Picturing Paul in Empire: Imperial Image, Text and Persuasion in Colossians, Ephesians and the Pastoral Epistles

(Hardback)

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Pauline Christianity sprang to life in a world of imperial imagery. In the streets and at the thoroughfares, in the market places and on its public buildings and monuments, and especially on its coins the Roman Empire's imperial iconographers displayed imagery that aimed to persuade the Empire's diverse and mostly illiterate inhabitants that Rome had a divinely appointed right to rule the world and to be honoured and celebrated for its dominion. Harry O. Maier places the later, often contested, letters and theology associated with Paul in the social and political context of the Roman Empire's visual culture of politics and persuasion to show how followers of the apostle visualized the reign of Christ in ways consistent with central themes of imperial iconography. They drew on the Empire's picture language to celebrate the dominion and victory of the divine Son, Jesus, to persuade their audiences to honour his dominion with praise and thanksgiving. Key to this imperial embrace were Colossians, Ephesians, and the Pastoral Epistles. Yet these letters remain neglected territory in consideration of engagement with and reflection of imperial political ideals and goals amongst Paul and his followers. This book fills a gap in scholarly work on Paul and Empire by taking up each contested letter in turn to investigate how several of its main themes reflect motifs found in imperial images.

Reviews

Maier offers a thorough and densely researched volume that is a must-read for anyone in the Deutero-Pauine and Pastoral Ephistles, the New Testment and empire, or the visual and spatial backgrounds of the earliest Jesus movement. Sixty-one black-and-white figures and thirteen full-color plates fittingly provide examples of the imperial images to which Maier appeals it will provide many resources for teachers and pastors striving to help their communities imagine the political situation of early Christianity. -- Timothy Luckritz Marquis, Moravian Theological Seminary, USA * Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology *

Author Bio

Harry O. Maier is Professor of New Testament Studies, Vancouver School of Theology, Canada. His books include Apocalypse Recalled: The Book of Revelation after Christendom and The Social Setting of the Ministry as Reflected in the Writings of Hermas, Clement, and Ignatius.