Algunos núcleos temáticos en la enseñanza episcopal.

to give classic expires si on to M o own Ideas. language which

Î3 oolwmi, f mai liar, and endued with strength and ologanco

sorvoa as a good conductor for a fresh charge of thou^ÿit. In literary usage, when a quotation la introduced aa decora­ tive onbroldery, often v/iiat gives it forco is the contrast thoro is between its moaning in the new setting and its ori­ ginal ^loaning. If wo fail to undorstond tills salient prin­

ciple, some of Paul«3 citations v/lll strike us as inept,

rroquently, \tiion lie iutroduooa a Scriptural pliraso into M s discourse, the apostle has no intention of promulgating tlio tliougi^it of its autWr. n. Oavldaon writes of tM s literary 3^'. yiclmo'l, "Paul and Job: a Hogloctod ibialogy" in The

120.

In order bo oxproas a aoiittooat with beauty and forco, tho !îow Testament writers oomotimes employed oxpros- aloau vdilch wore originally dosoriptivo of other sub- jocts. Tîjda Is cocrion to all wrltoro. it "Is no other tlmn doing what apoakora and w i t ora in all agea and countries have done; borrowing a line of poetry or a striking passage of any oatoeriod author, wiiiou conveys in pooullarly Improsslvo language a aontiment, v/Moh is, in a pleasing or instructive mannor, applicable to tlio now occasion. îTuoh felicitous citations from adulrod autiiors ai»e made every day with ox.coilont ef­ fect ; wM l o neither tîxo 8t>eakor nor the hoaiH>r over

onoG imagines, tiuit the original wltcr oontmaplatod

tills now application" (nr. pye nmltb on tlio principlos of Pi*op!ietio Interprétâtlou p.gl)#^

V/o now prooood to considor sajc outstanding tnca.iplos of tlm rhetorical usage of Scripture in tlie Luulino corpus.

a) Rixam 10;6-9. m addji*e03lng liinaelf apoolflnally to tlio problems arising out of his doctrine of tlio fulfllmont

of Israelis hope la tiio Oliuroh, 1 aul box'rovrs sovoral plxraaoa

from Ot. 30:12-14 to oxproas M s m m Idoaa. ^ erba% a theao

woiHis wlilch the Beuuoroncaalo writer ascribes to üosoa had bo- oœio provereial^^ for tliey eloquently doclaro tliat obodionoo to the Taw is not oppressive. But bei*e asaurodly the apostle does not mako the O.T. his authority. This is prove 1 by the fact tiiat he inin*oiacos tloe Cci'lptural pln»aaos with tho rubric,

"Tlio ri^iteousnesa basod on faith says", v/liich, way of ia-

plioatioxi, is contmstod to tiie authoritative v/di^1q of nosea

cited in Rom. 1C;!Ï. In other woi\ls, laul iioro con^ area tho opposing voices of legalism and Christianity. L’oroover the 3%'.' '^)avlÜson, S., ggorod ^i^^muneutlcs,

121.

o:4>lanatory pliraoes and tlio subatitutad language in tho ol-

tat Ion ("Viho v/lll doacond Into tho abyss?" for "Who will go over tho soa for ua?") show that lie is making no attempt to

convoy raitlifully the purport of Dt. 30. Hatiior his aouman

louda liiiti to ooo that îyo can palatably sorvo a trutn to tïi&

Jews by appropriating rovorcd onciont words so as to ooavoy tae very opposite of thoir original sonso. ilio truth ho is Ueun to proGont is this: it is tho aiiriotian and not tlio le­ galistic way of life wMoii is o«sy to attain*

b) Kcbr. 10 : IS* lîoî'ô in citing Ps. 19*4 Paul gar­

bles tho orii^ial mooning* Tho tliocio of Ps. 19:1-6 is tlie testimony wiJLch Nature boars to tho glory of God; tliis dlvino

liondlwork 1ms no speech, yet it daily doclaros to all tlio

world tho mjosty of its Creator. Paul usoa the language of this passage in rooording tiio faot tlmt Oijriatianity is being proclaimed univoraally. It is probable tliat ho is not using tho oitatiotn as proof, but is merely taking over its words to

express in olasslo f o m M s ami sentiment.

o) ^ Gor. 15:55. flie moaning vfliiah Paul Imre im­

poses ou Hos. 13:14 is dimietrioally opposed to its original

mooiiing: tho porsonifiod triumph of Death booowos the tri- mp2i over Death. Paul malcoQ verbal use of tho oitatlon,

adapting tixls passage of exalted lebrevf poetry so as to allow tho aln*istian kbry^îaa to surge tîxrou^i it#

d) üph. 4%8. In Is. 68:18 tho psalmist pictxxroa

yoii/oh playing tim rftle of ou earthly oouquoror. lie ascends Mount Gioa to d%voll afÿiin in liis tOBiple when tim Israolitoa

122.

rutusm Bubyloa.^® Ilko a tiilltary victor no is paid

liauago by a train of voiiquiuliod fooo who hrlag spoil

frori fciioir citadol* fa quoting tliis verso laul makoa aovoral significant doparLuroa fro&t tho original Hebrow, w M o h the LO: tranoiatos literally* In place of tno I I: piu*a30,

(3 Jè 1. ^ Â a SUXS: À)L .auiliio toxt

yoado, £ £ ^ £ £ ^ { j ç X ^ Xij'

in'u.ioz^oro tlio vcnha t^irou^iout the quotation

are oliongod fraa tlio aooond to tloiru poraon. It is quite un- lil:uly tufit tlio a^)03vlo îilmoolf riado tlioao alterations, for it would have boon shoor boodwlixidng to alter radically tlxo

original toj:t and t;*ou in vorse 11 to uaîs© deducticxxa from

the cliongud wording of the text. It would appear that ho Imc

followed tlio fargumio vorslon t/xoioU soca.ia to imvo road |2^ Û

Instead of In this Armaaio ;>ui»apia* iso tho vorso ro-

fora GO üonon* asooat of fount dlnal, at w M c h time ho gavo wlio gift of tho Law to mon*‘^ Paul recalls tlio passage in t-il3 foxii vLilch w in fan!liar to !ii .i t > illuotmto Gho anoon-

3l<m of Clu*if*t and iils boatowal of the fruiGo of Iio vlctox*y upon tiiO OlïUï'cIx. Tho apootlo does not itako tho citation to 3e. 'Driver ("gotos on Tliroe i as sages in 't* Paul ^ a hpiotlos"

in The *::;.ositpr, 3rd aorloa, XX, p*.21) viritos: "Tho r^aalin, as may fuTrly ub' inferred from verso Ip, * last ur> a way

for him tIiat ridoth throu^i tjio dosortn *, was wrlTton in viow of tlio a;>proaciiing return of tlib" people from Babylon

(com. Is, f{.0;3 straight in tiio desert a riig;h v/gy

for oui’ God»; also 57:1?!-# 62:177.777 ^^TTEs'liuoyaiiu and jubilant tone is an ociio, no doubt, of ti*e foollngu evok­ ed a^aong patriotic Israelites by the prospect of dolivor- anoo",

39# Abbot, diiieslans and Golosstæis, p*112,

123.

iielp forward an that Chrlat liaa aaoondod; leather ho

uaoa it to oenvoy in a pootioal manner tho truth tlmt tlio 0:101*1 oma Iiaa boon roloasod for all men bocauso of tlio tri­ umph of Chi'iut. A further roaoon for not appealing to tMa text as dotionotrativo proof -lay lie in the fact that tho Jews did not oousidor tlxLa isalm to bo :wislanio."^

The above oxamploo Indicate that fuul ia not un­ willing to treat Soriptui^o purely ac a litorai*y mediijm for the exproaoiou of Ills thou^^a. It should, however, bo om- piiaaigod that ho considéra tho O.T, aoro ao aacx*od liiatory tlion aa a acred litoruturo, and that thoi*oforo tliia use of quotaticma from ie ia with liiin dofinitoly secondary,

3 ) The 'pcistontial fiction,

Tho t o m "oxiatontial" liaa boon clioaon to aorvo in tlio hoadlino of tliia soctXon booauao it auggoata a paral­

lel bot /oon tho oxpoaition of Paul mrl that of aomo noo-

ortliodox t!ioclo^*iaa3 of our ora. m 'lartlcular Barth, in

ills rovolutionary l.piatlo to tho ^o?aang, gives an existen­ tial tyoe of exposition Inaairach as he is mlnly interested in iî^ipurtlng oontmporaiy rolsvanco to the deep-lying Bib­ lical issues. It would be f^itilo to study this work of Barth with a view to finding v/liat Paul had in mind when bo wrote Homans. Yet it is gratuitous to maintain that Barth is seeking tho apostolic blessing for propositions wliich he lias concoctod liiDisolf. Tliero is at least as much Biblical ’ii, ix\ tüïd., III, pp.

596

8

icîi.. truth In tliis book as is to bo found in tlio ooK».iontarloo of

sGriot latioo-hlatorioal critics, ovon thougli v/o nay

fool tliat Barth could oft on bavo found Scriptui’al pas sagos Lioro appropriate to Ills ari^umont tlmn tlio onos ho adduoos,

Indood it would bo diffiou3t to road Darth»a exposition with­ out coming to tho conclusion that liia thougiits aro soaked in the vital ideas of tho Bible. Paul also incliuoa at times to raise tliu swoop of his view above tho imuedlato scone of a pai*ticular Boriptural passage and to see tiio universal

principles to which it points. Ilolthor tho apostle nor Barth is sailing under false colours, disguising liis own opinions under tho authoritative bannor of tlio "Word of God". Hatlxor both lift to:cts CŒipletely above tiieir littloneas and nar­ rowness in or dor tiiat tlio full ofi*ulgenco of prophetic re­ ligion r.:ay v sliiao on thco. Wiiat Duncan writes of raul Is Giioroforo true of Barth: "por nim tho tx*^ao nooning of any passage was to bo found, not within the narrow limits of its historical context, but in z*elatlon to tho eternal truths of dlvino r e v o l u t i o n " B y showing tlmt Paul »s attitude to­ ward Scriptui*o la mirrored in tho liormonoutios of one of tlie most notable conccmjuporoi*/ tiioologiono, we hope to disarm a

prejudice which treats tiio exogooia of Barth with favour, but considers that of Paul to bo outoodod. Doth man arc compel­ led by the on-marcMng ! loi la go a chi o lit o to road out a present day exposition which &oai*a for beyond what tlio original writ- ei intended.

125.