I'm writing my doctorate to show why I think this first one is way off:
'The praises and homage offered to Christ [in the NT] then seem to take their place naturally in the series of Jewish royal messianic praises'
(William Horbury, Jewish Messianism and the Cult of Christ, London, SCM: 1998, p 140)
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All I want to say about the following is "what about 1 Cor 16:22?".
(Klaus Berger, Paulus. München: C. H. Beck, 2002, p 35)'What does Paul love? ... [I]n contrast to many modern believers, Paul cannot say, "I love Jesus" ... the relationship to this lord and king could not be any closer, but it is not called love. Paul loves heaven.'
Of course, were either of these two to skim through my work, I would come out far worse!
4 comments:
hi Chris
Briefly, why do you think the 1st one is way off?
This is so often much to agree with in something disagreeable.
Of course Jesus was praised as Messiah, and Eschatology was important to Paul. There is just much more to it that that.
James, if I told you that I'd have to kill you (doctoral work)!
But Ed is right, I agree with much in Horbury's scholarship, but early Christin devotion to Jesus displays a pattern of evidence which is inappropriately compared with the 'royal' praises Horbury looks at. It's not even a 'step on the way'. I'll discuss this more when I'm nearer to finishing my thesis, which hopefully won't be too long if I get my butt moving.
All I want to say about the following is "what about 1 Cor 16:22?".
'What does Paul love? ... [I]n contrast to many modern believers, Paul cannot say, "I love Jesus" ... the relationship to this lord and king could not be any closer, but it is not called love. Paul loves heaven.'
Yup. Or how about 2 Cor 5:14-15 or Gal 2:20? Granted, modern belivers may be talking about "a new kind of love," but these passages suggest a love that goes way beyond sentiment and positive vibes stirred up by the repetive choruses, snappy melodies and upbeat rhythms of modern worship music. Did Paul "love" Jesus? Look at it his life. It goes without saying because Paul's love for Jesus goes far beyond profession in words.
Or so it seems to me.
Good blog, Chris. Found your review of RB's book well worth the extended read.
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