4 - Pauline Letters as Second-Century School-Setting Compositions

Summary

This chapter argues that various factors of the mid-second century CE account for the creation of Pauline letters. The Bar Kokhba revolt (132–135 CE) had tremendous social and political consequences for Jews and Romans. The Jewish defeat by Rome resulted in the destruction of their temple and territory, deportation of Jews into slavery, and a significant loss of life. During this period, writer-intellectuals immigrated to Rome, established schools, and produced various religious writings, some of which directly reflected on the consequences of the recent Jewish revolt. Marcion’s Evangelion, considered by some as the first gospel, stems from this social-political context. At this same time, political and religious discourse attests to the reassessment of the Jewish rite of circumcision. The devaluation and non-necessity of circumcision for gentiles found within Pauline letters parallels discussions in writings of the post-Bar Kokhba period. Marcion is known in sources for having a singular interest in the Apostle Paul. He is also credited with the earliest known collection of ten Pauline letters (the Apostolikon). These combined factors contribute to the sense in which Marcion’s second-century Roman school is the likely location of the origination of Pauline letters.