Paul and Jesus (Academic Paperback)

208 Pages·2004·4.15 MB·English

by  Alexander J. M. Wedderburn

PAUL AND JESUS
To
Christian Wolff
PAUL AND JESUS
Collected eSSAYS
edited by
AJ.M. WEDDERBURN
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Copyright © 1989 Sheffield Academic Press
First published 1989 in the JSOTS series
This edition published 2004
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication DataDATA
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 0567083969 (paperback)
Typeset by JSOT Press
Printed on acid-free paper in Great Britain by The Bath Press, Bath
CONTENTS
Preface 7
Abbreviations 9
1. ALEXANDER J. M. WEDDERBURN
Introduction 11
2. VICTOR PAUL FURNISH
The Jesus-Paul Debate: from Baur to Bultmann 17
3. NIKOLAUS WALTER
Paul and the Early Christian Jesus-Tradition 51
4. CHRISTIAN WOLFF
True Apostolic Knowledge of Christ:
Exegetical Reflections on 2 Corinthians 5.14ff. 81
5. ALEXANDER J. M. WEDDERBURN
Paul and Jesus: the Problem of Continuity 99
6. ALEXANDER J. M. WEDDERBURN
Paul and Jesus: Similarity and Continuity 117
7. CHRISTIAN WOLFF
Humility and Self-Denial in Jesus' Life and Message
and in the Apostolic Existence of Paul 145
8. ALEXANDER J. M. WEDDERBURN
Paul and the Story of Jesus 161
9. ALEXANDER J. M. WEDDERBURN
Postscript 191
Index of New Testament passages cited 197
Index of authors cited 203
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PREFACE
It was with some surprise that I found myself in 1983 being invited to
join Dr Christian Wolff of East Berlin in chairing a series of seminars on
the theme of 'Paulus und Jesus' to be held during the annual conferences
of the Studiorwn Novi Testament! Societas. This seminar met during the
years from 1984 to 1988, covering 'Grundprobleme der Beziehungen
Pauli zur Jesustradition' in Basel in 1984, the theme of 'Gesetz und
Gottes Wille bei Paulus und Jesus' in Trondheim in 1985, that of 'Die
sachliche Entsprechung zwischen Jesus und Paulus in Verkiindigung und
Verhalten' in Atlanta in 1986, 'Imitatio Christi und paulinische
Christologie' in Gottingen in 1987, and 'Geschichte, Geschichtlichkeit
und Geschichte Jesu in der Christologie des Paulus' in Cambridge in
1988.
The present volume is in no way an official record of this series of
seminars. It is one person's attempt to bring together a series of papers,
not all of them delivered at these seminars, which may provide a helpful
survey of the state of our present knowledge concerning this central
question of the New Testament and at the same time serve to advance
further the discussion of some aspects of it.
Some of these papers have been published previously, either in
English or in German, and acknowledgement is hereby made that
permission to reproduce material was granted as follows:
—Chapter 2, V. P. Furnish, 'The Jesus-Paul Debate: from Baur to Bultmann', in
Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 47 (1964-5) 342-81, by permission of The
John Rylands University Library of Manchester (this is a revised version with
certain alterations and supplementary information supplied by Professor Furnish
or myself in consultation with Professor Furnish);
—Chapter 3, N. Walter, 'Paulus und die urchristliche Jesustradition', in New
Testament Studies 31 (1985) 498-522 (with one or two modifications or
8 Paul and Jesus
additions introduced in consultation with the author), Chapter 6, A. J. M.
Wedderburn, 'Paul and Jesus: Similarity and Continuity', in New Testament
Studies 34 (1988) 161-82 (with modifications), and Chapter 7, C. Wolff,
'Niedrigkeit und Verzicht in Wort und Weg Jesu und in der apostolischen
Existenz des Paulus', in New Testament Studies 34 (1988) 183-96, by permission
of Cambridge University Press;
—Chapters, A. J. M. Wedderburn, 'Paul and Jesus: the Problem of Continuity',
in Scottish Journal of Theology 38 (1985) 189-203 (also with modifications), by
permission of Scottish Academic Press (Journals) Ltd.
I am deeply indebted, too, to a number of other persons: to Professors
Furnish and Walter and to Dr Wolff for their cooperation in this
enterprise, which has greatly helped the accuracy of this volume, and for
further help with bibliographical and other information; to my research
student, Mr W. A. Simmons, who is working on the subject of 'Paul and
Jesus', for the stimulus of his contributions to this discussion; to Mr C. B.
Bremner, the St Andrews University Cartographer, and Dr. J. R. Ball and
Dr P. J. Robertson of the University's Computing Laboratory and my
colleague, Dr R. A. Piper for technical assistance and advice in the
preparation of material in camera-ready form; and finally to Dr David
Hill, Dr David Orton and the staff of Sheffield Academic Press for
accepting this collection of essays into their series of Supplements to the
Journal for the Study of the New Testament and for all their encourage-
ment and help in this project. I have left the contents of all essays but my
own untouched save for such changes as were necessary in the interests
of uniformity of style or were agreed to be desirable by the original
authors; also, to avoid repetition of bibliographical information, I have
used cross-references throughout the volume, and have given the
references to notes in other essays by the chapter number followed by a
stop and the note number (e.g. 'See n. 1.2'); the revisions which I have
undertaken in my own essays have largely been undertaken to convert
what were in two cases very much seminar papers, written with a view to
the needs and the state of discussion in those seminars, into contributions
that hopefully make sense within the rather different context of a volume
such as this.
Lastly, this volume is dedicated to my co-chairman, Christian Wolff,
in deep admiration for his scholarship and for his illuminating and
gracious leadership of our discussions in the seminars over the last few
years, and in gratitude for his most valued friendship.
St Andrews, Scotland A. J. M. Wedderburn
ABBREVIATIONS
In general the conventions followed are those of the Journal of Biblical
Literature 107 (1988) 579-96, and G. Kittel, tr. G. W. Bromiley,
Theological Dictionary of the New Testament 1 (Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans, 1964) xvi-xxxix.
In addition note the following:
Comm. Commentary/Commentaries
ET English translation
par(r). (and) parallel(s)
repr. reprint(ed)
SNTS Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas
Tr. Translated/translation
Commentaries are, after the first reference to them, referred to by the
usual abbreviation for that Biblical work.