Drawing on recent discussions of quotations in the fields of rhetorics, linguistics, and literary studies, Stanley argues that Paul's explicit appeals to Jewish Scriptures must be analyzed as rhetorical devices that seek to influence the thoughts, feelings, and actions of a first-century audience, an approach that requires a different set of questions and methods than scholars have typically used in their studies of Paul's quotations. Key questions include why Paul quoted words of Scripture to support some of his arguments and not others; how quotations help to advance the developing arguments of Paul's letters; and how a mostly illiterate first-century audience from a variety of backgrounds might have viewed these sudden intrusions of material from a Jewish religious text. Answering these questions requires paying careful attention to the affective and poetic dimensions as well as the intellectual aspects of the original audience's encounter with the Holy Scriptures of Israel. Christopher Stanley is Professor of Theology at St. Bonaventure University. He is the author of Paul and the Language of Scripture as well as numerous articles on the social, literary, and rhetorical context of Paul's letters.
Drawing on recent discussions of quotations in the fields of rhetorics, linguistics, and literary studies, Stanley argues that Paul's explicit appeals to Jewish Scriptures must be analyzed as rhetorical devices that seek to influence the thoughts, feelings, and actions of a first-century audience, an approach that requires a different set of questions and methods than scholars have typically used in their studies of Paul's quotations. Key questions include why Paul quoted words of Scripture to support some of his arguments and not others; how quotations help to advance the developing arguments of Paul's letters; and how a mostly illiterate first-century audience from a variety of backgrounds might have viewed these sudden intrusions of material from a Jewish religious text. Answering these questions requires paying careful attention to the affective and poetic dimensions as well as the intellectual aspects of the original audience's encounter with the Holy Scriptures of Israel. Christopher Stanley is Professor of Theology at St. Bonaventure University. He is the author of Paul and the Language of Scripture as well as numerous articles on the social, literary, and rhetorical context of Paul's letters.
This book charts a new course in the age-old investigation of the apostle Paul's use of scripture.
Christopher D. Stanley is Emeritus Professor of Theology at St Bonaventure University, USA. He has written or edited seven academic books and numerous articles on the social, literary, and rhetorical context of Paul’s letters.
"This unique study provides the first full-length study of the
impact that Paul's quotations had upon his audience.... It is a
fresh approach to the analysis of Paul's use of scripture.... This
emphasis on authority and quotation then becomes a key ingredient
in Stanley's examination of Paul's Scripture quotations.... His
points provide a good critique of many studies on Paul's use of
Scripture.... There are a number of strengths to Stanley's study.
He has provided a much needed vantage point for looking at Paul's
quotations of Scripture and emphasized the audience's reaction to
Scripture quotations rather than the author's use. He has also
focused attention on the diverse Scripture literacy of Paul's
audience. These points deserve to be considered further in Paul's
use of Scripture.... Arguing with Scripture does open up much room
for understanding Paul's use of Scripture. His audience-centered
approach will provide a fruitful starting point for many further
investigations of Paul, his readers, and the role of Scripture."
-RBL (Society of Biblical Literature), 1/05
Review ~ International Review of Biblical Studies, vol
51,2004/05
"In our opinion, Stanley's treatment of Paul's quotations is not
penetrating either in content or rhetorical analysis. As a result
he can present a view of Paul's quotation process that is at odds
with the organic nature of revelation and the progressive movement
of redemptive history. Perhaps others can find some usefulness in
this work in spite of these flaws, but we have found little. Save
your money and look up the quotations yourself. And if you want
rhetorical insights, read Paul along with some classical rhetorical
handbooks and Greco-Roman speeches. That would even help your
preaching, but this book will not." - Scott F. Sanborn, Kerux: The
Journal of Northwest Theological Seminary, September 2008
*Scott F. Sanborn*
"Arguing with Scripture" is a theoretically sophisticated,
methodologically innovative, exegetically sound, thorough and
balanced study of how the Apostle Paul used scripture to argue with
opponents and to persuade members of early Christian churches. By
positing different hypothetical audiences for Paul's letters, at
varying levels of familiarity with Jewish scripture, Stanley moves
the debate about Paul's interpretive practices in new and more
fruitful directions, away from concentrating exclusively on Paul's
"intentions" and toward the variety of interpretations that are
possible given a variety of possible kinds of audiences. Cognizant
of the views of others and in dialogue with recent scholarship,
Stanley judiciously demonstrates the remarkable freedom Paul used
in quoting and interpreting scripture, but this study also shows
just how persuasive--and sometimes unpersuasive--Paul's rhetoric
may have been in the ancient church. Stanley's own arguments are
persuasive indeed."--Dale B. Martin, Professor of Religious
Studies, Yale University
*Blurb from reviewer*
"Christopher Stanley has provided an insightful analysis of Paul's
enigmatic use of Scripture. Why did Paul seldom explicitly quote
the Old Testament? Why did he use Scripture infrequently to support
his deeper theological arguments? Stanley finds the answers to
these and other questions in Paul's sensitivity to his rhetorical
situations and the argumentation that he tailored for each. Stanley
merges the study of Paul's use of Scripture and rhetorical analysis
to create a helpful, custom-made tool for interpreting the Pauline
Epistles."--Duane Watson, Professor of New Testament Studies,
Malone College, Canton, Ohio
*Blurb from reviewer*
"While not everyone will agree with all of Chris Stanley's own
arguments with Paul concerning his use and abuse of scriptural
quotations, Arguing with Scripture represents a quantum leap
forward in the study of this dimension of Paul's intertextuality.
Stanley's highly productive combination of reader response and
rhetorical criticism keeps the focus on a range of effects that
Paul's strategic 'rhetoric of quotations' could have had on
readers/auditors of varying competencies. While previous studies
occasionally touch on these issues, Stanley foregrounds them and
uses them to present many fresh insights. Indeed, he succeeds in
problematizing no less than nine traditional scholarly assumptions
about how Paul and his readers interacted with the biblical text!
This is an important scholarly contribution that is clear, concise,
and reader-friendly even to non-specialists. It deserves to be read
by readers of all competencies.--Mark D. Given, Associate Professor
of Religious Studies, Southwest Missouri State University,
Springfield Missouri
*Blurb from reviewer*
"...Stanley's book is engaging and provocative. The questions that
he raises are both poignant and important."- David Lincicum, June
2006/ Vol. 49 no.2
*Journal of Evangelical Theological Society*
'[A] new methodological approach which promises to offer new
insights into Paul's use of Scripture...This accesible study offers
the reader a tremendous amount of insight into first century
Christianity, pexposing some of the fallacies that are often
assumed about Paul's audiences...This book is a fresh approach to
Paul's use of Scriptures that has much to offer...and will
certainly be of benefit whatever side of the Maximalist/Minimalist
divide one resides.' Bryan D. Lee, Themelios, Vol 32, Issue 2,
January 2006
*Themelios*
Stanley’s method is enlightening and can be built upon for further
insight into the Pauline use of scripture… [his] study gives the
NT, and specifically Pauline community, much to consider.
*Mosissimus Mose, A Blog by PhD Students at Trinity College,
Bristol*
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