The Apostle of God: Paul and the Promise of Abraham

by White, John L.

• ISBN13: 9781565632837
• ISBN10: 1565632834
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-10-01
• Publisher: Hendrickson Pub

Summary

Most interpreters of Paul emphasize that for Paul, God, as universal lawgiver and judge, effects righteousness through Christ's saving death, that is, along lines entirely compatible with Paul's previously Pharisaic understanding of God. But since for Paul the power of Torah and tradition to save had in essence its legs kicked out from under it, the questions need to be asked, What made it possible for Gentiles to be saved? What effect did Paul's conversion have on his understanding of God? Loyola University Professor John L. White contends that to understand the Christ-event in accordance with Torah and Jewish tradition, Paul" the Apostle to the Gentiles" recognized in Abraham and Sarah (as neither ethnically Jewish nor Torah-bound) the explanation for the new status of Gentiles. Because of Christ, the promised seed of Abraham, the Gentiles receive the blessing of Abraham. For the apostle of God, this revelation came not from others or from human teaching, but from his encounter with the God of Abraham and Sarah.

"In this unique study White proposes that Pau

Table of Contents

ILLUSTRATIONS	xi	(2)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS	xiii	(2)
ABBREVIATIONS	xv	(4)
INTRODUCTION: PAUL'S VISIONARY EXPERIENCE OF GOD	xix
The Radicality of Paul's Idea of God	xx	(2)
Adoption as the True Basis of Being God's Family	xxii	(7)
The Centrality of God as Creator in Paul's Belief	xxix
Part One: God's Character as Creator in Paul's Rhetoric	3	(90)
1 CREATOR: PAUL'S ROOT METAPHOR FOR GOD	3	(16)
The Role of Metaphor in Human Comprehension	6	(4)
Paul's Root Metaphor for God	10	(9)
2 A SURVEY OF PAUL'S USE OF ANALOGY	19	(41)
Paul's Metaphors and Images	19	(34)
Reflections on Paul's Use of Metaphor	53	(7)
3 THEOLOGICAL CONVERGENCE IN PAUL'S RHETORIC	60	(33)
Opening and Closing Conventions in Paul's Letters	62	(10)
Literary Rhetoric in the Body of Paul's Letters	72	(16)
Concluding Reflections on Paul's Rhetoric	88	(5)
Part Two: Greco-Roman Influences on Paul's Idea of God	93	(46)
4 "PEOPLE IS CHANGIN', BUT GOIN' RIGHT ON"	93	(17)
Changing Ideas of Divinity, Cosmology, and Community in the Hellenistic Period	94	(1)
Economic Changes in the Greek World	95	(3)
Universalism and the Greco-Roman Ruler Cult	98	(12)
5 THE ROMAN EMPIRE AND GOD'S EMPIRE	110	(29)
The Augustan Imperial Ideal	111	(19)
The Roman Empire and Paul's Idea of God's Empire	130	(9)
Part Three: God Our Father, Christ the Lord, and the Household of Faith	139	(107)
6 GOD OUR FATHER	139	(34)
God's Character as Universal Creator	141	(16)
God as Father of the Family and Father of the Race	157	(14)
Closing Prospective	171	(2)
7 CHRIST THE LORD	173	(34)
Christ, Lord of God's Empire	176	(15)
Christ, Head of the House and Priestly Lord	191	(13)
Concluding Reflections	204	(3)
8 "A HOUSE NOT MADE WITH HANDS"	207	(39)
The Household of Faith	208	(21)
Abraham's Offspring According to Promise	229	(8)
Heavenly City and Divine Empire	237	(8)
Concluding Reflections	245	(1)
EPILOGUE	246	(5)
SHORT TITLES LIST	251	(12)
ANCIENT WORKS CITED	263	(4)
INDEX OF MODERN AUTHORS	267	(2)
INDEX OF ANCIENT SOURCES	269