston College, 2017. / Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry. / Discipline: Sacred Theology.

This thesis will examine closely two aspects of Pauline theology, namely, the timing of the resurrection and the state of the believer who dies before the parousia. Through exegesis of 2 Cor 5:1-10, the basic consistency in Paul's thinking and the arguments for and against the intermediate state will be examined. Chapter 1 analyzes what 1 Thess. 4, 1 Cor. 15, and 2 Cor. 5 have to say on the issue, comparing the passages as to content and compatibility. Chapters 2 and 3 pursue more fully questions related to the issue of postmortem existence. Chapter Two deals with Paul's use of verb $ underline{ eta o iota mu alpha sigma beta alpha iota}$ as a metaphor for death and the idea of the intermediate state as soul-sleep (psychopannychism). Chapter 3 explores the matter of Paul's concept of the "I" or "self" (or "naked" self), raised by Paul in 2 Cor. 5:3. The Pauline anthropology is compared with Hellenistic anthropological dualism in order to show the similarities and differences.

The purpose of the study is to advance the question of Paul's relationship to the historical Jesus by going beyond a mere paralleling of texts and by concentrating on the genuinely theological themes that join them. In contrast to the "new hermeneutic", and Eberhard Jungel in particular, the method of enquiry will emphasize events that speak rather than "speech-events" (Sprachereignisse) . The central thesis suggests that Jesus and Paul are related on an essentially theo-logical level. That is, they realized God, both in their perception and experience, as one who offered grace and reconciliation to the outcasts and sinners of their day. It is proposed that Jesus' deliberate table-fellowship with toll collectors and sinners revealed such a theology. It is further suggested that this fresh vision of God emboldened the Hellenists, and eventually the Apostle Paul, to welcome uncircumcised Gentiles as equal members of the people of God. Paul's violent persecution of the Hellenists was short-lived, for on the Damascus road he too experienced the God who justifies the ungodly. And finally it was postulated that the experience of the Spirit among the Gentiles served as evidentiary proof that God was indeed open to outsiders. Egalitarianism and mutual acceptance was to be the norm for the church. Thus the goal of the dissertation is to argue that the theological continuity expressed above is not due to mere coincidence, but is traceable to the deeds and words of the historical Jesus.

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