Arguing With Scripture: The Rhetoric of Quotations in the Letters of Paul

Drawing on recent discussions of quotations in the fields of rhetorics, linguistics, and literary studies, Stanley argues that Paul's explicit appeals to Jewish Scriptures must be analyzed as rhetorical devices that seek to influence the thoughts, feelings, and actions of a first-century audience, an approach that requires a different set of questions and methods than scholars have typically used in their studies of Paul's quotations. Key questions include why Paul quoted words of Scripture to support some of his arguments and not others; how quotations help to advance the developing arguments of Paul's letters; and how a mostly illiterate first-century audience from a variety of backgrounds might have viewed these sudden intrusions of material from a Jewish religious text. Answering these questions requires paying careful attention to the affective and poetic dimensions as well as the intellectual aspects of the original audience's encounter with the Holy Scriptures of Israel.

About the Author :
Christopher Stanley is Professor of Theology at St. Bonaventure University. He is the author of Paul and the Language of Scripture as well as numerous articles on the social, literary, and rhetorical context of Paul's letters.

Review :
"This unique study provides the first full-length study of the impact that Paul's quotations had upon his audience.... It is a fresh approach to the analysis of Paul's use of scripture.... This emphasis on authority and quotation then becomes a key ingredient in Stanley's examination of Paul's Scripture quotations.... His points provide a good critique of many studies on Paul's use of Scripture.... There are a number of strengths to Stanley's study. He has provided a much needed vantage point for looking at Paul's quotations of Scripture and emphasized the audience's reaction to Scripture quotations rather than the author's use. He has also focused attention on the diverse Scripture literacy of Paul's audience. These points deserve to be considered further in Paul's use of Scripture.... Arguing with Scripture does open up much room for understanding Paul's use of Scripture. His audience-centered approach will provide a fruitful starting point for many further investigations of Paul, his readers, and the role of Scripture." -RBL (Society of Biblical Literature), 1/05 Review ~ International Review of Biblical Studies, vol 51,2004/05 "In our opinion, Stanley's treatment of Paul's quotations is not penetrating either in content or rhetorical analysis. As a result he can present a view of Paul's quotation process that is at odds with the organic nature of revelation and the progressive movement of redemptive history. Perhaps others can find some usefulness in this work in spite of these flaws, but we have found little. Save your money and look up the quotations yourself. And if you want rhetorical insights, read Paul along with some classical rhetorical handbooks and Greco-Roman speeches. That would even help your preaching, but this book will not." - Scott F. Sanborn, Kerux: The Journal of Northwest Theological Seminary, September 2008 "Arguing with Scripture" is a theoretically sophisticated, methodologically innovative, exegetically sound, thorough and balanced study of how the Apostle Paul used scripture to argue with opponents and to persuade members of early Christian churches. By positing different hypothetical audiences for Paul's letters, at varying levels of familiarity with Jewish scripture, Stanley moves the debate about Paul's interpretive practices in new and more fruitful directions, away from concentrating exclusively on Paul's "intentions" and toward the variety of interpretations that are possible given a variety of possible kinds of audiences. Cognizant of the views of others and in dialogue with recent scholarship, Stanley judiciously demonstrates the remarkable freedom Paul used in quoting and interpreting scripture, but this study also shows just how persuasive--and sometimes unpersuasive--Paul's rhetoric may have been in the ancient church. Stanley's own arguments are persuasive indeed."--Dale B. Martin, Professor of Religious Studies, Yale University "Christopher Stanley has provided an insightful analysis of Paul's enigmatic use of Scripture. Why did Paul seldom explicitly quote the Old Testament? Why did he use Scripture infrequently to support his deeper theological arguments? Stanley finds the answers to these and other questions in Paul's sensitivity to his rhetorical situations and the argumentation that he tailored for each. Stanley merges the study of Paul's use of Scripture and rhetorical analysis to create a helpful, custom-made tool for interpreting the Pauline Epistles."--Duane Watson, Professor of New Testament Studies, Malone College, Canton, Ohio "While not everyone will agree with all of Chris Stanley's own arguments with Paul concerning his use and abuse of scriptural quotations, Arguing with Scripture represents a quantum leap forward in the study of this dimension of Paul's intertextuality. Stanley's highly productive combination of reader response and rhetorical criticism keeps the focus on a range of effects that Paul's strategic 'rhetoric of quotations' could have had on readers/auditors of varying competencies. While previous studies occasionally touch on these issues, Stanley foregrounds them and uses them to present many fresh insights. Indeed, he succeeds in problematizing no less than nine traditional scholarly assumptions about how Paul and his readers interacted with the biblical text! This is an important scholarly contribution that is clear, concise, and reader-friendly even to non-specialists. It deserves to be read by readers of all competencies.--Mark D. Given, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Southwest Missouri State University, Springfield Missouri "...Stanley's book is engaging and provocative. The questions that he raises are both poignant and important."- David Lincicum, June 2006/ Vol. 49 no.2 '[A] new methodological approach which promises to offer new insights into Paul's use of Scripture...This accesible study offers the reader a tremendous amount of insight into first century Christianity, pexposing some of the fallacies that are often assumed about Paul's audiences...This book is a fresh approach to Paul's use of Scriptures that has much to offer...and will certainly be of benefit whatever side of the Maximalist/Minimalist divide one resides.' Bryan D. Lee, Themelios, Vol 32, Issue 2, January 2006 Stanley’s method is enlightening and can be built upon for further insight into the Pauline use of scripture… [his] study gives the NT, and specifically Pauline community, much to consider.