After Paul: The Apostle's Legacy in Early Christianity focuses on the many ways Pauline thought and tradition were reinterpreted, reused, reframed, and reconstructed in the first centuries of Christianity. James W. Aageson contends that it is insufficient simply to focus on Paul or on his legacy in the Greco-Roman world; what is needed is a bifocal look at Paul with the reference points being both how Paul transformed his own thinking and later how Paul and his thought were transformed by others in the church.To speak of Paul's legacy implies more than the reception of his texts, his ideas, or his theology. It also implies more than the interpretative techniques or the references to Paul by early post-Paul writers. It refers to the apostle's wider impact, influence, and sway in the first centuries of the church as well. The questions he addressed, his impulse toward theological reflection and argumentation, and his approach to pastoral and ethical concerns undoubtedly influenced the future course of the Christ movement. Aageson's investigation takes up the issues of memory and metamorphosis, conflict and opposition, authority and control, legacy and empire, the church and the Jews, women and marriage, Paul in place, and church unity to pinpoint interrelationships and interactions among important strands in Paul's thought, persona, and authority as together they interfaced with the changing culture and social life of early Christianity. After Paul is not intended to be a history of the first centuries of Pauline Christianity nor an exhaustive account of everything that pertains to the early development of Paul's legacy. Rather, Aageson endeavors to plot connections, identify patterns, and develop a theoretical context for understanding Paul's legacy in early Christianity. The picture that emerges is one of continuity and discontinuity between Paul and Pauline tradition as the historical Paul became a figure of memory and remembrance, framed and reframed. This specific investigation offers a fresh entry point to understanding the larger question of how the Christian tradition came into its own as a social body and religious movement that could endure even after Paul.
James W. Aageson is Professor of Religion, Emeritus at Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota.
Preface Credits AbbreviationsIntroduction An Overview of Paul's Legacy Paul and Religion An Overview of Recent Scholarship A Methodological Overview and the Intricate Tapestry of Early Christianity Conclusion1. Memory, Metamorphosis, and Christian Development: Paul and the Formation of a Legacy Scripture, Canon, and Interpretation: The Point of Entry The Earliest Remembering and Reframing of Paul The Acts of the Apostles The Acts of Paul The Pastoral Epistles Ignatius of Antioch Polycarp of Smyrna Clement of Rome Conclusion2. Meaning, Method, and Conflict: Paul's Place in Early Church Tradition 1 Cor 1:18-2:16: The Point of Entry A Lens for Interpreting Pauline Tradition From Dissension and Exhortation to Refutation and Apologetics 1 Clement Ignatius to the Ephesians Irenaeus: Adversus haereses 3.1-5 Tertullian: Contra Marcion 5.5-5.6 Conclusion3. Authority and Control in Pauline Tradition: The Building of a Legacy Romans 6: The Point of Entry Authority, Control, and Institutional Development The Pastoral Epistles Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp, and 1 Clement Irenaeus and Tertullian Authority and Its Cross Currents Thecla Marcion Valentinus Conclusion4. Life in the Empire: Paul's Legacy, the Church, and Rome Resistance, Accommodation, and Negotiation: The Point of Entry Paul's Legacy and the Empire Luke's Paul Paul and the Pastorals Paul and Thecla Paul, Imprisonment, Suffering, Martyrdom, Imitation A Foundational Christian Narrative Ignatius of Antioch Polycarp 1 Clement Later Stories, Arguments, and Persecutions The Martyrdom of Paul Tertullian: De fuga in persecutione Conclusion5. Self-Definition and Contention: Israel, the Jews, and the Church Abraham, Israel, and Gentile Christianity: The Points of Entry The Legacy of Paul and the Jews, Judaism, and Israel Abraham Jews, Judaism, and Israel Ignatius to the Magnesians Epistle of Barnabas Epistle to Diognetus Justin Martyr: Dialogue with Trypho Tertullian: Adversus Judaeos Conclusion6. Sexuality, Marriage, and Asceticism: Paul's Ethical Legacy 1 Corinthians 7, 1 Thessalonians 4, and the Debate: The Point of Entry Marriage, Sexuality, Celibacy, and the Legacy of Paul The Pastoral and Deutero-Pauline Epistles The Apostolic Fathers Thecla and Sexual Renunciation Tertullian on Chastity and Virginity Exhortation to Chastity On Monogamy On Modesty To His Wife Methodius: Symposium of the Ten Virgins Conclusion7. Paul's Legacy in Place: Philippi, Rome, and Corinth Paul's Legacy in Place: The Point of Entry Paul's Early Legacy in Place in the New Testament Paul in Philippi: The Birth of a Legacy Paul and Rome: The Birth of an Imperial Legacy Paul, Corinth, and the Corinthians: The Birth of a Pastoral Legacy Conclusion8. E Pluribus Unum or Vice Versa: Mapping Unity and Diversity in Early Christian and Pauline Tradition One Body, Many Members: The Point of Entry Legacy and Geographical Location Ecclesiology and Opposition Function and Formation Unity and Diversity of Belief Unity and Diversity of Practice: Baptism, Eucharist, Worship, and Ministry Diversity beneath the Surface ConclusionConclusion
