Early Jewish elements in the earliest attested version of Galatians

Not least due to its partly problematic reception history, Paul’s Letter to the Galatians has been the subject of relentless scholarly attention. In this process, however, the level of its textual transmission is all too often overlooked. Yet it is precisely the earliest manuscript tradition—specifically in Papyrus 46—that reveals striking insights regarding Early Jewish elements. What new perspectives does this yield for long-debated questions?

Prof. Dr. Thomas Schumacher from the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) will share his research on anti-Jewish tendencies in the manuscript tradition of the New Testament’s Letter to the Galatians and engage in discussion with us.

With regard to its Israel theology, Galatians is certainly one of the New Testament writings that have experienced a problematic reception. How the relevant passages, especially those with an anti-Judaistic thrust, are to be read in the context of more recent Pauline research is known to be the subject of highly controversial debates. In terms of research history, those debates can be assigned to the “New Perspective on Paul” or the “Paul within Judaim”-debate as well as to the “Parting of the ways”-discourse, i.e. two long-established discourses.

Less established in this context, however, is a text-critical perspective that valorizes the textual witnesses accordingly. Against this background, this contribution will focus on the oldest manuscript tradition, which exists in Papyrus 46. This manuscript will be read in this lecture in a synchronous fashion and evaluated in the context of the aforementioned discourses and questions.

The lecture will be held via Zoom in German language. In-person attendance is also possible in room 409 of the Faculty of Theology. The Zoom link is available upon request from Dr. Nicole Oesterreich.

Autor: Nicole Oesterreich