THE THEOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RELATIONS OF FREEDOM AND TIME IN THE SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES: AN EVALUATION OF THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF DAVID BOHM AND PAULI PYLKKÖ by Michael F. Younker Adviser: Martin Hanna ABSTRACT OF GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCHOF GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH

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The Theological Significance of the Relations of Freedom and Time in the Sciences and Humanities: An Evaluation of the Contributions of David Bohm and Pauli Pylkko

The Middle Voice of Love in 1 Corinthians: Reading Singularity and Plurality from Different Cultures

The Ways That Never Parted: Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages

The New Testament is witness to disagreement in the early church about whether Gentile converts to the good news needed to abide by the ritualistic aspects of the Jewish Torah One view, advocated by Paul, was that Gentiles did not need to adhere to these aspects of the Law Another view, promoted by James and Peter in the Jerusalem Church, held that the Torah had not been moved aside with Jesus’ ministry As such, there were different views in the early church about what an appropriate Gentile mission should entail, and this tension is seen at the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:1-21; Gal 2:1-10), the Incident at Antioch (Gal 2:11-14), the Crisis at Galatia (Gal 1:1-24), as well as at other times in Paul’s missionary career (Phil 3:2-6) The premise of this study is that this early church disagreement was not resolved during Paul’s lifetime but continued into the late first century and is reflected in the Gospels of Mark and Matthew


Mark’s advocacy for a Law-free Gentile mission is seen in the Markan Jesus’ active efforts to take the gospel to Gentiles (Mark 4:35-5:20; 6:45-52; 7:24-8:9; 8:13-9:29), in his stories that promote such an undertaking (Mark 7:24-30; 8:1-9), and in his liberal attitude towards the Torah (Mark 2:23-3:6; 7:15, 19b) Matthew, while using Mark’s Law-free Gospel, promotes a Law-abiding Gospel This is seen in his insistence that the Torah is eternally binding (Matt 5:17-19), in his final commission where Gentiles are welcomed into this Law-abiding gospel (Matt 28:16-20), and in the changes he makes to some Markan stories (Matt 15:1-20 cf Mark 7:1-23)


These evangelists’ different positions can also be seen in how they represent the leaders of the Law-abiding movement, namely the disciples and family of Jesus Mark portrays the disciples as steadily becoming more and more foolish as the Gospel goes on, and culminates in their betrayal, desertion, and denial of him (Mark 14:43-72) His portrayal of the family of Jesus is particularly poor, where he writes that Jesus rejects them (Mark 3:31-35), cannot work around them (Mark 6:16), and implies that they are guilty of the unforgivable sin (Mark 3:19b-30) Matthew keeps the basic narrative structure of the disciples’ portrayal in Mark, but tones down the criticism they are given, explicitly gives them responsibility in the future church (Matt 16:17-19; 18:18; 19:28; 28:19-20), and adds a resurrection narrative where they are reconciled with the risen Jesus (Matt 28:16-20) He also considerably refines the portrait of Jesus’ family, adding an infancy narrative where they are portrayed very positively (Matt 1:18-2:23) These different portrayals, viewed through the context of the early church, likely reflect each author’s different views of these figures’ promotion of a Law-abiding Gentile mission


The final part of this study looks at recent questions about the relationship between these Gospels and Paul In addressing the idea that Mark was influenced by Paul, it is seen that while Mark and Paul share a few key controversial points in common – namely promotion of a Law-free gospel and tension with the Jerusalem Church – there is no indication that Mark received these ideas from Paul Instead, it is more likely that Mark and Paul were two independently Law-free Christian movements On the question of whether Matthew was consciously criticising Paul, it is seen that while Matthew at places can be said to criticise a general Law-free theology (Matt 5:17-19; 7:21-23) there is nothing specifically Pauline in his critique In both cases then, it is seen that the Law-free movement was bigger than Paul, and that both Gospels could have been reacting to different Law-free movements in the first century church While in retrospect Mark can be said to align more closely to Paul, and Matthew can be said to stand in tension with him, there is no evidence that either evangelist was consciously doing so


Mark and Matthew then, can be seen to strongly reflect different sides of the continuing debates in the early church about the relevance of the ritualistic aspects of the Torah for Gentiles, and studying both Gospels together in this context demonstrates how pervasive this debate was in the first Christian century

The Gospels of Mark and Matthew in the context of the early church

Theatre of Shame: The Impact of Paul's Manual Labour on His Apostleship in Corinth

O f all the passages in the Pauline corpus that have been instrumental in shaping scholarly approaches to Paul, there may be none more influential than 1 Corinthians 9:19–23. This single four-verse passage is commonly cited to reconcile passages in which Paul is portrayed as favorable to Jewish practices (particularly those in the book of Acts) with the traditional view of Paul as a repudiator of Judaism, the Torah, and the Temple service. For example, Luke records in Acts 16:3 that Paul had Timothy circumcised—an act that, to the surrounding Jewish community, would have been interpreted as an act of covenant fidelity. However, this provides no difficulty for the traditional view of the “Law-free” Paul—he “became like a Jew, to win the Jews.” Again, Paul offered animal sacrifices at the Temple in Jerusalem many years after the Damascus Road experience (Acts 21). But again, there is no difficulty—Paul “became like one under the law ... to win those under the law.” It seems there is no passage, however perplexing to the traditional viewpoint, that cannot be explained through the lens of 1 Corinthians 9:19–23. As a result, most commentators on Acts never seriously consider the possibility that Paul remained a practicing Jew. To them, Paul, like a chameleon, can pretend at times to keep the Torah and practice Judaism, and at other times jettison the constraints of Torah in order to adapt to non-Jewish environments. So though Paul might sometimes seem to practice Judaism, in no way did he remain faithful to the Torah, Judaism, or the customs of his ancestors. He was, as conservative Evangelical A JEW TO THE JEWS: JEWISH CONTOURS OF PAULINE FLEXIBILITY IN 1 CORINTHIANS 9:19–23 By: David J. Rudolph Publisher: Mohr Siebeck, 2011 ISBN: 978-3-16-149293-8 290 Pages A Jew to the Jews: Jewish Contours of Pauline Flexibility in 1 Corinthians 9:19–23

A Jew to the Jews: Jewish Contours of Pauline Flexibility in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23

17 Nevertheless, each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches.18 Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? He should not be circumcised. 19 Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commands is what counts. 20 Each one should remain in the situation which he was in when God called him. 21 Were you a slave when you were called? Don’t let it trouble you—although if you can gain your freedom, do so. 22 For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord’s freedman; similarly, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ’s slave. 23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. 24 Brothers, each man, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation God called him to (1 Cor 7:17-24).

https://ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/scjr/article/download/1556/1409

Paul's "Rule in All the Churches" (1 Cor 7:17-24) and Torah-Defined Ecclesiological Variegation

Jesus and the Food Laws: A Reassessment of Mark 7:19b

This essay outlines the history of Messianic Judaism, describing how communities of Torah observant, Jesus-believing Jews existed in the first four centuries of the common era and then reappeared in the eighteenth century. A short synopsis of the recently published Introduction to Messianic Judaism is also provided.

David J. Rudolph

Papers

A Jew to the Jews: Jewish Contours of Pauline Flexibility in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23

Paul's "Rule in All the Churches" (1 Cor 7:17-24) and Torah-Defined Ecclesiological Variegation

Jesus and the Food Laws: A Reassessment of Mark 7:19b

Introduction to Messianic Judaism

A Jew to the Jews