PAUL AND THE DYNAMICS OF POWER
Communication and Interaction in the Early Christ-Movement
KATHY EHRENSPERGER
Copyright © Kathy Ehrensperger, 2007
Published by T&T Clark International
A Continuum imprint
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Kathy Ehrensperger has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the Author of this work.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN-10: 0-567-04374-6 (hardback)
ISBN-13: 978-0-567-04374-0 (hardback)
LIBRARY OF NEW TESTAMENT STUDIES
325
formerly the Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement series
Editor
Mark Goodacre
Editorial Board
John M. G. Barclay, Craig Blomberg, Kathleen E. Corley, R. Alan Culpepper, James D. G. Dunn, Craig A. Evans, Stephen Fowl, Robert Fowler, Simon J. Gathercole, John S. Kloppenborg, Michael Labahn, Robert Wall, Steve Walton, Robert L. Webb, Catrin H. Williams
Chapter 1. Reading the Pauline Letters: Presuppositions and Contexts
1.1 Earlier Studies on Paul and Power
1.2 Hermeneutical Presuppositions of this Study
1.2.1 The Cultural Embeddedness—Judaism and its Scriptures
1.2.2 The Social, Political and ‘Religious’ Context—The Roman Empire
Chapter 2. Concepts of Power in Contemporary Theory
2.2 ‘Power-over’ or Strategic Power
2.3 ‘Power-to’ or Communicative Power
2.4 Strategic and Communicative Concepts of Power in Critical Discussion
2.4.1 Critiques of Arendt: Habermas and Feminist Theories
2.4.3 Power-to and Power-with—a Feminist Conception of Power
2.4.4 Asymmetry and Hierarchy in Power Relations
Chapter 3. The Exercise of Power—Networking in the Early Christ-Movement
3.1 The Circle of Apostles and Paul
3.1.1 Apostles and Their Relationship According to 1 Thessalonians
3.1.2 Apostles and Power Dynamics According to Galatians 1.13–2.14
3.2 Paul and Co-Workers in Christ
3.2.1 Συνεργοί—Terminology and Identity Issues
3.2.2 Ἀδελφός, Ἀδελφή—Terminology and Identity Issues
3.2.3 Co-Senders of the Pauline Letters
3.2.4 Letter Endings and Paul’s Assistants
3.2.5 Others Greeted in the Pauline Letters
3.2.6 Moved by Christ—Leadership on the Move
3.3 Ἐκκλησίαι, Paul and the Pauline Circle
3.3.1 Letter Writing and Ongoing Communication
3.3.2 Ἐκκλησίαι as Communities of Siblings
3.4 Conclusion: Συνεργοί and Ἐκκλησίαι—Asymmetrical Relationships
Chapter 4. Power in Action—the Dynamics of Grace
4.1 The Power of the ‘Grace and Works of the Law’—Dichotomy ...
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About Paul and the Dynamics of Power: Communication and Interaction in the Early Christ-MovementIn this illuminating study, Kathy Ehrensperger looks at the question of Paul’s use of power and authority as an apostle who understands himself as called to proclaim the Gospel among the gentiles. Ehrensperger examines the broad range of perspectives on how this use of power should be evaluated. These range from the traditional interpretation of unquestioned Apostolic authority, to a feminist interpretation. She examines whether or not Paul’s use of power presents an open or hidden reinscription of hierarchical structures in what was previously a discipleship of equals. Paul and the Dynamics of Power questions whether such hierarchical tendencies are correctly identified within Paul’s discourse of power. Furthermore it considers whether these are inherently and necessarily expressions of domination and are thus in opposition to a “discipleship of equals?” In her careful analysis, Ehrensperger draws on such wide-ranging figures as Derrida, Michel Foucault, and James Scott. This enables fresh insights into Paul’s use of authority and power in its first century context. |
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