Re-Membering the New Covenant at Corinth: A Different Perspective on 2 Corinthians 3 (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen Zum Neuen Testament 2.Reihe)

Emmanuel Nathan's study is driven by the hermeneutical question of whether the covenantal contrasts in 2 Cor 3, in which Paul's use of 'new covenant' in 2 Cor 3:6 is set in stark polemical antithesis to an 'old covenant' (2 Cor 3:14), lie at the origin of the later Christian self-understanding as members of a new covenant that replaced the old. In other words, can Paul be said to be the founder of formative 'Christianity', even if one nuances the term 'Christianity' as a sect within the Judaisms of Paul's time? Using social memory theory, the author reframes the larger question of Paul's continuity or discontinuity with Judaism and seeks instead to examine the ways in which Paul refracted, redeployed, and reconfigured existing traditions in service of local needs, among them the formation and transformation of character among his community at Corinth. Cover Titel Preface Table of Contents List of Abbreviations Introduction Chapter 1: The Context of This Study 1. Paul’s Jewishness and the Parting of the Ways or Was Paul the Founder of Christianity? 1.1 A New Perspective on Paul 1.2 The Parting of the Ways (and Some of Its Problems) 2. The New Perspective on Paul: Differences and Divergences 3. The Present Study in Prospect Chapter 2: The ‘New Perspective’ on 2 Cor 3 1. Did Paul Have a Covenant Theology? 2. Two Covenants or One? 3. Paul’s Use of the Covenant Motif in 2 Cor 3 4. The Concept of Covenant in Paul 5. Overview Chapter 3: A Contextual Study of the Covenantal Contrasts in 2 Cor 3 1. The Issues at Hand 2. Paul, Moses and the History of Israel 2.1 Delimitation and the Main Argument 2.2 The Origins of Hafemann’s Argument: Windisch vs. Goettsberger (1924) 2.2.1 On Ministry 2.2.2 The New Covenant 2.2.3 The Law 2.2.4 On Israel and the Old Covenant 2.3 Hafemann’s Conclusion 3. Hafemann’s Exegesis as Seen from the ‘Lutheran’ Perspective 3.1 Hafemann, the New Perspective on Paul, and the Lutheran Critique 3.2 Continuity and the Implicit Fear of Marcionism 3.3 The Lutheran Rebuttal 4. Overview Chapter 4: Exegetical Considerations on Paul, Moses, and the Veil in 2 Cor 3 1. Examining the Exegetical Options of καταργέω and τέλος in 2 Cor 3:7, 11, 13, and 14 1.1 2 Cor 3:7 1.2 2 Cor 3:11 1.3 2 Cor 3:13 1.4 2 Cor 3:14 2. Brief Considerations on κάλυμμα 3. Overview Chapter 5: Sociological Approaches to Identity Transformation 1. Three Sociological Approaches in Pauline Studies 1.1 From Individual to Community (Troels Engberg-Pedersen) 1.2 Language and World-Construction (Edward Adams) 1.3 From Reform Movement to Sect (Francis Watson) 2. Identity Trans-/Formation in Paul 2.1 Corporate Christology and Community Construction (David Horrell) 2.2 The Creation, Transformation, and Retention of Multiple Identities in Christ (William Campbell) 2.3 Paul’s Formation of Social Identity in Corinth (Brian Tucker) 3. Overview Chapter 6: Four Trends on Paul’s Argument from Scripture in 2 Cor 3 with Implications for Identity Transformation 1. Biblical Reasoning 2. Charismatic Exegesis 3. Eschatological Exegesis 4. Apocalyptic Discourse 5. Overview Chapter 7: From Identity to Memory with a Preliminary Application to 2 Cor 3 1. The Link between Identity and Memory 1.1 Creative Continuity with a Historic Past (Judith Lieu) 1.2 Shaping a Narrative Past (Samuel Byrskog) 1.3 Identity and Mnemonic Contestation (Philip Esler) 2. Contesting the Mnemonic Tradition of Moses’ Glory in 2 Cor 3 2.1 The Lacunae of Intertextual Studies of 2 Cor 3 2.2 The Social Context behind 2 Cor 3 2.3 Reading Paul’s Use of Moses in 2 Cor 3:7–18 as Constructing a Counter-Memory 2.4 The Contestation and Colonization of Mnemonic Traditions in 2 Cor 3 3. Overview Chapter 8: Social Memory and the Mnemonic Refraction Model 1. Social Memory in Context 2. Social Memory in New Testament Studies 2.1 Social Entrepreneurship (Minna Shkul) 2.2 Structuring Early Christian Memory (Rafael Rodríguez) 2.3 The Mnemonic Refraction of Typological Categories (Anthony Le Donne) 3. Overview Chapter 9: Memory Refraction in 2 Cor 3 1. Two Aporias on Paul’s Inclusion of 2 Cor 3:7–18 1.1 Scriptural Allusions 1.2 Reconstructing a Pre-existing Tradition 2. The Mnemonic Cycles of καινὴ διαθήκη in the Corinthian Correspondence 3. The Typological Cycle of Moses in 2 Cor 3:7–18 4. Overview Chapter 10: Identity Transformation in 2 Cor 3 1. Paul as a Second Moses 2. Moses as Person and Text 3. Moses as (the Pre-Transformed) Paul 3.1 “When Anyone Turns to the Lord” (2 Cor 3:16): Conversion and Transformation 3.2 “Whenever Moses is Read” (2 Cor 3:15): No Transformation without Conversion 4. Overview Chapter 11: From Heuristics back to Hermeneutics 1. Ideology and Utopia in 2 Cor 3 1.1 The ‘Covenant or Creation?’ Line of Inquiry in Pauline Studies 1.2 Covenant and Creation in 2 Cor 3 1.3 Ideology and Memory in 2 Cor 3 1.4 Paul Ricoeur’s Ideology and Utopia 1.5 Reckoning with the Reception History of 2 Cor 3 2. The Present Study in Retrospect General Conclusion Bibliography Index of References Index of Subjects and Names