Table Of ContentAPOSTLE OF THE CRUCIFIED
LORD
Apostle of the Crucified Lord
A THEOLOGICAL
INTRODUCTION
TO PAUL AND HIS LETTERS
Michael J. Gorman
Contents
Acknowledgments Vii List of Maps ix Introduction X
1. PAUL'S WORLD(S) 1
The Greco-Roman Context of His Mission
2. PAUL'S RESUME 40
The Mission of the Former Persecutor
3. PAUL'S LETTERS 74
Apostleship in Absentia
4. PAUL'S GOSPEL 98
The Good News of Christ Crucified and Raised 5. PAUL'S SPIRITUALITY
115
Covenantal, Cruciform, and Charismatic; Communal, Countercultural, and
(New-) Creational 6. PAUL'S THEOLOGY 131
A Dozen Fundamental Convictions
7. 1 THESSALONIANS 146
Holiness and Hope in a Pagan World
8. 2 THESSALONIANS 167
Cruciform Faithfulness and Goodness before the Parousia 9. GALATIANS
183
The Sufficiency of the Cross and Spirit
10. 1 CORINTHIANS 227
Chaos and the Cross in Corinth
11. 2 CORINTHIANS 287
Paul's Defense of Cruciform Ministry
12. ROMANS 338
Gentile and Jew in Cruciform Covenant Community 13. PHILIPPIANS 412
The Hymn of the Crucified Lord in the Cruciform Community 14.
PHILEMON 454
The Cross and the Status Quo
15. COLOSSIANS 471
The Cosmic Crucified Christ as the Wisdom of God 16. EPHESIANS 498
Walking Worthily of the Cosmic Crucified Christ 17. 2 TIMOTHY 532
Suffering Rather than Shame
18. 1 TIMOTHY 551
Proper Order and Conduct in God's Household 19. TITUS 571
Ordering Church Life and Leadership between the Epiphanies 20.
EPILOGUE 580
Paul Our Contemporary
Scripture Index 593
Acknowledgments
The writing of any book requires the assistance of many people, some of whom
may not even realize the help they have provided.
I begin by acknowledging my debt to my teachers and my colleagues in
Pauline studies. Some of those colleagues, whom I am privileged to count also
as friends, have critically read parts of the manuscript: Warren Carter, Steve
Fowl, Beverly Gaventa, Kathy Grieb, Frank Matera, Judy Ryan, Jeff Siker,
Marty Soards, Marianne Meye Thompson, Ron Witherup, and Tom Wright.
Judy Ryan and Ron Witherup deserve special mention for reading numerous
chapters, while Tom Wright did the same and also graciously sent me a copy of
the page proofs of his New Interpreter's Bible commentary on Romans. Of
course, I hold none of them responsible for deficiencies that remain in the text.
I owe a debt of gratitude also to my many students over the last two decades
of teaching in various settings; they have helped me to clarify my thinking and
my means of expressing the conclusions to which I have been driven. Some of
them have also read various versions of the manuscript in whole or in part: my
students in classes on Paul, including Matthew Frisoni, who made many helpful
suggestions; a former research assistant, Bill Garrison; and another former
research assistant, Rev. Pat Keane, then a seminarian, who carefully read several
drafts of the book, made numerous valuable suggestions, verified Scripture
references, and helped create the index. Most recently, Irene Morin, Zenaida
Bench, and Judy Langmead completed the index. Judy Langmead also proofread
much of the manuscript.
A sincere word of thanks is due also to my family for their constant support:
my wife Nancy, my children, and my father. Special thanks is due my son Mark,
a budding historian, who read parts of the manuscript.
I am grateful, as well, to friends who have supported this project, especially
George Leiman, for his ongoing interest, and Steffanie Felder, who helped with
typing at some crucial moments.
I also express my deep gratitude to those who made the writing of this book
possible. The first draft was largely completed during a sabbatical in 2001 from
all of my responsibilities at St. Mary's Seminary and University. I thank our
President-Rector, Fr. Robert Leavitt, for his generosity, support, and interest; Dr.
Chris Dreisbach for taking on my administrative responsibilities in my absence;
and the Executive Board, faculty, and staff of the Ecumenical Institute of
Theology for their help and encouragement.
I am grateful as well to the group of wonderful people, mostly from Fresno,
California, with whom I traveled to Turkey and Greece during my sabbatical.
The entire group, and especially its leaders, Dr. Jim Westgate and Rev. Gordon
Donaho, made my journey most rewarding. Most of the photos in this book were
taken by the author, largely during that experience.
I would also like to acknowledge the sources of several other illustrations:
the photgraphs of papyrus on page 8o, from the State Museums of Berlin,
Papyrus Collection; the photograph of p46 on page 94, from the Institute for
New Testament Textual Research, Munster, Westphalia; the reconstruction of
central Roman Corinth, from N. Papahatzis, Ancient Corinth: The Museums of
Corinth, Isthmia and Sicyon (Athens: Ekdotike Atherton, 1981); and the map of
ancient Philippi on page 416, from C. Bakirtzis and H. Koester, eds., Philippi at
the Time of Paul and after His Death (Trinity International Press, 1998).
Finally, I wish to thank John Simpson and the entire Wm. B. Eerdmans
Publishing Company for their support of this project, and for allowing the
printing of several prepublication versions for student use. Those versions were
prepared by Wipf and Stock Publishers under the guidance of Jon Stock and Jim
Tedrick, to whom I also extend my thanks.
List of Maps
The extent of the Roman Empire at the time Paul wrote his letters (c. 50) 10
Paul's three missionary journeys according to Acts 46
The province of Macedonia in the first century 148
First-century Thessalonica 149
Ethnic Galatia and the province of Galatia in the first century 186
First-century Corinth and vicinity 230
Ancient Rome 339
Ancient Philippi 416
Western Asia Minor 473
