04_Biblica_Aletti_Layout 1 08/07/13 12:56 Pagina 397 04_B 397 PAUL’S EXHORTATIONS IN GAL 5,16-25 section 1 Corinthians 12‒14 is deliberative — because what the Apostle really wants is to lead his correspondents to concrete deci- sions. But by enlarging his response, which includes the eulogy of agapē (1 Corinthians 13) and which is of the epideictic genre, Paul is showing us that a concrete question can also be treated epideic- ticly. For he judges it to be less important to tell his correspondents what concrete decisions they must make than to give them the means of rectifying their values and the false or superficial idea that they still have of the gospel. Thus, if the Apostle’s tendency is to take a step back and not im- mediately respond to concrete questions but rather to carry the de- bate to a greater radicality, this means that his discourse is much less contingent than has been said, because more than creating a casuistic work, he is enlarging the questions by stating the funda- mental and lasting relationships without which the questions (and the answers) would lose their pertinence 4. Let us return to Galatians, in which the way of proceeding is the same. If it is true that the question confronted by the Christians of this region, the majority coming from pagan origins, is circumcision, Paul does not immediately enjoin them not to be circumcised. In Galatians 1‒2, the question of circumcision only appears progressively 5. Not until Gal 5,2 does Paul declare to them: “If you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage (ôphelēsei) to you.” 6 For the Apostle has used the preceding chapters to remind them of the main point of the gospel by showing them that circumcision — in others words, their becoming subjects of the Mosaic Law — has no part in it, because cir- cumcision can make them neither sons nor heirs. Since Galatians con- sists of a fundamental restating of the gospel and its consequences, one Incidentally, this propensity to go to the root of questions in order to 4 deepen and universalize them curiously resembles Hellenism’s way of pro- ceeding, as has been magnificently shown by J. DE ROMILLY, Pourquoi la Grèce? (Paris 1992). Clearly, the observation means neither to deny nor forget Paul’s Jewish and scriptural background but only to highlight the influence that Greek culture and education had in the world at that time. On this subject, see the interesting work of M. RASTOIN, Tarse et Jérusalem. La double culture de l’apôtre Paul en Galates 3,6‒4,7 (AnBib 152; Rome 2003). The first mention is found in Gal 2,7. 5 The verb ôpheleô designates the goal of the deliberative genre, namely 6 the useful. This is what has caused some to interpret what Galatians is saying as belonging to this genre. © Gregorian Biblical Press 2013 - Tutti i diritti riservati