ideology and intention in first thessalonians
NÉSTOR O. MÍGUEZ
Translated by Aquíles Martínez
Fortress Press
Minneapolis
Ideology and Intention in First Thessalonians
English translation copyright © 2012 Fortress Press. Translated by Aquíles Martínez. Original title No Como los Otros, que no tienen esperanza: Ideología y estrategia del cristianismo paulino en la gentilidad, copyright © 2006 Néstor O. Míguez. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the Publisher. Visit http://www.augsburgfortress.org/copyrights/contact.asp or write to Permissions, Augsburg Fortress, Box 1209, Minneapolis, MN 55440.
Cover image: Grande Camée de France, layered sardonyx cameo depicting the apotheosis of Tiberius, 20 c.e., Rome. The Art Archive at Art Resource, N.Y.
Cover design: Laurie Ingram
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Míguez, Néstor.
The practice of hope: ideology and intention in First Thessalonians / Néstor O. Míguez; translated by Aquíles Martínez.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ).
ISBN 978-0-8006-9824-9 (alk. paper)
1. Bible. N. T. Thessalonians, 1st—Criticism, interpretation, etc. I.
Title.
BS2725.52.M5413 2012
227’.8106—dc23
2012001158
1. Introduction: Paul’s Relevance Today
The Relevance of a Necessary Theme
2. Methodological Considerations
Methodological Convergence or Eclecticism?
“The Historical Bloc” of the Roman Principate
The Presence of the Church: Paul and the Church of Thessalonica
The Construction of a Theology as a Symbolic Organizer: An Ideological Confrontation with the Empire
4. The Urban Character of the Church among Gentiles
The Existence of a Different Modality of Labor
The Organization of an Urban Religious Rationality
Forms of Urban Living in the Religious Context
Ideological and Religious Factors
6. Social Composition of the Church of Thessalonica
The North Atlantic Multiclassist Consensus
The “Extreme Poverty” of the Churches of Macedonia
The Community of Artisans of Thessalonica
Paul and His Artisan Brothers and Sisters of Thessalonica
7. Paul and the Gentile Church
8. The Political Analogy in Pauline Language
The Assembly of a Particular People
The Government of Jesus the Kyrios
The Language of Brotherhood and Sisterhood
The Semantic Field of the Political Analogy
9. The Text of the First Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians
10. The Missionary Project of Paul in the First Letter to the Thessalonians
The Practice of Communicating the Message
|
About The Practice of Hope: Ideology and Intention in First ThessaloniansAlthough the political interpretation of Paul is still considered something of a novelty in North America and Europe, it is well established in Latin America and among theologians of liberation. In The Practice of Hope, Néstor O. Míguez brings the insights of historical-critical study and political analysis together with incisive theological reflection. Taking on European philosophical interpretations of Paul, the “North Atlantic consensus” regarding social stratification in the Pauline churches, and the distortions of “rapture” theology, Míguez situates Paul’s mission in the political context of Roman Thessalonica and reads his first letter in engagement with Latin American realities. The result is a surprising rediscovery of Paul as an organic intellectual for whom hope is always a socially concrete reality. |
| Support Info | prctchpdlgyntnt |