Hidden Criticism?: The Methodology and Plausibility of the Search for a Counter-Imperial Subtext in Paul

ISBN-13: 9783161537950 / Angielski / Miękka / 2015 / 199 str.

Christoph Heilig

Opis

Paul has been regarded as being uncritical of the Roman Empire for a long time, not least because of his apparent call to obey the state in Rom 13:1-7. However, recent scholarship has questioned this assumption by pointing to "hidden criticism" in the letters of the apostle. But how can we decide, in a methodologically sound way, whether such a counter-imperial message lies beneath the surface of the text? On the basis of insights from the philosophy of science, Christoph Heilig suggests several analytical steps for examining this paradigm. He concludes that the hypothesis that we can identify critical "echoes" of the Roman Empire in Paul's letters needs to be modified for it to be maintained. In particular, concern over the danger of overt criticism and subsequent persecution do not sufficiently justify this interpretative hypothesis.

O autorze

Born 1990; 2009-14 studied theology; 2013 Master of Letters in "Biblical Languages and Literature at St. Mary's College, University of St Andrews; since 2014 research at the University of Zurich (SNF Project).