WHAT DID PAUL THINK HE WAS DOING? A STUDY OF PAUL'S USE OF AΠΟΣΤΟΛΟΣ AND AN INTRODUCTION TO HIS "STATEMENTS OF ACTION"

Abstract

<p>The goal of this study is to add to our knowledge of Paul's notion of apostleship, and to perhaps say something new about early views of the apostle-concept in general. I begin to present my original research in Chapter Two, where I attempt to offer a better description of Paul's definition of apostleship than the ones that came before it. Previous descriptions unanimously mention and give equal weight to a vision of Christ, and a charge to carry out certain activities as the two main components to apostleship. However, Paul's words on the matter suggest that he and his contemporary Christ-believers regarded the activities-component to be of greatest significance to the identity of the apostle. For this reason, I state that we must take a serious look at Paul's words on his apostolic activities if we seek to understand his notion of his apostleship. Yet, very little work has been done in the past to organize our first-hand data on Paul's actions. In the interest of launching this initiative, I compile an inventory of all actions that Paul claimed to perform in the past, present, and future. I call these passages "statements of action." Such an inventory has never been published, and I view it as this study's major contribution to NT scholarship. In Chapter Three, I place all statements of action into one or two of four categories. The categories are: (1) authenticating his authority; (2) converting; (3) establishing congregations; and (4) maintaining congregations. I argue that the four categories represent Paul's four apostolic objectives, and that Paul thought it necessary to fulfill them in order to prepare his "converts" for imminent eschatological events.</p>