Description: This study claims that Paul uses his personal example as an explicit literary strategy in 1 Corinthians, Galatians and Philippians, and as an arguably implicit strategy in 1 Thessalonians and Philemon. He uses his own example to ground and illustrate his argumentation in a rhetorically sophisticated manner, often structuring his argument on such a basis. In places a crisp statement of his own case serves as a thesis statement of the argument that follows (e.g., Rom. 1.17; Gal. 1.10), while at other times it serves to summarize the argument and to provide a transition to the next phase (especially in 1 Corinthians and Gal. 2.15-21). All the while Paul's self-portrayals in his letters serve not autobiographical or egoistic purposes but pedagogical and argumentative aims.
Description: Luke's story of Paul's prolonged imprisonment under the Romans provides readers with an unexpected setting for considering the proclamation of the word. This narrative-critical study explores the custody settings of Acts 2128 as places that frame and amplify the detained Paul's social marginality to powerful interests that have a stake in his ministry and contends that the settings serve as new venues for Paul's continuing yet redirected missionary vocation. The book provides a penetrating discussion of the relationship between the young church and imperial Rome, suggesting that the accounts of Paul's activity and divine assistance, coming precisely within the settings intended to enforce Roman control, constitute subtle yet powerful confrontation and manipulation of the social and religious powers. Paperback edition available from the Society of Biblical Literature (www.sbl-site.org).
