The Apostle to the Foreskin : : Circumcision in the Letters of Paul / / Ryan D. Collman.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter DG Plus DeG Package 2023 Part 1
• VerfasserIn: Collman, Ryan D.,
• Place / Publishing House: Berlin ;, Boston : : De Gruyter, , [2023]; ©2023
• Year of Publication: 2023
• Language: English
• Series: Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft , 259
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (X, 246 p.)

This volume offers a comprehensive examination of circumcision and foreskin in the undisputed Pauline epistles. Historically, Paul's discourse on circumcision has been read through the lens of Paul's supposed abandonment of Judaism and conversion to 'Christianity.' Recent scholarship on Paul, however, has challenged the idea that Paul ever abandoned Judaism. In the context of this revisionist reading of Paul, Ryan Collman argues that Paul never repudiates, redefines, or replaces circumcision. Rather, Paul's discourse on circumcision (and foreskin) is shaped by his understanding of ethnicity and his bifurcation of humanity into the categories of Jews and the nations—the circumcision and the foreskin. Collman argues that Paul does not deny the continuing validity (and importance) of circumcision for Jewish followers of Jesus, but categorically refuses that gentile believers can undergo circumcision. By reading this language in its historical, rhetorical, epistolary, and ethnic contexts, Collman offers a number of new readings of difficult Pauline texts (e.g., Rom 4:9–12; Gal 5:1–4; Phil 3:2–3).

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Copyright Permissions -- Abbreviations -- 1 Introduction Paul: A Circumcised Apostle -- 2 Keeping the Commandments of God Circumcision in 1 Corinthians -- 3 Do You Not Hear the Law? Circumcision in Galatians -- 4 We Are the Circumcision Circumcision in Philippians -- 5 The God of the Circumcision and the Foreskin Circumcision in Romans -- 6 Conclusion Paul: The Apostle to the Foreskin -- Bibliography -- Index of Names -- Index of Subjects -- Ancient Sources