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Moyer V. Hubbard (DPhil, University of Oxford) is professor of New Testament language and literature at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University, in La Mirada, California. He is the author of New Creation in Paul's Letters and Thought, Christianity in the Greco-Roman World, and another mostrar más commentary on 2 Corinthians. mostrar menos

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This is a textbook aimed primarily with those who have little understanding of the Greco-Roman world of the New Testament – this is evident from the opening paragraphs of the introduction, which are at pains to spell out the fact of the difference between that culture and ours. The scope of the book is rather narrower than the title suggests, as it focuses on Pauline Christianity and also on Corinth.

The main part of the book, after a brief introduction setting the scene and explaining the methodology, is divided into four roughly equal chapters, each addressing a facet of Greco-Roman society: Religion and Superstition; Education, Philosophy and Oratory; City and Society; Household and Family. The author expresses a belief that a good way to communicate information about another culture is through story (and anyone who has read Robert Harris’ books about Cicero Imperium and Lustrum is liable to agree) and so the book takes the approach of beginning each chapter with a short fictional narrative which illustrates the issues to be discussed. This is followed by a fairly extensive exposition of the cultural context illustrated by the story, followed by a discussion of how this relates to the New Testament. Each chapter concludes with some indications for further reading, both primary sources and secondary literature. The book concludes with and epilogue which explores briefly why Christianity was so successful, 34 pages of endnotes, 10 pages of bibliography, and indices of modern authors, subjects, ancient sources (which includes the scriptures) and ‘callouts’ (the illustrative quotations which are dotted throughout the text)

Of the three parts of each chapter, the middle is the most successful. Hubbard draws on a wide range of sources to illustrate the culture of the first century Greco-Roman world, both in general and in particular reference to Corinth. There may be a certain amount of ‘homogenisation’ in these middle parts but that is probably inevitable in a work such as this. Hubbard acknowledges this limitation in various places – such as his remark that his while he may be able to sketch the “ideal form” of Greco Roman education that the idea was “rarely perfectly applied” (69). The encouragement to the reader to consult the ancient sources is also to be welcomed.

The fictional narrative at the beginning of each chapter is engaging but problematic, for the creation of such a fiction is in itself an act of interpretation, whereas it is presented more as a ‘window on the world of the first century’. This illustrates a further more fundamental problem with the book. Hubbard’s statement that he has “not knowingly contradicted any of the available facts about these historical personages” (3) presumes that we have direct access to such “historical facts”, whereas all the texts available are a combination of fact and interpretation. A similar reservation could be stated regarding his intention “in using narrative and an abundance of primary sources... to allow the ancients to tell their story with as little interruption as possible” (4). This seems hermeneutically somewhat naive. This is perhaps best illustrated by the reconstruction of the events that led to Paul’s criticisms of the Corinthians gatherings (1 Cor 11) that introduces the chapter on “Household and Family” (171-177). The reconstruction is certainly plausible, but it is a reconstruction, not a window.

The real test of the success of the approach, however, comes in the third part of the chapter, where Hubbard discusses the intersection of Greco-Roman culture and Christianity. In the third and fourth chapters, on “City and Society” and on “Household and Family” Hubbard does a fairly good job. Hubbard’s acceptance of the authenticity of all the Pauline Letters and his use of Acts on an equal footing to the letters does not present too much of an obstacle to this task of providing a synthetic view of the early urban Christian communities, and there is not much here with which Wayne Meeks (whom Hubbard cites early as a useful resource) would disagree. The section on patronage and its relationship to the problems created by Paul’s refusal to take gifts from the Corinthians is a good example of the synthesis at its best.

The corresponding sections in the chapters on “Religion and Superstition” and on “Education, Philosophy, and Oratory” are less successful. In both sections, although Hubbard acknowledges some parallels, a desire to indicate the difference between Paul and his contemporaries seems to get in the way of a sober analysis. Thus in the section on Religion Hubbard rather plays down the function of dreams, visions, and even divination, despite evidence in both Paul and Acts that these played a significant role. And in the chapter on Education the treatment of Paul’s use of Greco-Roman rhetorical tools in his letters is surprisingly brief and superficial, despite the large volume of work that demonstrates beyond reasonable doubt that Paul was trained in these forms of rhetoric.

One final reservation is that Hubbard does not appear to make more use of Theissen and Murphy O’Connor, both of whom have written significant works on the Corinthian church communities, though the fact that Meeks features somewhat offsets this, as Meeks makes good use the two former authors into account.

So who is this book useful for? It presents itself as being for the novice student, and it is mostly very readable. However the level of detail and the engagement with some quite complex arguments in places would be heavy going for such a novice. On the other hand a more advanced reader might find the reconstructions and rather informal language in places somewhat patronising. None the less there is much that is good here, especially in the central sections of each chapter. Perhaps they should be published as a standalone book!
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TonyMilner | Apr 7, 2011 |

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Obras
6
También por
1
Miembros
123
Popularidad
#162,201
Valoración
4.1
Reseñas
1
ISBNs
12
Idiomas
1

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