INTRODUCTION TO PAULINE LETTERS. PAUL'S WORLD

CHAPTER 1

PAUL'S WORLD(S)

Hellenization. The triumph of Alezander the great in (323 bc) brought about Hellenization, that is, the greek culture permiated or spread among the Jews.

Sense Of Group Identity.A second important aspect of ancient Mediterranean culture was its sense of group identity. Whereas contemporary Westerners tend to define themselves and their identity first of all as individuals,ancient Mediterranean cultures tended to define the self primarily in terms of group membership. This fundamental cultural difference is sometimes referred to as the distinction between a `monadic' and a `dyadic' culture. In a monadic culture the self can be defined alone (mono-), with emphasis on the person as an individual. In a dyadic culture, however, the self can never be defined alone but always and only in reference to another (dy-, `two'), and particularly to the group - the family, the city, etc. In a dyadic culture, value is placed on inheriting and living by the norms and customs of the group, not on the formulation of independent judgment and values. To live is to live as part of a body and to take one's place within that body. To deviate will likely spell disaster.

Honor And Shame:This sense of group identity leads to another generalization about ancient Mediterranean culture: it was a culture of honor and shame. This refer to the ongoing attribution and withdrawal of esteem by peers - one's family, socioeconomic group, city, etc. In Roman society this respect was based primarily on such things as wealth, education, rhetorical skill, family pedigree, and political connections. These were the culture's primary `status indicators.' In a dyadic culture `self-esteem' is an oxymoron; the only esteem one has is bestowed not by the self but by the group. To `lose face' by failing to please the group, by failing to embody the group's values, constitutes both the loss of honor and the loss of self.

Hierachy. the hierarchy is thus,The Ruler, Governing class, Retainers and priests, Merchants, Day laboures and slaves, Unclean and Degraded, expendables. The society was highly stratified.

The elite of a city associated primarily with people of similar status. The men would often spend

their time in civic-minded activities (all for honor, and never working with their hands), congregate

in the baths, and entertain one another at dinner parties. If the nonelite (artisans, family slaves, etc.) happened to be in attendance at such a dinner, they would be served food of lesser quality in separate rooms.

Patriarchy. Free men rule over their families, wives, children, slaves etc, and can do as they wish. Women were primarily seen as house wife, though some of them have roles in cults and few others in business.

Slavery: slavery was much especially in the urban areas. Slaves are bought and sold at will. They don’t have a say but are subjected to their master’s will. A good number of them are sexually exploited by their master.

PAUL'S ROMAN EMPIRE

Pax romana: the Romans kills any non-citizen who put the pax to jeopardy, through crucifixion, there could be nothing more irrational than to honour, not to mention of deify a man crucified by the imperial authorities.

Community: Empire, City, Family. The engine that ran the empire, the family, and the city was love of honor or status (Lat.philotimia), which took on a godlike role. The pursuit of honor - the admiration of one's peers -created a fiercely competitive society, at least among those of means. They strove to outdo one another in accumulating honor for the emperor and for Rome, for their particular city and family, and of course for themselves. A building project financed by a wealthy man, for in stance, could accomplish all three. It beautified and served the city while it could be dedicated to the emperor and prominently inscribed with the backer's name.

UNITY: Emperial power, cult and theology.at the time of Paul, imperial worship is compulsory for everybody, though the Jews were exempted.  The status of the emperor was just everywhere and his temples were high and can be seen from far.

Boundary Markers: Ritual And Religio-Ethical:To be Jewish was, and is, to be different. This is the root meaning of purity or, in biblical language, holiness - to be set apart for God' purposes.

Ritual boundary markers would include circumcision, calendar, and food laws. These were

clearly important aspects of Jewish life that marked Jews out from Gentiles. Calling them `ritual

boundary markers' does not diminish their importance, for Jews endured ridicule and sometimes even risked death in their stubborn refusal to compromise these practices. The symbolism conveyed by these things [forbidden animals and food] compels them to make a distinction in the performance of all their acts, with righteousness as thei aim.

Although non-Jews certainly noted the odd (to them) ritual boundary markers (such as diet and

circumcision), what also struck them, and what Jews repeatedly emphasized in the Diaspora, were

the religio-ethical markers. These would include the distinctives of Jewish monotheistic worship and morality. Non-Jews observed that Jews worshiped only one God, exclusively and without the use of images, and that they abstained from the imperial cult. Furthermore, non-Jews noted that Jews refrained from certain social behaviors, especially such practices as (i) sexual relations with people other than their spouses and (2) exposing their unwanted children on the town garbage heap. Of course, Jews also noted these same distinctives and regularly accused non-Jews of being generally idolatrous and immoral.

It was precisely the differences of monotheistic worship and morality that generated Jewish

concern about Gentile contamination. At the same time, ironically, many Gentiles disdained Jews for their monotheism and consequent refusal to bow to the gods and the emperor. Yet it was also often the substantive religio-ethical distinctives of monotheism and morality that attracted certain Gentiles to Judaism, while the ritual boundary markers (such as circumcision) were more offensive to these same Gentiles. Those who found Jewish monotheism and morality captivating would affiliate loosely with a synagogue but not undergo circumcision to become truly and fully Jewish. These Jewish sympathizers, or `God-fearers', would have been prime candidates for Paul's circumcision-free gospel.

Apocalypticism: The origins of apocalyptic (as defined above) are debated among scholars. It seems to have arisen out of the prophetic tradition as an answer to the problem of Israel's constant oppression at the hand of foreign rulers, when the situation seemed more grave than ever and hope for divine intervention within the normal historical framework no longer seemed possible. Whatever the precise historical and sociological causes for its birth, apocalyptic functioned fundamentally to give hope - hope that God, in a new way and a new day, would once again deliver Israel and her people (and in some cases, all humanity) from oppression, persecution, and other crises. That coming divine intervention would be cosmic in scope, shaking up and then re-creating the heavens and the earth. It would also be a day of judgment for evildoers and a day of salvation, including resurrection into God's heavenly presence (or into God's kingdom on the renewed earth), for the just.

Apocalypticism was also characterized by a multifaceted dualism, or belief in strong pairs of

opposites. Apocalyptic thought was characterized by cosmic, chronological, and ethical dualism.

Cosmic dualism refers to the conviction that the cosmos is the battleground between two opposing sets of forces, those of God and the powers on God's side, and those of Satan and the powers on Satan's side. These powers include angels and demons (who by this time populated the Jewish universe), but also humans who align themselves either with God (e.g., the holy ones of Israel) or with Satan (e.g., the oppressing pagans). Already engaged in spiritual warfare, these two opposing forces will meet at some future and final cataclysmic battle in which God will ultimately defeat the forces of evil.

This cosmic dualism leads naturally to both chronological and ethical dualism. Chronological dualism means that history is conceived as divided into two ages, the present age and the age to come. The present age is characterized by evil, injustice, and the oppression of God's people, whereas the coming age will be characterized by righteousness, justice, and the liberation of God's people from bondage to the oppressors.

Judaisms: Judaism includes the following sects; Sadducees, Pharisees, Essenes, Zealots

Among those mentioned in the Gospels, the Sadduceesare the group associated with the priestly aristocracy who focused on the Torah alone and denied the resurrection and angels, played little if

any role in the life of Paul." Pharisees were a non-priestly group zealously dedicated to the protection and promotion of the Law and to the purity of Israel. Unlike the Sadducees, they affirmed the resurrection of the dead, final judgment, and the existence of powers or spirits other than God.

Another Jewish group with apocalyptic, nationalistic, and purity commitments was the Qumran

community and its parent body, the Essenes. The Essenes rejected the temple priests in Jerusalem,

believing them to be impure and unfit. the members were apparently waiting for two messiahs, one priestly and one royal (who would be a military victor), and a prophet. Their method of scriptural interpretation, called pesher, was based on the assumption that Scripture was fulfilled in the present experiences of their community as the true Israel.

Like many Second Temple Jews, the Zealots as a group (and zealous Jews more broadly speaking) counted among their heroes the priest Phinehas, the prophet Elijah, and the Maccabees - all of whom burned with religious and national zeal, even to the point of lethal violence." Unlike most other Jews, groups like the Zealots were prepared to take their zeal to the ultimate level of violent political revolt.

Diaspora Judaism

Outside of Palestine - where the above-mentioned groups flourished - Jews lived among Gentiles, in the Diaspora, or dispersion. Establishing synagogues wherever possible, these Jews continued the worship of the one God without direct benefit of the temple. As noted above, they distinguished themselves with a set of interconnected ritual and religio-ethical boundary markers. Circumcision, dietary practices, and their own calendar were well known among their Gentile peers. So was their covenantal avoidance of certain accepted practices, as noted above, such as frequenting the pagan temples (idolatry) and exposing or killing defective newborns (immorality). The Roman authorities tolerated the Jews, though they found them odd in many ways, and even exempted them from military service and imperial adulation. Occasionally the Jews' Gentile neighbors did not feel kindly toward them, however, and persecutions of various types were not unheard of.