Arguing With Scripture: The Rhetoric of Quotations in the Letters of Paul

by Christopher D. Stanley

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.

208 pages, Paperback

First published May 10, 2004

About the author

Christopher D. Stanley is Professor Emeritus at St. Bonaventure University in western New York, where he taught courses on the sacred texts of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and the role of religion in contemporary society.

Dr. Stanley has written widely about the social world of early Christianity, including four authored books, three edited books, and dozens of articles in top international journals. He has presented papers and given lectures at conferences, universities, seminaries, and churches around the world, including South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, Austria, Romania, England, Scotland, Ireland, and India. He is a member of the Studiorum Societas Novi Testamenti (SNTS), an elite international organization of New Testament scholars, and served as the founding chair for two ongoing sections of the Society of Biblical Literature.

In recent years Dr. Stanley has expanded his repertoire to include historical fiction. He recently completed a trilogy titled "A Slave's Story" that takes readers on an immersive and engaging journey through the social, religious, and political worlds of first-century Asia Minor (modern Turkey) and Israel/Palestine. All three books in the series--"A Rooster for Asklepios," "A Bull for Pluto," and "A Ram for Mars"--are available from Amazon and other booksellers in both ebook and paperback formats. The first two books are also available as audiobooks on Audible, and the third one is currently in process of being recorded.

Reviews

[Matthias · Rating 3 out of 5]

Schwach. Fand sein Buch im Unterschied zu seiner Doktorarbeit sehr subjektiv. Seine Kategorie der ‚informed audience‘ bestand eher aus seinen eigenen Überlegungen zum Gebrauch des AT im Neuen Testament, als dass sie die damaligen Zuhörer abbildete. Vieles wird einfach vorausgesetzt, ohne es zu begründen, und daraus werden schwerwiegende Folgerungen gezogen. Seine Aussagen wie ‚Paul’s biblical quotations include an element of force‘ oder dass Paulus die Schrift gebrauche, um ‚to advance his own interests‘ (182), zeigen eine fehlende tiefere Auseinandersetzung mit dem Text. Seine Annahmen waren jedoch sehr tiefgründig und hilfreich. Leider fehlt auch hier eine Untersuchung zum Philipperbrief; es werden nur die ‚bekannten‘ Briefe angeschaut (1. und 2. Korinther, Galater und Römer).