The Divine Voice in Paul’s Letters

Gregory M. Barnhill reads Paul’s quotations of first-person divine speech as theopoiesis: Paul’s creative use of scriptural words to characterize God and to make God present to his hearers. The Christ-event, he argues, transformed the way Paul read Scripture and understood the God who speaks.

In this study, Gregory M. Barnhill demonstrates the theological significance of the many instances in Paul’s letters in which he quotes first-person divine speech from the Jewish Scriptures. The author systematically analyzes twenty-eight instances of God’s scriptural speeches and considers their rhetorical and theological implications, going beyond previous observations of the phenomenon.
To ground Paul’s use of first-person speech quotations historically, the study draws upon the rhetorical practice of “speech-in-character” (prosopopoeia), a concept of poetic persuasion that emphasizes the pathos of such speeches, and the hermeneutical technique of segmentation as developed by scholars of Jewish exegetical practices. Based upon these practices, the author proposes the term theopoiesis as a suitable shorthand for Paul’s use of the divine voice through Scripture quotations, defining it as Paul’s creative use of scriptural words in the new context of his letters to characterize God and to invoke God’s presence through speech so that Paul’s audiences would both understand and encounter God as they listened to Paul’s letters.
Finally, the author shows what Paul’s uses of theopoiesis mean for the question of Paul’s understanding of God. God’s speeches provide clear evidence that Paul has understood God in new ways under the influence of the apocalyptic Christ-event and its resulting theological epistemology. While Paul draws upon traditional Jewish concepts of God and upon the Scriptures to construct the divine voice, Paul’s reading of the Scriptures and understanding of God have ultimately been transformed because of the generative influence of the Christ-event.

Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 God in Paul's Letters and Theology in Recent Study
1.2 The Present Study
1.3 Preview

Chapter 2: Introducing Theopoiēsis
2.1 Paul's Use of the Jewish Scriptures
2.2 The Voices of Scripture
2.3 Proposals Regarding God as Speaker of Scripture
2.4 Rhetorical Criticism: Prosopopoeia
2.5 Poetic Persuasion
2.6 Segmentation of Scriptural Speeches
2.7 Defining Theopoiēsis and Cataloguing Paul's Uses of It
2.8 Chapter Conclusion

Chapter 3: Knowing the God Who Speaks
3.1 Knowing the God Who Destroys Human Wisdom: Theopoiēsis in 1 Corinthians 1:19
3.2 "From Darkness, Light Shall Shine": Theopoiēsis in 2 Corinthians 4:6
3.3 Reconciliation, Righteousness, and New Creation: Theopoiēsis in 2 Corinthians 6:2
3.4 Chapter Conclusion

Chapter 4: The Lord Speaks: ΛέγειΚύριος Quotations in Paul's Letters
4.1 Why Does Paul Use ΛέγειΚύριος? A Proposal
4.2 The Lord and God in Romans 14:11
4.3 The Lord Jesus in Romans 12:19
4.4 The Speaking Lord in 1 Corinthians 14:21
4.5 Chapter Conclusion

Chapter 5: God Speaks to the Nations
5.1 The Authenticity and Integrity of 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1
5.2 Analysis of Paul's Creation of Theopoiēsis in 2 Corinthians 6:16-18
5.3 The Function of Paul's Theopoiēsis and 6:14-7:1 in the Letter
5.4 Characterization of God through Theopoiēsis
5.5 Chapter Conclusion

Chapter 6: God's Life-Giving Promise
6.1 Historical Situations of Romans and Galatians
6.2 The God Who Calls into Existence (Romans 4:3, 17, 18)
6.3 The God Who Gives the Promise of the Spirit through Faith
6.4 Chapter Conclusion

Chapter 7: God's Mercy to Jews and Gentiles
7.1 Introductory Matters
7.2 Paul's Thesis and Theopoiēsis
7.3 The God of the Promise: Romans 9:6-9
7.4 The God Who Calls: Romans 9:10-13
7.5 The God Who Shows Mercy: Romans 9:14-18
7.6 The God Who Calls Jews and Gentiles: Romans 9:24-26
7.7 God Rigs the Race: Romans 9:30-10:13

Chapter 8: God Speaks to Israel
8.1 God, Israel, and the Nations Again: Romans 10:14-21
8.2 The Remnant of Israel in Romans 11:4
8.3 God's Mystery of Israel's Salvation in Romans 11:25-27
8.4 Chapter Conclusion: Paul's Use of Theopoiēsis in Romans 9-11

Chapter 9: Conclusion
9.1 Hermeneutics and Functions of Theopoiēsis
9.2 Theopoiēsis and Paul's Understanding of God
9.3 Apocalyptic Interpretation and Apocalyptic Epistemology

• By (author) Gregory M. Barnhill