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The Jerusalem dichotomy: with or without Jerusalem?

Publication at Hussite Theological Faculty |
2022

Abstract

The apostle responds to this fact in his letter to the Galatians, where he ends the argument within the "probatio" section with an allegory, the sixth argument of this section - 4:21-31. The dispute between the Judaizing followers of the Jesus movement from Jerusalem and Paul, which broke out in the early 50s of the 1st century, is not led by direct correspondence between them.

Still, we know it only from Paul's letter and the chosen argumentation. The section has advisory rhetoric; the inductive form of argumentation is a mixture of typology and allegory.

In the section, Paul shows his orientation towards the future Jerusalem, which stands against the institution of his time and makes Christians out of Gentiles the sons of the promise given to Abraham. The Galatians are not to become proselytes or adepts for distant conversion to Judaism but are to continue to live from the Spirit and in the messianic time, not to make differences at the Lord's Supper and to maintain the unity of the community.

So, Paul insists on the identity of the community with which he built it. Methodologically, the contribution sought socio-rhetorical analysis and the social memory theory in the context of Second Temple Judaism.