The Things That Mark an Apostle: Paul's Signs, Wonders, and Miracles (original) (raw)
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The Things That Mark an Apostle
The Biblical Annals
The Acts of the Apostles describes – sometimes in rather colorful details – signs and wonders wrought by the apostle Paul. Can this portrait of the apostle be corroborated based on his own letters? Or do we have to conclude that contemporaries of the apostle paint a more or less hagiographic picture of Paul’s miraculous activities? What is the place of miracles surrounding Paul and wrought by him within the whole of his life and mission? A survey of Paul’s letters allows us to get a view of how the apostle sees the function of signs, wonders, and mighty works within the dynamics of the proclamation of the gospel. Viewed in this way, the possible difference between information based upon Paul’s own communication and that of his contemporaries about him appears to decrease. A clearer picture of the part miracles play within the whole of Paul’s mission may also help to rethink modern and post-modern worldviews from a biblical perspective.
Recovering an Undomesticated Apostle: Essays on the Legacy of Paul
2023
Paul the apostle is usually imagined as a man of prestige and power - comfortably conversing with philosophers, seeking an audience with the emperor, and composing compelling letters for Christians throughout the Mediterranean. Yet this portrait of a safe and conventional figure at the origins of Christianity airbrushes out many strange things about him. This volume repositions Paul as a man at the periphery of power. Recovering an Undomesticated Apostle explores the ways that Paul has been “domesticated” in both popular and scholarly imagination. By isolating selected crises of the apostle’s life and legacy and examining the social and material dimensions of his world, these essays collectively chip away at the received image of his strength and status. The result is a series of glimpses of Paul that frame the apostle as surprisingly marginal and weak within Roman society. Published in honour of New Testament scholar Leif E. Vaage, Recovering an Undomesticated Apostle presents Paul as a man operating from a position of desperation, making virtue out of necessity as he attempted to claw his way up in the dog-eat-dog world of the ancient Mediterranean.
The Effects of Signs, Wonders and Miracles on Faith throughout the History of the Christian Church
2002
Introduction. The emergence of Pentecostalism in the C20 th as the major influence in global Christianity has highlighted the role of the Holy Spirit within the Christian Church. Pentecostals and Charismatics form at least 27.7% of organised global Christianity and "the sheer magnitude and diversity of the numbers involved beggar the imagination… In AD2000 [they totalled] 523 million affiliated church members." 1 This influence has also raised a variety of questions, among which is whether the signs, wonders and miracles that initially brought the Church into existence are valid today. 'Cessationists' believe that "certain miraculous gifts ceased long ago, when the apostles died and scripture was complete". 2 Warfield, the noted C19 th Princeton theologian, wrote 'Counterfeit Miracles' as a major contribution to this position. However with the Pentecostal influence in "all state and national denominations," 3 the cessationist's position is, I believe, now untenable. Many Christians seem unaware that 'Pentecostalism' in most of its forms, arguably existed throughout Christian history in both Western and Eastern mainstream Churches, as well as among fringe and unorthodox groups. The signs, wonders and miracles we now equate with Pentecostals, have been experienced in most generations throughout Church history! Hagiographers (biographers of the 'saints') have had to document several miracles in the lives of each candidate for 'sainthood' and conclude that signs, wonders and miracles did not cease after the Apostolic period. In this dissertation I will discuss the effects of signs, wonders and miracles on faith throughout the history of the Christian Church. Although there is an abundance of literature on this subject, I have restricted my research to events that are relevant to Pentecostal Christians. I have included testimonies from Church history,
The Apostle Paul and Justin Martyr on the Miraculous: A Comparison of Appeals to Authority
Greek Roman and Byzantine Studies, 2011
HE SUBJECT OF MIRACLES has too often been ignored or overlooked in scholarly discussions of early Christian-164 PAUL AND JUSTIN MARTYR ON THE MIRACULOUS a substantial awareness and interest in the miraculous. 4 If this is true, then, whether explicitly or implicitly, it is an oversimplification to interpret Paul solely as a herald of the word of the gospel, or Justin only as a rationally-minded apologist. The analysis to follow builds upon a seminal essay by Paul Achtemeier, 5 as well as more recent analyses by Ramsay MacMullen, 6 Bernd Kollmann, 7 Stefan Schreiber, 8 and others, 9 and focuses on three questions: In what ways do Paul and Justin Martyr refer to miraculous phenomena? What common assumptions do these authors hold about the performing of miracles, especially with regard to appeals to authority? To what ends, or with what goals, do Paul and Justin refer, usually in passing, to the miraculous? The analysis begins with Paul and then considers the writings of Justin.
Biblical Studies Journal
To validate his messianic mission and the coming of God's kingdom, Jesus performed "wonders and signs" that were directed at and closely related to the call to faith. This paper attempted to account for Jesus' miracles and their significance in raising Christians' faith today, as mentioned by various prophets in the Old Testament. The survey was carried out based on a critical analysis of some of the miracles performed by Jesus Christ while He was on earth. The study focused on two healing miracles, the first controlling nature, and the other one demonstrating power against demons or evil spirits from men by categorizing his miracles. Six miracles were chosen and analyzed to help people understand the meaning and significance of those miracles in Jesus' time and today. This survey focused on the miracles of Jesus Christ as recorded in the New Testament. All of Jesus' miracles revealed to the readers that nothing Jesus Christ did on this earth was done w...
The Gospel According to Paul: Over a Hundred Years of Interpretation
Religions 15, 2024
Paul’s gospel has been the subject of numerous scholarly discussions since the start of the twentieth century. Beginning with Adolf Harnack and ending with Matthew Bates, this article provides insights into the gospel from biblical scholars who have contributed to and influenced this particular area of study for more than a hundred years. The results of this investigation show that some of the major areas of concern center on the origin of Paul’s gospel, its content, and his use of gospel terminology, especially the noun εὐαγγέλιoν. A notable issue focuses on the noun form not being found in a sacred‑salvific sense in Jewish Scripture but found instead in the imperial cult at the end of first century BCE. Another major point is...
Paul and the Miraculous: A Historical Reconstruction
2013
The meat of this revised Penn State dissertation is the middle chapter, which presents archaeological findings from Tel Dan, previously largely unpublished. Greer has served on the zooarchaeological field staff there since 2008. On the basis of seven Iron Age II deposits of bone and pottery near the "high place," the book discusses cultic feasting at Dan during the reigns of Jeroboam, the Omrides, and the Nimshides. As the author notes, the discovery of sacrificial and feasting activities at a major Yahwistic shrine would be significant since many of the other major cultic sites from the period are inaccessible or have not been discovered. Greer admits that there is not sufficient evidence to be sure that the feasting observed was part of a Yahwistic cult, but he argues that the archaeological findings "exhibit a high degree of correspondence with those of Yahwistic cult feasts described in the priestly materials in the Hebrew Bible." An example of this is the presence of right-side portions in areas surmised to have been used by the priests (e.g., Lev 7:32-33). Yahwistic names stamped on jar handles from the period add some support here. When the book attempts to describe the cultic milieu thickly, including socioreligious changes over time, one wishes for a larger data set, but the book will be of interest to any scholar of Israelite religion.