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remain focussed on investigating the implications
for Jewish - Christian relations of my reading of
Paul as a Torah-observant Jew founding Jewish subgroup communities.
These "churches" were attracting some non-Jews, but nevertheless
dedicated to practicing Judaism. Detailed research presently being
undertaken
includes
an essay on the Jewish synagogue context for the churches addressed
in Romans for an edited volume on Romans (SBL Publ.), and the introduction
and annotations for Romans in the Jewish Annotated New Testament (Oxford
Univ. Press),
both of which involve work towards the Romans Commentary I am writing
with
Eerdmans;
an essay
on Paul from "a Jewish perspective"
for
an edited
volume with
three other views by Christian scholars (Four Views on Paul,
Zondervan); a paper on the context for Paul's polemics in Philippians
3 for a
people's history conference volume; a paper on reading
Paul
on a first-century
Jewish map for a new Society of Biblical Literature section on
"Paul and Judaism"; and an introdution and commentary on
Galatians for a new
series from Phoenix Sheffield emphasizing critical issues
in current
debate.
Several
other current papers and essays are listed below
as recently released or forthcoming.
Recently
Published:
"Romans: Introduction
and Annotations." Pages 253-86 in The Jewish Annotated
New Testament. Eds. Marc Brettler and Amy Jill Levine
(Oxford University Press, 2011).
"Paul
and Judaism." Pages 551-54 in The Jewish
Annotated New Testament. Eds. Marc Brettler and Amy
Jill Levine (Oxford University Press, 2011).
"Forward." Pages
ix-x in
Daniel
F.
Stramara,
Jr., God's
Time
Table:
The
Book
of
Revelation
and
the
Feast
of
Seven
Weeks (Pickwick
Publications,
2011).
"Galatians." In Oxford
Bibliographies Online,
Oxford University Press,
2010. (http://www.oxfordbibliographiesonline.com/).
"'Callused,'
Not 'Hardened': Paul's
Revelation of Temporary
Protection Until All Israel
Can Be Healed." Pages
52-73 in Reading
Paul in Context:
Explorations in Identity
Formation. Edited by Kathy
Ehrensperger
and J. Brian Tucker (London
and New York: T&T
Clark, 2010).
"'Broken
Branches': A Pauline Metaphor
Gone
Awry? (Romans 11:11-24)." Pages
339-76 in Between
Gospel and Election:
Explorations
in the Interpretation
of
Romans
9—11. Eds.
Florian
Wilk and J.
Ross
Wagner (Tübingen:
Mohr
Siebeck, 2010).
"Galatians." Pages
455-74
in Blackwell's
Companion
to
the
New
Testament. Edited
by
David
Aune
(Blackwell
Publishing,
2010).
Review of
Todd A. Wilson, The Curse of the Law and the Crisis in
Galatia (WUNT 2.225; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2007)
in Biblical
Interpretation 18.2 (2010): 164-166.
"Paul
and Judaism: Why Not Paul's Judaism?" Pages
117-60 in
Mark Given, ed., Paul
Unbound: Other Perspectives on the
Apostle (Peabody,
Mass.: Hendrickson, 2010).
Lectures
Available for Viewing/Listening:
Shalom
Talk Radio Interview (in 2 Parts) discussing my work on Paul with Stuart
Dauerman, KRLA 870 AM Radio, Sept. 26 and Oct. 3, 2010, episodes 15
and 16.
"Paul
and the Jewish Tradition: The Ideology of the Shema" (Paper
presented at Villanova University, Philadelphia, Penn., Thurs.,
Oct. 23, 2008, in the Jubilee Year of the Apostle St. Paul seminar
series; youtube
delivery of paper).
"Paul's
Reversal of Jews Calling Gentiles 'Dogs' (Philippians 3:2): 1600
Years of an Ideological Tale Wagging an Exegetical Dog?" (delivered
at University of Helsinki, Finland, May 14, 2007: version
of paper;
edited
video of presentation; for final publication, see Biblical
Interpretation 17.4 (2009): 448-482)
Suggested
Recent Releases on Paul:
J.
Brian Tucker's "Remain in Your Calling" (Pickwick,
2011) offers a clear and perceptive guide to recent methodological
and conceptual issues arrising
around the topic of Paul's view of social identity for Christ-followers,
whether Jewish or non-Jews. V. George Shillington's Jesus
and Paul Before Christianity (Cascade Books, 2011) is
remarkable for rethinking Paul in the direction of an observant Jew
by one who has written on
Paul in more traditional albeit New Perspective ways for many years.
Magnus Zetterholm's Approaches
to Paul (Fortress, 2009), surveys Pauline scholarship
at the classroom text level, clarifying also the position of those
who share with me the view that Paul continued to live jewishly; Pamela
Eisenbaum's new book, Paul
Was Not a Christian (HarperOne, 2009), is a breakthrough
in this new direction for the non-specialist as well as scholar. Another
new work that departs from the
traditional Paul as well as Galatians in a sympathetic and interesting
direction is Brigitte Kahl, Galatians
Re-Imagined: Readings with the Eyes of the Vanquished (Paul
in Critical Contexts; Fortress
Press, 2010). In a different vein, Daniel
R. Langton, The
Apostle Paul in the Jewish Imagination: A Study in Modern Jewish-Christian
Relations (Cambridge University Press, 2010), offers
an analysis of Paul in Jewish discourse, the arts, and even the sciences,
which includes a discussion of how my work fits (and departs from)
the trajectory of traditional Jewish scholarly views of Paul.
I
also highly recommend taking a look at The
Jewish Annotated New Testament. Eds. Marc Brettler
and Amy Jill Levine (Oxford University Press, 2011). See the initial
NY
Times essay for a few details about why Jews as well as Christians
might be interested in this approach to the NT.
Also,
I wrote the forward for a new approach to Revelation that explores
its Jewish matrix in terms of the calendrical festivals by my colleage
at Rockhurst that is quite interesting: Daniel
F. Stramara, Jr., God's Time Table: The Book of Revelation
and the Feast of Seven Weeks (Pickwick Publications,
2011).
More About My Work:
Published
books include The
Mystery of Romans: The Jewish Context of Paul's Letter,
Fortress Press, 1996; The Irony
of Galatians: Paul's Letter in First-Century Context,
Fortress Press, 2002; The
Galatians Debate: Contemporary Issues in Rhetorical and Historical Interpretation,
Hendrickson, 2002. Galatians Debate is built around essays I found to be
important in several areas of research for Irony of Galatians,
and includes new essays that fill in gaps and acquaint the reader
with
some
of the latest
developments
in the debate. I hope it will prove to be a valuable tool for the classroom,
as well as the specialist. An extensive introduction
summarizes each of the contributions, which are grouped into sections
according to methodology and topic, facilitating research and discussion
not only of
Galatians, but of recent developments in rhetorical and historical interpretation
within the field. More details are available on the projects and reviews
pages.
Galatians
and Romans contain
much of the material from which histories of early Christianity and
interpretations of the Jerusalem churches and of Paul's
relationship to them have been developed. This has led me to investigate
more directly the Apostle Paul's relationship with the Jerusalem apostles
and churches. In one current project,
I am
working
specifically on topics concerning
Paul's
relationship with the Jerusalem based apostles and their communities.
In another, I am trying to penetrate the allegorical rhetoric of Galatians
4:21--5:1. Please check
the
right
hand
sidebar and related pages for more information
about
these as well as other current and planned
projects. More
Projects>>
Many
of my professional society papers and lectures are available as pdf's
for download: see the right hand column on the projects page.
I
am pleased to serve as the Soebbing Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence
at Rockhurst University, a Jesuit University in Kansas City, Missouri.
For a list of past, current, and planned class offerings, see Lectures>> |
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Galatians: New
Testament Guides (New Series). General Editor: Tat-Siong Benny
Liew (Sheffield Phoenix Press; 2012/13).
This
is an
exciting opportunity to develop an introduction to
this letter after writing a dissertation published in revised form
as a monograph (The Irony of Galatians)
as well as a number of essays about topics that arise in this text,
an edited volume on rhetorical and historical debates about Galatians
(The Galatians Debate), and several introductions (in Blackwell's
Companion to the NT and in The Oxford Bibliography Online).
The format for the series calls for a concise, accessible approach
with a
focus
on
the critical
issues in debate.
"Paul: A Jewish View." In
Four Views on Paul. Edited by Michael Bird (Counterpoints; Zondervan,
2012).
Undertaken
in dialogue with other contributors writing from different perspectives,
this is a welcome opportunity to seek to describe my general view
of Paul to a broad, non-specialist readership. In addition to each
of us developing our own perspectives for the reader, we also comment
on the essays by each of the other contributors.
To
the Synagogues of Rome: A Jewish Commentary on Romans (Eerdmans, 2013/14)
Romans
has been such an important book for Christian perceptions
and positions on Jews and Judaism, and Jewish responses. There
is much at stake in both community's conceptions
of the other, and of the obstacles
and opportunities for better relations going forward, that
continues to be imacted by interpretations of Paul's language in
this letter.
In this
project I plan to go through the letter verse by verse in commentary
style,
offering
translation alternatives and comments. Already I have discovered
many new possibilities to add to those discussed
in The Mystery
of Romans. It is an exciting project to undertake.
Paul
Between Christians and Jews
In this
current book project, I seek to communicate the benefits of my
reading of Paul as a Torah-observant Jew for
contemporary Jewish - Christian relations. My target audience is
the informed non-specialist, students, as well as specialists on
Paul, the New Testament and early Christianity and/or
Judaism,
and Jewish - Christian relations. This project builds on
current and recently published research projects and the format
developed in a paper entitled: "A
Torah-Observant Paul?: What Difference Could it Make for Christian/
Jewish Relations Today?"
Paul
and Apostolic Judaism: An Introduction
Anders
Runesson (of McMaster University) and I are co-writing a book project
designed to introduce Paul as a Torah-observant Jew who believed
that Jesus was the Messiah of Israel and Savior of the
Nations. We have coined the term
Apostolic Judaism
to signify this
dynamic. Discussions will focus on the Jewish and Greco-Roman
contexts of Paul
and the
various audiences of his letters alongside detailed examinations
of the messages he communicated. The outline is designed
to be suitable for a one semester introductory course
on Paul, or to be used for the Paul component of
a
broader New Testament course.
Rival
or Representative: Re-evaluating Paul's Perspective on the Jerusalem
Church
This
project builds on published
research on the Jerusalem Meeting and Antioch Incidents of Galatians
2. The focal point is the investigation of Paul's language
regarding
the Jewish
coalition
of believers in Jesus Christ in Jerusalem. Since Paul's extant
letters provide most of the available material written prior
to the Jewish
Revolt of the late 60's-70 c.e., these will be the primary area
of research,
rather than, e.g., Acts, or the even much later Pseudo-Clementines.
I hope to provide an historical construction of the Jerusalem
Christ-believers' position as it relates to my interpretation
of Paul's thought and
behavior, for example, their policy on the admission of non-Jews
into this coalition.
Did it include the necessity of proselyte conversion? If not
required, did it allow for it? A focus on Paul's attitude
toward and relationship
with the Jerusalem leaders of this coalition, such as James and
Peter, will be sustained. The dynamics of Paul's collection project
will be
investigated. As a result of one of the areas of research I have
begun to work on
a
related
project
investigating
the
allegory
of Galatians
4:21-31, discussed below.
What
Does "Present Jerusalem" (Gal 4:25) in Paul's Allegory Have
to Do with the Concerns of the Galatians?
I
am intrigued by Paul's introduction of language having to do
with Jerusalem "now" versus "above" in his
allegory of Galatians 4:21--5:1, and by the prevailing interpretations
of this language. Moreover, I find the entire allegory interesting.
It is so difficult to penetrate, calling upon familiarity with
Jewish midrashic exegesis and various Jewish interpretive traditions
about the stories of Abraham and his two wives and sons from
Genesis, as well as Isa 54:1. The traditional and prevailing
interpretations of this allegory depend upon decisions about
the addressees and Paul that I do not share. So I am interested
in investigating this allegory in depth, yet at the moment not
sure what this endeavor will yield, or when. Some of the results
of this research will be incorporated in a chapter in the Hendrickson
project mentioned above, but the balance will likely lead to
a paper and journal length project, and perhaps eventually a
monograph.
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| Lectures
and Other Current Projects |
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"The
Place of Salvation History in Galatians" (Paper
presented as a guest at the ETS, San Francisco, Nov. 18,
2011)
Posted
5-5-11: "'Judaizers'?
'Pagan' Cults?
Cynics?: Reconceptualizing the Concerns of Paul's Audience from
the Polemics in Philippians 3:2, 18-19" (revision
of a paper presented in the Philippians People's History working
group in Nov. 2010)
Posted
3-15-11:
"The Translation of Romans 11 Since the Shoah: What's
Different? What's Not? What Could Be?" (Conference entitled "Paul,
Jewishness, and Otherness after the Holocaust," Baylor University,
Apr. 14-16)
"Romans:
To the Churches Within the Synagogues of Rome" (Central
States SBL, St. Louis, March 18)
Updated
11-25-10: "Locating
Paul on a Map of First Century Judaism" (Paul
and Judaism section of the Society of Biblical Literature
Annual Meeting, Atlanta,
Nov. 22, 2010)
Posted
9-26-10: "The
Greco-Roman Context of Paul's Struggling Jewish Subgroup
Community in Philippi" (Paul
and People's History pre-SBL session, Nov. 19, 2010)
Posted
9-26-10: "Paul,
Judaism, and Christian-Jewish Relations: Revisiting the Evidence
from Romans" (MJTI
Center for Jewish-Christians Relations, Los Angeles, Skirball
Cultural Center, Oct. 31, 2010, 2pm)
Posted
8-31-10: "Romans:
To the Churches of the Synagogues of Rome" (a
discussion of why I believe that the social context into which
Paul wrote his letter was developing among Christ-following subgroups
of the Jewish communities, not "churches" independent of them)
Updated
with pdf on 5-6-10: "'Callused,'
Not 'Hardened': Paul's Revelation of Temporary Protection Until
All Israel Can Be Healed" (Central States
SBL, St. Louis, March 22, 2010)
Posted
1-8-10:"Images of
Jews and Judaism in Paul's Letter to the Romans: Challenging
Translation
Decisions
That
Subvert Paul's Message" (King
Lecture, Washburn University, Topeka, KS, Wed., April 14,
2010, 7:30pm)
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Recent
Discussions of the Implications of My Work for Jewish-Christian
Relations and Pauline Studies:
"The
Myth of the 'Traditional View of Paul' and the Role of the
Apostle in Modern Jewish-Christian Polemics," by
Daniel R. Langdon, Journal for the Study of the
New Testament 28.1
(2005) 69-104. (See now also in his book, The
Apostle Paul in the Jewish Imagination.)
"Following
in the Footnotes of the Apostle Paul," by
Pamela Eisenbaum, pages 77-97 in Identity and the
Politics of Scholarship in the Study of Religion, eds.
J. I. Cabezón and S. G. Davaney, Routledge, 2004.
"Paul's
Religious Experience in the Eyes of Jewish Scholars," by
Alan F. Segal, pages 321-43 (specifically 340-43), in Israel's
God and Rebecca's Children, eds. D. Capes, et al.,
Baylor University Press, 2008.
"Jewish
Interpretation of Paul in the Last Thirty Years," by
Michael F. Bird and Preston M. Sprinkle, Currents
in Biblical Research (CBR) 6.3 (2008): 355-76.
"Paul,
the Jew Among the Nations--Mark D. Nanos," pages 147-55
in Approaches
to Paul: A Student's guide to recent scholarship, by Magnus Zetterholm, Fortress Press, 2009.
Supersessionism:
A Not So Super Idea. Bill Tammeus of the Kansas
City Star in an August 19, 2006, discusses recent conference
papers on supersessionism in the Letter to the Hebrews, and
the implications for Christian/Jewish relations today.
Taking
Another Look at Paul: Researchers are clearing apostle's
name of anti-Semitism associations: May 22,
2004 article in the Kansas City Star by Bill Tammeus explaining
the implications of our work on Paul for Jewish/Christian
Relations
Forthcoming
Publications:
"Paul:
A Jewish View." In Four Views on
Paul. Edited by Michael Bird (Counterpoints;
Zondervan, 2012).
"Romans:
To the Churches of the Synagogues of Rome." In Romans:
Resources for Biblical Studies Series. Edited by Jerry
Sumney (SBL and Brill, 2012).
"Paul's
Relationship to Torah in Light of His Strategy 'to Become Everything
to Everyone' (1 Corinthians 9:19-22)." Pages
106-40 in Paul
and Judaism: Crosscurrents in Pauline Exegesis and the Study
of Jewish-Christian Relations, Eds. Didier Pollefeyt
and Reimund Bieringer (T&T Clark Int/Continuum:
London-New York, 2012).
"Paul
and the Jewish Tradition: The Ideology of the Shema." In Celebrating
Paul. Festschrift in Honor of J. A. Fitzmyer and J. Murphy-O'Connor.
Ed. Peter Spitaler (CBQMS; Washington D.C.: Catholic Biblical
Association of America, forthcoming 2012).
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