Hearing the Old Testament in the New Testament (McMaster New Testament Studies) by Stanley E. Porter

Author:Stanley E. Porter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-09-29T07:27:00+00:00

The Imperial Context of Paul's Shorter Epistles

It is becoming increasingly clear from both archaeological evidence and a close reading of the texts themselves that the letters that concern us in this chapter were written to communities in cities with flourishing imperial cults.' A prominent temple to Caesar was situated in Ephesus. Philippi en joyed the status of Roman citizenship as a Roman colony and was properly grateful to Caesar for this benefit.5 Thessaloniki had been favored with the status of a free city for its loyalty to the emperor.6 There is an epigraphic recording of a temple to Caesar built during the time of Augustus in Thessaloniki as well as fragments of a statue of Augustus. In addition, Thessalonian coins testify to the widespread presence of the imperial cult.' Such evidence is harder to come by for Colossae since it was destroyed in an earthquake between AD 6o and 64; however, the reputation of Colossae in the production of purple cloth for imperial use suggests that the imperial cult would have been practiced in this city as well.' In addition, a flourishing temple to the empire existed in the nearest town, Aphrodisias.

This external evidence is supported by the language and imagery of Paul's letters themselves. Paul frequently uses the vocabulary and imagery of the empire and does so in a way that provides a challenge to the empire. Such challenge is often rooted in Paul's allusions to Israel's Scriptures, and hence it will be explicated below. For the purposes of this introductory overview, I will point out a few of the imperial echoes and images without indicating their rhetorical function within the letters.

In an empire celebrated for the bringing of a gospel (euangelion) of salvation through the Pax Romana, Paul proclaims another gospel, the gospel of God (i Thess 2:2, 8, 9) and his Messiah (Phil 1:27; 1 Thess 3:2), a gospel that is growing and bearing fruit in the whole world (Col 1:6) and proclaimed to every creature under heaven (Col 1:23).9 This is a gospel with a geographical scope equal to Caesar's. It is a gospel that proclaims a different Savior, the Messiah (Eph 5:23), to whom all things will be subjected (Phil 3:21) and through whom peace is brought to those both far and near, indeed to all of creation (Eph 2:14-17; 6:15; Col 1:20; 2 Thess 3:16).10

In addition, there are further imperial references unique to each epistle. In Colossians Paul challenges the ubiquity of imperial images by proclaiming Jesus as the image of the invisible God (Col 1:15), and in language shared with Ephesians he proclaims that Jesus is above all thrones, dominions, rulers, and authorities (Col 1:16; Eph 1:21-23), a clear reference to the throne of Caesar and his dominion, rule, and authority over the whole world. Indeed, all things are under the feet of this Jesus (Eph 1:22), and he is head of the body of the church, not the body politic ruled by Caesar (Eph 1:22; Col 1:18).

In Phil 3:20 Paul baldly states,

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