Jesus, Paul and Matthew, Volume Two 1 Volume 2.indb 1 2020/04/01 16:55 1 Volume 2.indb 2 2020/04/01 16:55 Jesus, Paul and Matthew, Volume Two To and From Jerusalem By Andries Van Aarde 1 Volume 2.indb 3 2020/04/01 16:55 Jesus, Paul and Matthew, Volume Two: To and From Jerusalem By Andries Van Aarde Jesus, Paul and Matthew, Volume Two: This book first published 2020 To and From Jerusalem. Cambridge Scholars Publishing Author: Andries van Aarde Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK This book first published 2020 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Copyright © 2020 by Andries Van Aarde A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, Copyright © 2020 by Andries van Aarde stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the Cover image: Maximino Cerezo Barredo prior permission of the copyright owner. ‘Cena en Emaus Maranga, Lima Perú 1997.jpg’, resolution provided by and permission for use granted by M. Cerezo Barredo on 12 August 2019 in email to ISBN (10): 1-5275-4893-7 Andries van Aarde. ISBN (13): 978-1-5275-4893-0 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, Bible quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from The Holy Bible, New International stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, Version (NIV), Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Bible quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from The Holy Bible, New International Version (NIV), Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ISBN: This manuscript has been subjected to a thorough, independent, peer-review and, on the basis of this review, the manuscript was accepted for print. Cambridge Scholars Publishing 1 Volume 2.indb 4 2020/04/01 16:55 Dedicated to Salomie Webb and Joseph Walker, and to Ethan Webb and Kylie Webb 1 Volume 2.indb 5 2020/04/01 16:55 Justification Report This book reflects on the trend in biblical scholarship that contrasts the vision of the historical Jesus with that of the apostle Paul on the one hand, and contrasts the vision of Paul with that of the evangelist Matthew, on the other. In the latter view, the ethos of Jesus is based on the metaphor ‘kingdom of God’, whereas the focus of Paul is on divine grace and the acceptance of that grace by the believer through faith. Matthew is then seen as a ‘scribe’ who deliberately transformed the law-free Pauline gospel back towards adhering to conventions of the first-century Jerusalem temple cult. These interpretations amount to discontinuity in both content and substance between the peasant Jesus, the apostle Paul and the scribe Matthew. The contribution of this book to scholarship is the argument against such positions of extreme discontinuity. The book agrees with the idea of discontinuity in content, but argues for continuity in substance. The book explores the dialectic discontinuity – continuity, while taking into account the anti-empire trend in both the gospel of Jesus and the Jesus tradition in the gospel material. The specific original contribution to scholarship is the illustration that continuity in substance – though discontinuity in content is admitted – carries forward into formative creedal Christianity. In this period, the theological influence of Athanasius of Alexandria, who played an important role during the First Council of Nicaea in 325 ce, was significant. He described the shared substance as divine wisdom, justice and mercy. Though the contexts of Jesus, Paul and Matthew were diverse, all three subverted the ‘bio-politics’ of the day and envisioned Jesus-followers as a fictive family network. The book takes the form of a biographical journey of the author, analogous to the parabolic story of the travellers to Emmaus from and to Jerusalem (Luke 24) and that of the African eunuch (Acts 8) on his way back from Jerusalem to Africa. The target audience of the book would be specialists in the field of New Testament scholarship as well as scholars in Graeco-Roman, Hellenistic-Semitic and Rabbinical literature. Material formerly published by the author has been substantially reworked and updated. This reworking represents more than seventy percent of the contents. A similarity analysis confirms that the work contains no plagiarism. Andries G. van Aarde Senior Research Fellow, University of Pretoria, and Researcher in Residence, Durban University of Technology, South Africa 1 Volume 2.indb 6 2020/04/01 16:55 Table of Contents Jesus, Paul and Matthew, Volume Two: To and From Jerusalem. Gratitude xi Chapter 1: To and from Jerusalem 1 Chapter 2: Perspectives 2.1 Jesus & Ovid 5 From Celsus to Paul to Jesus to Ovid 5 Myths as emptied realities 8 Ovid’s Perseus 13 Jesus and common Greek thinking 16 2.2 Paul & Seneca 20 Divine adoption 20 Dionysos 22 Herakles 25 Priapus 30 Septuagint 33 Paul 39 2.3 Matthew & Plutarchus 41 Blessed are the poor 41 Son of man 43 Discontinuity and continuity 45 From human being to son of man 53 The poor have nowhere to lay their head 54 Chapter 3: Appropriation 60 3.1 Slavery and freedom 60 Demography in antiquity 60 Social death 62 Quasi-filial kinship 64 The Areopagus speech 72 1 Volume 2.indb 7 2020/04/01 16:55 viii Volume Two 3.2 Jesus the inside agitator 78 Setting the scene 78 Against power 83 Inside agitating 87 3.3 A willingness to suspect 94 Hermeneutics of suspicion 94 Second naiveté 96 Gender matters 98 3.4 Fullness of life 108 When power rules the oikoumenē (οἰκουμένη) 108 When love rules the oikoumenē (οἰκουμένη) 112 3.5 Love for the poor 117 Greek wisdom 117 Who are the poor? 120 Solving an enigma 124 The love commandment 127 Stoic ethics 131 In memory of her 133 Chapter 4: Jerusalem 137 4.1 The Twelve 137 From Jesus to Paul via Jerusalem 137 The circle of the Twelve 146 Complicated and convoluted 155 4.2 Dew to tomb 159 The resurrection tradition 159 166 (שְׁאוֹל) Caught in the snare of she’ol Dew gives life to dust 168 ‘Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God’ 169 An appeal to persevere 172 A tomb cult 173 Ongoing participation 175 4.3 Fear and little faith 178 Reading between the lines 178 Matthew’s portrayal of the disciples 179 Little faith as fear 184 1 Volume 2.indb 8 2020/04/01 16:55 Table of Contents ix 4.4 Regeneration 187 Sitting on the throne of glory 187 Renewal 189 History of the clock 191 Social location 195 Chapter 5: Fictive family 197 5.1 ‘Gnosticism’ or ‘Ebionitism’ 197 Preamble 197 Multifarious Christianities 199 Infancy Gospel of Thomas 200 Biological family endorsed 211 Jesus as ‘adult-like’ child 213 The god-child myth 219 Actions of protest 224 Social-psychological relevance 226 The literary motif ‘syncrisis’ 228 5.2 Healing, wholeness and politics of holiness 230 Bio-politics 230 Doctors in antiquity 232 Healing as exorcism 235 Healing as empowerment 237 Intrafamilial conflict 241 Illness, disease, healing and cure 247 Miracles of nature 249 God’s uniqueness and the politics of holiness 253 Chapter 6: Theōsis (θέωσις) 263 6.1 In unison 263 Footprints of tradition 263 Footprints of religious language 266 Footprints of dogma 272 From dogma to experience and confession 278 6.2 DNA in antiquity 284 Ancient views on procreation and conception 284 Textual evidence from early Christianity 286 Virginal conception 286 Kenosis (κένωσις) 287 1 Volume 2.indb 9 2020/04/01 16:55 x Volume Two Creedal Christianity 287 Athanasian Creed (Quicunque Vult) (‘Whosoever wishes’) 288 Four readings of the birth of Jesus 295 Friedrich Schleiermacher’s reading 295 Karl Barth’s reading 298 Rudolf Bultmann’s reading 299 Andrew Lincoln’s reading 300 Ethical relevance 301 Chapter 7: Journey on a surpassing road 307 7.1 Wisdom, justice and mercy 307 7.2 Autobiographical reflective notes 316 The road from Pretoria to Emmaus passing by Jerusalem 316 Acknowledgements 338 Text register index 345 Name register index 358 Bibliography 368 1 Volume 2.indb 10 2020/04/01 16:55 Gratitude This research forms part of the research project at the Durban University of Technology: ‘Gender Justice, Health and Human Development’, with Prof. Dr Cheryl Potgieter as project leader. I would like to thank the many role players, readers, critics, students and my faith family and conversation partners of 35 years in the Wapadrant congregation in Pretoria. In this circle I had the opportunity to discuss and experience the essence of these volumes – the divine wisdom, justice and mercy. This network of fellow religious seekers has provided shelter and created a context of shared love for the wisdom of God and mutual care. I would also like to thank the University of Pretoria and the National Research Foundation of South Africa for their financial support. My sincere gratitude goes to the Commissioning Editor of Cambridge Scholars Publications (CSP), Adam Rummens, for the invitation to publish in this series. I thank Daleen Malan and her team, Ingrid Maas and Rina Eksteen of Malan Media for their professional project management, advice and technical expertise. My deepest appreciation goes to Carusta van der Merwe of the University of Pretoria for her work on the indices.