Monday, November 30, 2009

Reading (11-30-09): Dunn's Beginning

Finished chapter 28 on Dating Paul. First half of chapter here. Dunn's dating is fairly conventional and very close to mine, although interestingly I allow for a little more creativity in Acts' presentation than he does at points. He dates Galatians to Paul's stay at Corinth and the (undisputed) Prison Epistles to Rome. I place Galatians, Philippians, and Philemon at Ephesus. As always I am open to the evidence.

I always find "the majority of scholars think" statements interesting. Here are some in this chapter:
1. Majority think Jesus crucified in AD30.
2. Perhaps majority date Philippians to an Ephesian imprisonment.
3. Most do not think Paul released after imprisonment at Rome at the end of Acts.

I'm currently with these "majorities," although probably the majority of evangelical scholars disagree with #2 and 3.

One of the most helpful elements of this chapter is his relaying of Jewett's estimations of distances and walking time between places (p. 513). He also has some interesting material on the kinds of places Paul might have stayed along the way.

Tomorrow, d.v., back to Green.

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