Paul’s Preaching and Postmodern Skepticism

In this insightful analysis of Paul's famous speech to the Areopagus council in Athens, the author illuminates the rhetorical strategy and theological depth of Paul's engagement with his pagan audience. The paper argues that Paul employs a clever approach of building bridges between the biblical worldview and Greek philosophical concepts, while simultaneously subverting and critiquing key aspects of the Athenian belief system. Paul's speech is situated within the historical and literary context of Acts, with attention to how it advances Luke's broader narrative purposes. The author unpacks the flow of Paul's argument in detail: Identifying the Athenians' ignorance about the true nature of God (vv.22-23) Proclaiming the one Creator God who is Lord of all (vv.24-25) Affirming God's providence over the inhabited world and the universal human purpose to seek Him (vv.26-28) Condemning idolatry as inconsistent with humanity's creation in God's image (v.29) Calling for repentance in light of impending divine judgment through the risen Christ (vv.30-31) Throughout the speech, Paul employs ambiguous language that allows his words to resonate with Greek philosophical concepts, while investing those concepts with radically new biblical meaning. This enables Paul to gain a hearing, build rapport, and sow seeds of truth - even as he mounts a strong polemic against pagan religiosity. The author mines Paul's speech for its rich theology proper (doctrine of God) and theological anthropology (doctrine of humanity). Key insights include: God's transcendence as Creator above and apart from the world God's immanence and personal presence to all people God's providence in orchestrating human history God's self-sufficiency and independence from human offerings God's justice in judgment and mercy in overlooking past ignorance Humanity's creation in God's image, with a purpose to seek God In conclusion, the paper suggests contemporary applications, calling readers to worship God on His terms with all of their being. Paul's masterful speech provides a model for engaging skeptical audiences by affirming truth, subverting falsehood, and pointing to Christ.

This book is a revised doctoral dissertation completed at the London School of Theology (2011) under the supervision of Steve Walton. The title, Swimming in the Sea of Scripture, expresses the author's methodological approach as well as his understanding of Paul's linguistic and theological backdrop. According to Han, Paul's "use" of scripture is mainly understood through a contextual reading strategy (78-79, 114, 146-47, 187-89). In addition to claiming that he will be examining Paul's use of scripture in 2 Cor 4-13, Han indicates more than once that his study will "focus on how the Scriptures inform and shape Paul's understanding of the identity of the Gentile Christians as well as his own identity and ministry" (15; see also 2, 24, 79, 114-15, 147, 188). This seems, at least to me, to be one of Han's key contributions.

This study argues that the purpose of 2 Corinthians is two confront the struggle between two diametrically opposed worldviews, indicated by Paul as κατὰ σάρκα and kainh kt…sij. In 2 Corinthians, Paul contrasts the way of knowing and evaluating the world and the people in it. While the dominant Greco Roman culture valued the externals attributes of people, including wealth, power, prestige, and success, the way of Christ Paul proclaims is centered on the self-giving action of the cross. The community of Christ is called to be a “new creation community” and live out the counter-cultural values of compassion, humility, and service. Previous scholarly treatments of 2 Corinthians 5:11-20 and 2 Corinthians as a whole have focused on: (1) the supposed apologetic nature of the epistle, proposing that Paul is actively defending himself and his ministry before the critiques of his opponents; (2) the identification of the rhetorical genre of 2 Corinthians as forensic, the genre of defense; (3) the identification of the outside opponents, the so-called “super apostles” of 2 Corinthians 10-13 as the primary catalyst for the conflict in Corinth that precedes the writing of 2 Corinthians. Through the employment of George A. Kennedy’s rhetorically informed methodology, this study will demonstrate the inadequacies of the previous treatments. Chapter One will explore the historical and sociological background of Corinth, from which comes the community of Jesus followers founded by Paul. Chapter Two will explore in detail the rhetorical species and status of 2 Corinthians, demonstrating Paul’s intentional use of deliberative rhetoric as a tool for community well-being and unity. Paul’s choice of this rhetorical genre is intentional and pivotal to understand his purpose in sending the epistle and the message it contains. Chapter Three will explore Paul’s argumentation in 2 Corinthians, focusing primarily on the first 7 chapters. It is important to see how Paul confronts and critiques the κατὰ σάρκα cultural norms by which the Corinthians are evaluating both themselves and Paul and how Paul deftly contrasts that world view with the one centered in the kainh kt…sij in Christ. Finally, Chapter Four will explore the section in 2 Corinthians 5:11-21, demonstrating how this represents the theological climax of Paul’s message to the Corinthian community.

Journal of Biblical Literature, 2002

What was at stake when the church in Corinth was divided? Abandoning the older quest for a Corinthian heresy, recent studies have rightly tended to understand the factions in Corinth against the background of the conventions of Greco-Roman rhetoric. It should not be overlooked, however, that Paul understood these factions as symptomatic of a grave theological error in Corinth. 1 The thesis of this article is that by attempting to excel by worldly stan-1 The trend to focus on the factions as an ethical problem rather than a theological one seems to have started with Johannes Munck, who remarked that "the Corinthians' wrong conception of the Gospel as wisdom is connected with their misunderstanding of other points; but there is no dogmatic controversy in the first four chapters. .. the Corinthians' shortcomings in respect of their bickerings are regarded in this section as primarily ethical failures" (Paul and the Salvation of Mankind [London: SCM, 1959], 152). Munck also saw theological implications of the conflict, but other scholars have tended to understand the conflict in exclusively sociological terms. Laurence L. Welborn observes: "The terms with which sciv sma is associated make it clear that it is neither a religious heresy nor a harmless clique that the author has in mind, but factions engaged in a struggle for power"; and he thinks that "[i]t is no longer necessary to argue against the position that the conflict which evoked 1 Corinthians 1-4 was essentially theological in character" ("On the Discord in

Paul: In Fresh Perspective, 2009

The interpretation of "the god of this age" in 2 Cor 4:4 was more puzzling to ancient interpreters than for modern ones. among commentators today, paul simply makes reference to satan, 1 who deludes potential converts and * some of this research was initially presented in the intertextuality in the new Testament session at the annual sbl meeting in san Francisco, 19 november 2011, but subsequently substantially revised. many thanks are due to Vernon K. robbins and roy r. Jeal for their helpful comments on my research. 1. so Carl F. g. heinrici, Der zweite Brief an die Korinther, mit einem Anhang:

Nederduitse Gereformeerde Teologiese Tydskrif, 2015