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Section Three: "showing the apostle Paul …"
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Section Three “showing the apostle Paul …” Introduction As I noted in the introduction, in the present work we will be concerned with analyzing the way in which the Apocalypse of Paul fits into three currents of early Christian thought: apocalypticism, Paulinism, and gnosticism. I have argued that the three are related as follows: The goal of the work is to provide an expansion of Paul’s account of his ascension, and in so doing to promote a gnostic view of the cosmos, with ramifications in terms of soteriological , eschatological, and other beliefs of the author and her intended readership. To do this, the author of the work has utilized the ascension apocalyptic genre, an accepted one for discussions of cosmology and theology in antiquity, drawing both on both its form and on stereotypical elements of its content (which are often reinterpreted or parodied). Having the apostle Paul as the protagonist of the tale serves to legitimate and guarantee its contents, and would ideally increase the likelihood that the tale would accomplish its propagandistic goals. Paul therefore functions as, so to speak, a trusted brand name. One is also tempted to see in the Apocalypse of Paul a defence of the authority of ongoing revelation in Christian communities. In the earliest church, divine revelation was an authoritative and accepted concept, even if specific revelations and revelators might be subject to testing (cf. Didache 11.8: ouj pà~ de; oJ lalw`n ejn pneuvmati profethv~ ejstivn [“not everyone who speaks in spirit is a prophet”]1). But by the proposed date for the Apocalypse of Paul in the late second century, revelations (Montanist, gnostic, or other) had come under suspicion by the developing proto-orthodox leaders, as being a source of uncontrolled and potentially irrecuperable ideas. 77 Now, the Apocalypse of Paul clearly takes a stand in favour of legitimizing at least one vision—namely, Paul’s. But so too did the proto-orthodox leaders. There is no clearly identifiable support to be found in the Apocalypse of Paul for the extension of this visionary legitimacy to those visionaries unfortunate enough not to be the Apostle to the Gentiles—or, perhaps , his alleged successor, Valentinus. In this section I examine the Apocalypse of Paul as a representative of late second- and early third-century Paulinism. In so doing, I show how it fits into its contemporary literary context—and how it stands out as well. This will help us acquire a deeper understanding of why our author chose Paul as the hero of her tale, the effects of such a choice on the text’s readers , and how that choice links her text to other manifestations of early Christian Paulinism. In prior research, those interested in the Apocalypse of Paul have been inclined to ignore or disregard its status as a work of early Christian Paulinism . Both these reactions can be traced to an older view of Paulinism, one that regards it as only being concerned with the use and/or development of Paul’s theology on the part of later authors—and since the Apocalypse of Paul uses and develops Paul’s image, it has not been considered a work of Paulinism. This older, restricted view of Paulinism has, however, undergone expansion over the past twenty-odd years, so I will first discuss this expansion and thereby establish the utility and the legitimacy of including texts that work with Paul’s image in the broad category of Paulinism. Having established the legitimacy of this sort of Paulinism, I will discuss the Apocalypse of Paul, examining the aspects of the Pauline legacy on which it draws and the ways in which it refers to, makes use of, and develops this legacy. Though there are, of course, references made to Paul’s writings, nonetheless it will become apparent that the author of the Apocalypse of Paul is far less interested with their theology than with using them to develop an image of the “apocalyptic Paul”—that is, Paul as an apocalyptic hero. So that this may be seen in context, the “apocalypticization” of other heroes from biblical history will be examined briefly as well. Given that the use and development of Paul’s image can be legitimately placed under the category of “Paulinism,” it will be apparent that many different images of Paul were promulgated by early Christian (and Manichaean) authors. A sampling of these images will be briefly presented. My present focus, however, is on those authors and those texts that present...