Paul in Acts and Epistles : the Miletus speech and 1 Thessalonians as a test case
This study contributes to debates over the portraits of Paul in Acts and his epistles by considering the one Pauline speech to Christians in Acts, the speech to the Ephesian elders at Miletus (Acts 20: 18b-35). After surveying previous work, a two-way comparison is made, comparing the Miletus speech with (i) speeches by Jesus in Luke's Gospel, to see how Lukan it is, and (ii) 1 Thessalonians, to see how Pauline it is. A hierarchical method is outlined for identifying parallels. A study of the speech shows it to be a well-structured 'farewell', in which Paul commissions the elders for ministry after his departure to Jerusalem. The speech has four major themes: faithful fulfilment of leadership responsibility; suffering; the attitude to wealth and work; and the death of Jesus. Paul is offered as a model of Christian leadership for imitation. A comparison with Luke's Gospel identifies three passages which parallel the speech (22: 14-38; 12: 1-53; 21: 5-31), and four briefer passages (7: 38,44; 9: 2; 10: 3; 13: 32f). 22: 14-38 parallels the speech especially closely. A clear picture of Luke's view of Christian leadership emerges - modelled by Jesus, taught to his disciples, modelled by Paul, and then taught to
Walton, Stephen
Philosophy
Paul in Acts and Epistles : the Miletus speech and 1 Thessalonians as a test case. This study contributes to debates over the portraits of Paul in Acts and his epistles by considering the one Pauline speech to Christians in Acts, the speech to the Ephesian elders at Miletus (Acts 20: 18b-35). After surveying previous work, a two-way comparison is made, comparing the Miletus speech with (i) speeches by Jesus in Luke's Gospel, to see how Lukan it is, and (ii) 1 Thessalonians, to see how Pauline it is. A hierarchical method is outlined for identifying parallels. A study of the speech shows it to be a well-structured 'farewell', in which Paul commissions the elders for ministry after his departure to Jerusalem. The speech has four major themes: faithful fulfilment of leadership responsibility; suffering; the attitude to wealth and work; and the death of Jesus. Paul is offered as a model of Christian leadership for imitation. A comparison with Luke's Gospel identifies three passages which parallel the speech (22: 14-38; 12: 1-53; 21: 5-31), and four briefer passages (7: 38,44; 9: 2; 10: 3; 13: 32f). 22: 14-38 parallels the speech especially closely. A clear picture of Luke's view of Christian leadership emerges - modelled by Jesus, taught to his disciples, modelled by Paul, and then taught to
paul acts speech test case study_contributes debate portrait paul acts consider pauline speech christians acts speech elder acts survey_previous work two_way comparison_make compare speech speeches jesus luke_gospel see lukan see pauline hierarchical method outline identifying parallel study speech show well structured farewell paul commission elder ministry departure jerusalem speech four_major theme faithful fulfilment leadership responsibility suffering attitude wealth work death_jesus paul offer model christian leadership imitation comparison luke_gospel identifies passage parallel speech passage parallel speech especially closely clear_picture luke view christian leadership emerge model jesus teach disciple model paul teach