Review in: Interpretation
2009 63: 78
Review door: Jouette
M. BasslerGevonden op: http://int.sagepub.com/content/63/1/78.full.pdf+html
The
Pastoral Epistles: First Timothy, Second Timothy, and Titus
by Benjamin Fiore, S.J. Sacra Pagina. Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minn., 2007.
253 pp. $39.95. ISBN 978-0-8146-5814-7.
THE CURRENT PROLIFERATION of
commentaries seems out of control. Does the world need yet another on the
Pastoral Epistles? In this case, yes it does! Benjamin Fiore's deep familiarity
with the world and rhetoric of the Greco-Roman moralists allows him to hear
nuances and resonances in these
letters that are fresh and new. The commentary is not pitch perfect, but it is very, very good.
The commentary
follows the familiar format of the Sacra Pagina series. Each section comprises
the author's own translation, notes, interpretation, and a bibliography. The
volume concludes with indices of Scripture and other ancient writings, authors,
and subjects. Fiore brings to these letters his own scholarly perspective,
framed by years of study of the Greco-Roman moralists and rhetoricians, and a
pastoral concern to find in these letters "themes and lines of action for
today that are consistent with the perspective of the texts" (p. 7). That
statement is worded with deliberate care, for many of the directives in the
letters are unsuitable for use today. Fiore finds, though, that a number of
contemporary issues of great importance resonate with, and are informed by, the
perspective of these texts. Topics that are illuminated by the perspective of
these letters range from the pedophilia scandal in the Roman Catholic Church to
the need for solidarity with those imprisoned for conscience's sake. The
problem is that this important dimension of the commentary does not have its
own designated section. Sometimes these reflections are found in the
translation notes (e.g., pp. 78,91) and sometimes they are in the
interpretation section (e.g., pp. 140,162). The reader cannot find them without
engaging the whole commentary—and that is not an entirely bad thing. Beyond
that, though, the binary format of notes plus interpretation generates
irresolution about where "notes" should end and
"interpretation" begin and inevitably leads to redundancy. In fact,
the life of this commentary is often in the notes; the interpretations are
sometimes cursory and often burdened with discussions of patristic interpretation
(which provide few new insights).
The
notes are packed with information: NT cross references, background from the
Greco-Roman moralists, grammatical and exegetical discussions. Surprisingly,
the notes are not consistently used to support Fiore's translation or to
discuss alternative translations. Thus, for example, although Fiore discusses
various interpretive options for the Greek word diabolos in 1 Tim 3:6 (p.
78), he does not explain why in 1 Tim 2:12 he translated gyne as
"wife" instead of "woman," nor does he mention
"woman" as an alternative, though it is a plausible translation
(see NRSV, REB, NAB, NJB) that dramatically changes the meaning of the passage.
Fiore treats the letters
to Timothy and Titus as pseudonymous writings from the last decades of the
first century. He does not, however, focus on the differences between these
letters and the undisputed Pauline corpus but devotes considerable energy to
showing points of contact and coherence. That is, he does not treat the
Pastoral Letters as a distortion or diminution of Paul's thought and rhetoric
but as a reformulation of it for a later generation. He is, in short,
cautiously and critically appreciative of the purpose, content, and rhetoric of
these letters.
His discussion of authorship, however, is cursory and oddly
skewed. He mentions only in passing the differences in content, vocabulary,
style, and form that are the standard fare of such discussions and focuses the
section entitled "Authorship" almost exclusively on the hortatory devices
in the "example" passages (passages that provide examples,to imitate
or avoid). The thrust of Fiore's argument here is that both the undisputed
letters and the Pastorals contain such devices, but with subtle differences
separating them. These differences are, however, so subtle that most
readers will not find this to be a compelling argument. They will need to
consult other commentaries for more helpful treatments of this issue.
Fiore also adopts the
practice of referring to the author of these letters as "Paul"
(without quotation marks), under the assumption that this "serves to
retain ... the aura of Pauline authorship." More to the point, though, it
creates confusion, especially when Fiore takes some pains to explain how the tradition
that 1 Timothy was composed in Laodicea can be reconciled with Pauline
chronology (pp. 125-26). The reader must be forgiven if she occasionally
forgets that the letters are being treated as pseudonymous.
The
question of the opponents also does not receive a definitive answer. Opponents
pose a significant danger, Fiore claims, but also function rhetorically as a
negative foil for the positive examples in the letters. In the introduction
Fiore mentions, with apparent approval, K. Berger's identification of them as
some brand of Pharisees (pp. 14-15), but he also mentions in the notes, again
with apparent approval, J. Sell's assessment that there was a variety of
opponents (p. 91). Clearly, as he states, their identity remains an "open
question" (p. 15), but the contours of the question could have been more
helpfully and consistently laid out in the introduction.
If the issues of authorship and opponents remain somewhat
murky, the commentary shines in its exposition of the texts. Fiore recognizes
that these letters, though filled with references to instruction, actually have
exhortation as their primary goal. This insight brings a number of disparate
elements into clearer focus. The oddly generic virtue lists that putatively
serve as qualifications for church leaders actually establish them as moral
exemplars for the church at large (p. 77). The hymn fragment inserted in
1 Tim 3:16 provides the grounds for the appropriate behavior summed up in the
word "piety" as well as a model for church conduct (universal
preaching and belief). The surprising admonition to Timothy (Paul's trusted
associate) not to slack off (1 Tim 4:14-15) looks beyond Timothy to the
community at large. Under Fiore's tutelage, letters that seem to present an
undigested hodgepodge of material achieve remarkable coherence. Fiore also
works diligently (and successfully, in my view) to overturn the prevailing and
dismissive views that these letters reveal "eschatological tepidity"
and an anemic, intellectualized view of piety.
One could wish
that Fiore did not read so frequently with the text, accepting at face
value, for example, the letters' description of the behavior of women and
slaves as "unacceptable excesses" (p. 78) or interpreting the
author's instructions regarding widows as a (benign) "wish list" (p.
108) instead of the authoritative pronouncement that they were clearly intended
to be. Yet, in the end, Fiore's critique, though gentle, hits home: "the
aim of finding respectability in the larger society was to be achieved through
the sacrifice of a fuller life for women and slaves" (p. 214).
This is an
exceedingly rich commentary that will reward multiple readings. It is both
scholarly and pastoral; it illuminates these letters as hortatory documents of
the first century and as valuable resources for the present. It is filled with
insights—fresh, not recycled ones. Its few flaws can be easily overlooked in
light of these benefits, and it belongs, not just on the shelf of, but
frequently in the hands of, every serious student of these letters and
every committed pastor.
Jouette M. Bassler, Professor Emerita
PERKINS SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY
SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY
DALLAS, TEXAS
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten