Showing papers in "Horizons in Biblical Theology in 1999"

Titus as Apologia: Grace for Liars, Beasts, and Bellies

Abstract: 1999) 185-209 • www.rts.edu/kidd/TitusasApologia/titusasapologia.pdf • Manuscript Version, Page 1 uity, asserts the 1 century BCE Roman historian Diodorus Siculus, Greeks have ut the gods in two ways. Certain gods are eternal in genesis and imperishable in thers are “earthly gods (epigeioi theoi) who have attained undying honor and fame benefactions bestowed upon humankind” (Diodorus 6.2). Frances Young’s “theology is always earthed in a context,” takes on particular piquancy when a ’s approach to the divine is “earth-based” to begin with. In common perception, the or the latter way of imagining divinity was the island of Crete — for in Cretan the origins of the gods, even the father of the gods, Zeus himself, had been born as a sed, and indeed, killed and buried as well. I propose that it is in the interest of assumptions about the earthly origins of the “deity” long associated with Crete that y of the letter to Titus, written to a Pauline delegate ministering on Crete in the latter first century, is formulated. Moreover, I suggest that the lifestyle this letter as being congruent with this God’s nature is itself intended to be a bold apologetic for as a better, indeed the only, way to attain an ideal of humanity long resident in al thinking.

Oikonomia Theou: the Theological Voice of 1 Timothy From the Perspective of Pauline Authorship

Abstract: The point of this thought-experiment is to assess the theological character of 1 Timothy. The perspective assumed—not argued for—is that of Pauline authorship: at the very least, this means that the letter is to be read as a production of the Pauline mission under the authority of Paul himself within his lifetime.1 The reader of the present essay should constantly bear in mind that the goal here is not to demonstrate the validity of such a perspective but to use it as a way of viewing this literary composition from what is today considered an unusual angle.

The Portrait of Paul and the Theology of 2 Timothy: the Closing Chapter of the Pauline Story

Abstract: Recent studies of 2 Timothy have considered its theology from a variety of perspectives and views of authorship. Interpretive strategies have varied. One study proceeded by distilling the theological constants within Paul's gospel from especially two theological texts (1:9-10; 2:8-13).1 A second study considered the role of persons remembered within the text (God, Christ, Paul, Timothy) who, by virtue of the author's faithful remembering of them, guarantee the potency of the teaching.2 And a third study sought to discern \"a pattern\" to the theology of 2 Timothy by concentrating on the literary forms employed and the \"implied world\" of the author (and readers) in the effort to establish the link between the contextual and narrative worlds of 2 Timothy.3 In addition to these three