Paul among Jews and Christians: Redescribing the “Jewishness” of Paul and His Receptions

Dear Colleagues,

The last five decades have seen an upheaval in the field of Pauline studies. The “Sanders Revolution” and the rise of the “New Perspective on Paul” are both well known, and the twenty-first century has witnessed the advance and maturation of a “Radical New Perspective,” also known as “Paul within Judaism.” In previous generations, one regularly encountered descriptions of certain Christian texts (e.g., the Gospel of Matthew; the Epistle of James) as “Jewish,” often implicitly in contrast to “less Jewish” texts such as Paul’s letters or the Gospel of Luke. However, in light of newer “perspectives” on Paul, scholars are becoming increasingly cognizant of the inadequacy of these categorizations of early Christian texts. Scholars are coming to approach Pauline Christianity as itself a Jewish phenomenon, including Paul’s self-declared call to gentiles/the uncircumcised (Rom 11:13; Gal 2:7–9), and his letters as examples of Jewish texts from the late Second Temple period. However, we must also consider other Pauline texts: those which were either written about (in whole or in part) or attributed to Paul. To what extent are these also “Jewish phenomena,” and to what extent do they suggest a movement out of, away from, or in response to early post-70 CE Judaism?

These and related questions will be explored in a Special Issue of Religions: “Paul among Jews and Christians: Redescribing the ‘Jewishness’ of Paul and His Receptions”. Religions is an international, open access journal that promotes critical, hermeneutical, historical, and constructive conversations. This Special Issue will explore the the [sic] extent to which the Pauline tradition can be redescribed as a phenomenon within Second Temple Judaism. It covers a broad spectrum of early Pauline tradition, including the undisputed and disputed canonical epistles, Paul in the Acts of the Apostles, as well as extra- and post-canonical letters and traditions (e.g, Acts of Paul, the Letters of Paul and Seneca, Apocalypse of Paul, etc.).

This Special Issue aims to explore the extent to which the early Pauline tradition, on both sides of canonical boundaries drawn in the fourth and fifth centuries, can or ought to be reconfigured as examples of late Second Temple Judaism (or receptions thereof). Successful submissions (5000–7000 words) may locate a Pauline text or texts “within Judaism,” or they may examine the ways in which a text or texts begin to show early processes of differentiation between early Christian groups or communities and other, outsider Jewish groups or communities. Articles may focus on “the historical Paul,” receptions of Paul as a historical figure, Pauline communities, Pauline ideologies/theologies, or other related areas. Articles should, however, locate a particular Pauline text or texts “within” or “in relation to” Judaism.

Original research articles and reviews are welcome. Potential topics may include (but are not limited to):

• Paul within Judaism;
• Reception of Paul/Pauline tradition;
• Paul and the “parting of the ways”;
• Antisemitism (Christian and/or Roman);
• “Jewish” and “non-Jewish Christianity”.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 150–200 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the Guest Editor, Rafael Rodríguez (RRodriguez@johnsonu.edu), and CC the Assistant Editor, Ms. Violet Li (violet.li@mdpi.com). Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editor to ensure proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Rafael Rodriguez
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• Paul within Judaism
• undisputed Pauline letters
• disputed Pauline letters
• Pauline tradition
• Paul in Acts
• Pauline apocrypha
• “parting of the ways”
• Second Temple Judaism
• Church Fathers