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SBL Press Bookstore
Recent Research on Paul and Slavery
John Byron
ISBN
9781906055448
Status
Available
Price
$90.00
Publication Date
August 2008
Hardback

$90.00

New Testament scholarship and Paul have had a complicated relationship over the question of slavery. For many decades there has been a struggle to reconcile the abolitionist cause with a biblical text that seemingly supports the institution of slavery. Then the more recent discovery of inscriptions and documents referring to slaves in antiquity has added new dimensions to the debate. Furthermore, new interpretative approaches to the New Testament, including social-scientific criticism, rhetorical criticism, and postcolonial criticism, have challenged earlier interpretations of Paul’s statements about slavery. The issue has even more recently taken on a new shape as descendants of former North American slaves have engaged with the way Paul has been interpreted and used to justify the enslavement of their ancestors.

In this volume John Byron provides a survey of two hundred years of scholarly interpretation of Paul and slavery with a focus on the last thirty-five years. After a general overview of the history of research, Byron focusses in turn on four specific areas: African American responses to Paul, Paul’s slavery metaphors, the elliptical phrase in 1 Corinthians 7:21, and the Letter to Philemon. An epilogue highlights four areas in which scholarship is continuing to change its understanding of ancient slavery and, in consequence, its interpretation of Paul. New Testament students and scholars will find the volume a valuable specialist resource that collects and analyzes the most important developments on Paul and slavery.

John Byron is Associate Professor of New Testament, Ashland Theological Seminary, Ashland, Ohio.

The SBL is the North American distributor for Sheffield Phoenix Press. Customers outside of North America can purchase this book directly from Sheffield Phoenix by clicking here.