Abstract
Jane Lancaster Patterson’s stated aim in Keeping the Feast is that of addressing sacrificial metaphor that did not have the dominant theme of atonement as its reference, and thereby to promote a more nuanced appreciation of Paul’s rhetorical strategies (p. 161). In an introductory first chapter Patterson proposes 1 Corinthians and Philippians as test cases for Paul’s use of sacrifice a providing a resource upon which his audience could continue to draw for future moral guidance. Chapter 2 argues for sacrifice as metaphor in Pauline persuasion; here Patterson considers ancient theories of metaphor and then proceeds to draw upon Lakoff and Johnson by understanding basic human cognition as fundamentally metaphorical in nature. Chapter 3 considers sacrifice as a Greco-Roman and Jewish practice, looking at the broad background of both Jewish and Greco-Roman sacrifice (including its internal critics), with the aim of furnishing interpretive context. Here and throughout Patterson demonstrates healthy scepticism towards the idea that Paul intended to supersede the Temple. Chapter 4 considers the theory of sacrifice, both in terms of its earlier anthropological studies (Tylor, Robertson-Smith) and more recent contributors (including Douglas, Jay, Stowers, and Ullucci). Chapter 5 finally analyses Philippians, and in particular the Christ Hymn, which Patterson argues to establish a metaphorically sacrificial pattern of living, grounded particularly in Jewish sacrifices of thanksgiving, in which people are encouraged to live sacrificially, by means of seeking the lowest status and the well-being of others. In Chapter 6 Patterson argues that Paul’s metaphors relating to the Passover tie together Paul’s moral counsels to promote unity, and suggests a musical metaphor of her own to convey the complex interplay and layering of imagery in this letter. In Patterson’s conclusion, considerable space is devoted to Romans, and in particular to engaging with Stowers’ position, arguing with Stowers against the idea of substitutionary atonement, but with emphasis being maintained on the power of sacrificial metaphor. My own feeling is that full engagement with the death Jesus as Passover lamb in 1 Corinthians 5:7 would have required a more detailed consideration of Romans 3:24–25 (which in turn raises questions as to the scope of the study as originally conceived). The metaphorical nature of sacrifice for Paul also risks being assumed, even in the title of the project, and some of the references that Patterson detects are subtle. Furthermore, the moral guidance thereby achieved risks seeming, perhaps necessarily, very general in nature. Nonetheless this lively discussion is a stimulating read.