Читать книгу Paul Among the Gentiles: A "Radical" Reading of Romans - Jacob P. B. Mortensen - Страница 26

If Paul tried to make Gentiles behave jewishly because of their adherence to his mission, what did he himself do, because of his belief in Christ? Galatians 2:11–14 may offer some clues. Paul and Peter are Jews, but Paul asks Peter why he ‘lives like a Gentile’ (ἐθνικῶς) and not ‘like a Jew’ (Ἰουδαϊκῶς), even though he is a Jew (Ἰουδαῖος). And since this is what he does, why then does he convince Gentiles to Judaize (ἰουδαΐζειν)? This minor exchange makes it appear as though Paul presents two possible options for a Jew: A Jew may live either ἐθνικῶς or Ἰουδαϊκῶς. What he does by presenting this choice to Peter is to transform the nouns into adverbs – words describing the way something is done. This makes it appear as though Paul and Peter had to choose the way they wanted to live, whether they wanted to live Ἰουδαϊκῶς (‘Jewishly’, with an upper-case J, since they are in fact ethnic Jews) or ἐθνικῶς (gentilishly with a lower-case g, as they are in fact not ethnically Gentiles).

From the foregoing minor exchange we must realize that Paul does not speak to Peter of becoming a Gentile. Paul speaks of the possibility of living or acting like a Gentile. Paul chose to live his own life gentilishly for pedagogical and theological purposes (to win more people, 1 Cor 9:19–22). But he criticizes Peter for not being consistent with one choice. First, Peter chose to live gentilishly, like Paul; but when ‘those from James’ arrived (Gal 2:12), he withdrew and separated himself from the Gentiles, in order to appear Jewishly (Ἰουδαϊκῶς).

In Gal 2:19, Paul explains his own choice: ‘For through the Law I died to the Law, in order that I might live to God’. Many commentators take this verse to indicate that Paul left Judaism and a life under the (Mosaic) law,1 but this may not be what he actually intended. Gal 2:19 may state that Paul exchanged the elements of his Jewish identity to gain access to Gentile communities; Gal 2:19 may state that Paul adjusted his Jewish observances so he could eat and live gentilishly, with Gentiles, without asking them to observe the (Mosaic) law.2 Thus, Paul’s strategy of constructing his own identity would mirror, albeit inversely, the one he applies to the Gentiles: He does not ask the Gentiles to become Jews and to live like a Ἰουδαῖος by following the law (ἰουδαΐζειν). Instead, he himself starts to live gentilishly (ἐθνικῶς) when he is around Gentiles, because he considers himself to be ‘apostle to the Gentiles’ (ἐθνῶν ἀπόστολος, Rom 11:13). His vocation as ‘apostle to the Gentiles’ requires this shift in priorities, but not in order to start a new religion or ‘go beyond’ Judaism. On the contrary, he adapted to the sinful, unrighteous, and unjust Gentiles so that the God of Israel might reward him on the day of judgement (cf. similarly Phil 2:5-11), and that God’s plan of extending his mercy to the Gentiles, so they will ‘rejoice with his people (Israel)’ (Rom 15:10), might be fulfilled as soon as possible. Consequently, Paul may not have compromised his faithful practice of the (Mosaic) law. What he did was to behave like a Gentile and act gentilishly (ἐθνικῶς) when he lived among Gentiles. And whatever this adaptation meant, Paul did not perceive it as compromising his faithfulness to Israel, to God, or to the (Mosaic) law.