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Durham E-Theses Paul, Christ and Time: An Investigation of Apocalyptic and Salvation-Historical Themes in the Undisputed Pauline Epistles ROSE, ANTON,JOHN How to cite: ROSE, ANTON,JOHN (2015) Paul, Christ and Time: An Investigation of Apocalyptic and Salvation-Historical Themes in the Undisputed Pauline Epistles, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/11351/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 Paul, Christ and Time: An Investigation of Apocalyptic and Salvation-Historical Themes in the Undisputed Pauline Epistles By Anton Rose Abstract This thesis examines the subjects of history and time in the undisputed Pauline epistles, with reference to ongoing debates between apocalyptic readings of Paul, which emphasise the radical invasiveness of the Christ event, and salvation-historical readings, which emphasise continuity between the Christ event and Israel’s history. Current disagreements between prominent Pauline scholars such as J.L. Martyn and N.T. Wright can be traced back to similar debates in twentieth century New Testament scholarship, and the work of Rudolf Bultmann, Oscar Cullmann, and Ernst Käsemann, in particular. One broad area of agreement between apocalyptic and salvation-historical readings of Paul is the way in which they consider history in terms of chronologically-successive periods of time, and understand the significance of the Christ event in terms of its fixed place in this scheme. This thesis examines four key Pauline texts: 1 Corinthians 10, 2 Corinthians 3, Galatians 3-4, and Romans 9-11, arguing that neither apocalyptic or salvation-historical understandings can fully account for significant features of these texts. Instead, I argue that the work of Walter Benjamin and Karl Barth offers useful ways of thinking about history and time, allowing for a more cohesive reading of these texts. In particular, Barth’s claim that the Christ event is in history but not of history provides a way of considering the Christ event as both a concrete, historical occurrence, part of Israel’s history, and an event which is not dependent upon or limited to that history. Anton Rose Paul, Christ and Time Paul, Christ and Time: An Investigation of Apocalyptic and Salvation-Historical Themes in the Undisputed Pauline Epistles By Anton Rose Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Theology and Religions Durham University 2015 2 Anton Rose Paul, Christ and Time Contents Abbreviations ..............................................................................................................7 Statement of Copyright ................................................................................................8 Part One Chapter 1: History and Time in Paul’s World ..............................................................9 1. Types of Time..............................................................................................10 i. Time and Process..............................................................................10 ii. Past, Present and Future Orientation ...............................................14 iii. Cyclical or Linear Time .................................................................17 iv. Experienced Time ..........................................................................19 2. Paul, History and Time ................................................................................23 i. Implications for the Study of Paul ....................................................23 ii. The Structure of the Thesis ..............................................................24 Chapter 2: Salvation History and Existentialism .........................................................26 1. The Problem of History and Theology ........................................................27 i. The Legacy of Lessing’s Ditch .........................................................27 ii. Salvation History .............................................................................29 2. Oscar Cullmann’s Heilsgeschichte ..............................................................31 i. Cullmann’s Approach to History ......................................................31 ii. The Role of Heilsgeschichte in Pauline Theology ...........................33 3. Bultmann’s Existentialist Interpretation ......................................................36 i. Bultmann’s Program of Demythologization .....................................36 ii. Bultmann’s Critique of Cullmann ....................................................41 4. Ernst Käsemann’s War on Two Fronts .........................................................45 i. Broadening Bultmann’s Existentialism .............................................46 ii. Käsemann’s Cautious Acceptance of Salvation History ..................48 iii. Abraham and Heilsgeschichte .........................................................52 iv. Käsemann’s Mediating Position ......................................................54 3 Anton Rose Paul, Christ and Time Chapter 3: Apocalyptic and Narrative ..........................................................................56 1. The Apocalyptic Paul ...................................................................................56 i. The Problem of Apocalyptic .............................................................56 ii. J. Christian Beker’s Apocalyptic Paul ..............................................60 iii. J.L. Martyn’s Apocalyptic Paul .......................................................62 iv. Defining Apocalyptic .......................................................................66 2. Narrative Readings of Paul ...........................................................................70 i. Finding Paul’s Story ..........................................................................70 ii. Richard Hays and the Pauline Narrative Substructure .....................72 iii. N.T. Wright and Paul’s Great Story ................................................75 3. What does Paul’s Story Look Like? .............................................................78 i. Issues with the Reconstruction of a Pauline Great Story ...................78 ii. Models for Paul’s Story or Stories ....................................................82 iii. Conclusions to Chapter 3 .................................................................87 Chapter 4: Messianic Time: Karl Barth and Walter Benjamin .....................................89 1. Barth, History and Time ................................................................................89 i. Theology and History in the Römerbrief ...........................................90 ii. Theology and History in the Church Dogmatics ..............................94 iii. Eternity and Christ ...........................................................................98 2. Walter Benjamin’s Apocalyptic Redemption of History .............................101 i. Reading Walter Benjamin .................................................................102 ii. History as Catastrophe .....................................................................105 iii. History Remade ..............................................................................108 iv. The Messiah Interrupts ...................................................................110 3. Reading Paul with Barth and Benjamin .......................................................111 i. Catastrophe and Redemption ............................................................111 ii. Conclusions to Chapter 4 .................................................................113 Part Two Chapter 5: 1 Corinthians 10 .........................................................................................115 1. Paul, Scripture and History ..........................................................................115 i. Paul’s Use of the Hebrew Scriptures ................................................115 4 Anton Rose Paul, Christ and Time ii. The Structure and Origin of 1 Cor. 10:1-13 .....................................117 2. Typology, Allegory, and Pauline Hermeneutics ..........................................120 i. Identifying Paul’s Hermeneutical Techniques ..................................120 ii. Typological Approaches ..................................................................122 iii. τύπος and Typology ........................................................................125 iv. 1 Corinthians 10 and New Testament Typology .............................126 3. Christ and Israel in the Desert ......................................................................129 i. Christ and the Rock ...........................................................................129 ii. Putting Christ to the Test ..................................................................134