Romans. Craig S. Keener

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Romans - Craig S. Keener


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      Alex. Alexander Romance

      Pyth. Sent. Pythogorean Sentences

      Quintilian

      Inst. Institutes of Oratory

      Rhet. Alex. Rhetorica ad Alexandrum

      Rhet. Her. Rhetorica ad Herennium

      Sallust

      Bell. Cat. War with Cataline

      Rep. Letters to Caesar on the State

      Seneca the Elder

      Controv. Controversiae

      Suas. Suasoriae

      Seneca the Younger

      Ben. On Benefits

      Dial. Dialogues

      Ep. Lucil. Epistles to Lucilius

      Med. Medea

      Nat. Natural Questions

      Sextus Empiricus

      Pyr. Outlines of Pyrrhonism

      Sophocles

      Phil. Philoctetes

      Suetonius

      Aug. Divus Augustus

      Claud. Divus Cladius

      Dom. Domitian

      Jul. Divus Julius

      Tib. Tiberius

      Tacitus

      Ann. Annals

      Hist. Histories

      Terence

      Andr. Andria

      Theon

      Progymn. Progymnasmata

      Virgil

      Aen. Aeneid

      Vit. Aes. Life of Aesop

      Xenophon

      Anab. Anabasis

      Apol. Apologia Socratis

      Cyn. Cynegeticus

      Cyr. Cyropaedia

      Hell. Hellinica

      Mem. Memorabilia

      Inscriptions, Papyri, and Other

      ANET2 Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old

       Testament, edited by J. B. Pritchard (2nd ed.;

       Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1955)

      CIJ Corpus inscriptionum judaicarum

      CPJ Corpus papyrorum judaicarum, edited by V.

       Tcherikover (3 vols.; Cambridge: Magnes Press,

       Hebrew University, 1957–64)

      P. Giess. Griechische Papyri im Museum des oberhessischen

       Geschichtsvereins zu Giessen, edited by E. Kornemann,

       O. Eger, and P. M. Meyer (Leipzig-Berlin, 1910–12)

      PGM Papyri graecae magicae: Die griechischen

       Zauberpapyri, edited by K. Preisendanz (Berlin: B.G.

       Teubner, 1928)

      P. Lond. Greek Papyri in the British Museum, edited by F. S.

       Kenyon and H. I. Bell (London, 1903–17)

      P. Oxy. The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, edited by B. P. Grenfell and

       A. S. Hunt (17 vols.; 1896–1927)

      Introduction

      Because Romans is the first Pauline letter in our NT canon, I begin with an introduction that may shed some light on the letters in general, although it is designed with Romans particularly in mind.

      Reading Letters

      One characteristic of letters that is surely relevant here is that authors expected the specified audience of their letters to understand them. Whether authors always communicated adequately or readers always understood adequately is another question, but most authors at least tried to communicate so as to be clearly understood. Paul thus writes to his audience in Greek. (Greek was the first language of many non-Italians in Rome, including the majority of Jews and of Christian ministers who had come from the east; only in the second century is it clear that many lower-class, Latin-speaking Romans joined the church.) Paul also apparently writes with what he assumes will be shared cultural assumptions regarding language and concepts that he uses without detailed explanation. Informing ourselves about these shared cultural assumptions will help us understand his language; this objective is one of the primary purposes of this commentary (like many others). Better understanding the local situation in Rome does not mean that Paul would expect the principles he articulates there to be applicable there only; he does, after all, apply many of the same principles to other situations in other congregations. But noting these situations will help us better understand his argument and better identify the principles he is applying.

      Paul and Rhetoric

      Scholars today often read Paul’s letters in light of ancient rhetoric, a mostly positive development. Although some scholars have carried rhetorical analysis too far, as we shall observe, the development is mostly positive because ancient rhetoric offers a much more concrete basis for analyzing Paul’s arguments than modern guesses would.

      Two forms of advanced education existed in the Greco-Roman world: philosophy and rhetoric. The former concerned itself especially with truth and reality, and the latter with communication and persuasion. Despite traditional, stereotypical hostility between the two disciplines, most educated people recognized the value in and made use of both. Nevertheless, rhetoric was the dominant discipline, being considered more practical for public life (politics, speeches in the courts, and so forth). Although only a small minority of people had advanced training of any kind, rhetoric pervaded society and shaped the way urban people thought and argued. Not only could passersby listen to speakers practicing in the marketplace, but oratory dominated civic assemblies and was even the subject of some public competitions.

      Because such oratorical training became even more dominant in the second century, church fathers often read Paul in light of rhetoric,


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