Abstract
The question of how Paul interpreted Scripture has in the last century generated an ever-increasing number of articles, essays and monographs, none of which seem to agree. In this tangled milieu, to venture a thesis, much less to put it in print, is perhaps to consign oneself either to endless sharp criticism or instant obscurity. It is refreshing, then, to see Matthew Bates offer a substantive contribution to the conversation, rather than rehashing old arguments. In The Hermeneutics of Apostolic Proclamation, Bates both critically appreciates the work of other scholars, namely Dodd, Hays, and Watson, while at the same time providing fresh insight into Paul's hermeneutic.
Bates begins in chapter 1 with a survey of approaches to Paul's hermeneutic, and finds himself in agreement with, for instance, Dodd's kerygmatic approach and Hays' intertextual method. He also, though, distinguishes his own point of view from others in at least three ways: he rejects Dodd's thesis about a collection of textual blocks; he expands an intertextual method to include post-, inter-, and cotexts (instead of just pre-texts per Hays); and he argues that Paul utilizes prosopological exegesis, an argument he claims is heretofore unexamined.
Bates' primary argument is that the apostolic kerygma—the narrative of Christ's pre-existence, incarnation, death, resurrection, appearance, and ascension, as most clearly seen in Romans 1:3–4 and 1 Corinthians 15:1–4—is Paul's hermeneutical lens through which he reads the Old Testament. Bates demonstrates that this message about Christ's life and work is apostolic, in that it appears to be the agreed upon gospel amongst the apostles, and kerymatic, in that it is what was proclaimed as of first importance by the early church. Paul adds to this kerygma his mission to the Gentiles. After making this argument in chapter two, Bates contends in chapter three that this apostolic kerygmatic lens, combined with a textual-historical belief in the divine economy, guides Paul's methodological approach. Because the OT must, for Paul, teach the apostolic kerygma, and because Paul believes that God providentially guides both text and event and their relationship to one another, typology, allegory, intertextuality, and prosopological exegesis are legitimate methods of interpretation. Bates explains this in rhetorician's terms: Paul moves from inventio, where he determines the argument he wants to make, to elocutio, where he determines how to make the argument. The first part is always predicated on the apostolic proclamation, while the latter includes choosing OT texts from which to argue and how to color rhetorically their placement within his larger argument. Thus Paul can choose an OT text to make his point and then pick from a variety of rhetorical tools, such as allegory or prosopological exegesis.
Bates suggests prosopological exegesis is a particular lacuna in studies on Pauline hermeneutics. In chapter four he demonstrates how this tool, which attempts to explain “a text by suggesting that the author of the text identified various persons or characters (prosopa) as speakers or addressees in a pre-text, even though it is not clear from the pre-text itself that such persons are in view” (183), was used in antiquity in literary production, drama, and rhetorical/educational training. Like ancient authors and the Patristic exegetes, Paul used this method in his interpretation of the OT. Bates then extensively interprets Pauline texts such as Romans 15:3 and 11:9–10 using this method. He concludes the book in chapter six by again reviewing previous scholarship and demonstrating how his proposal advances the discussion.
The Hermeneutics of Apostolic Proclamation contains much that is to be commended. Bates takes seriously Paul as an interpreter of the OT, and many of his insights into Paul's hermeneutic are helpful and, in my estimation, correct. He rightly emphasizes that, although the Christ event shifts Paul's hermeneutical lens, this does not imply that all the data were not already available in the OT. It simply means that Christ has now lifted the veil so that Paul, and other Christians, can rightly interpret those data (see e.g. 69, 178). Bates also adeptly moves from exegesis to theology to history and back again, showing a wide array of competencies in the original languages, history of interpretation, Greco-Roman background, and the secondary literature. He additionally takes seriously the grand narrative of Scripture, Paul's understanding of it, and its impact on Paul's reading of the OT. The introduction of prosopological exegesis is also important, and it may bear much fruit in future Pauline studies.
A number of issues, though, also crop up in Bates' work. The most important in my estimation is his understanding of typology and allegory. He argues that typology is not prophetic in the OT, but instead only, by means of the divine economy, “deliberately [divinely] anticipatory” (144). Further, this anticipatory note can be recognized only through hindsight and Paul's apostolic kerygmatic lens. The language is similar in Bates' discussion on allegory, although in that context he argues that Paul's use of “allegory” in Galatians 4:21–31 is even more baldly simply a rhetorical tool with which to engage his opponents. Bates here seems to overlook the evidence in the OT itself for Paul having had textual warrant for his readings (on the latter, see my article in BTB 43.1 on textual connections in Hebrew between the Sarah/Hagar narratives). Perhaps this is because Bates focuses exclusively on the LXX as Paul's Vorlage; while it is true that Paul rarely quotes directly from the Hebrew Bible, this does not mean that reading in Hebrew and noticing intertextual typological connections there did not shape his understanding of the OT.
Even with this latter issue, which in my estimation is not a minor one, Bates' work is one with which NT scholarship ought to engage. Bates combines careful exegesis, theological acumen, Christian spirituality, and academic rigor—a rare sight in biblical studies. He also provides fresh insights into Paul's hermeneutical strategy. For these reasons I highly recommend The Hermeneutics of Apostolic Proclamation.