WAS PAUL A CILICIAN, A NATIVE OF TARSUS? A HISTORICAL REASSESSMENT

Yıl 2003, Sayı: 8, 87 - 108, 01.11.2003

Mark Wılson

Öz

WAS PAUL A CILICIAN, A NATIVE OF TARSUS? A HISTORICAL REASSESSMENT

Öz

R. Wallace and W. Williams in their recent volume The Three Worlds of
Paul of Tarsus (Tarsuslu Pavlus’un Üç Dünyas›) assert that Paul as a
citizen of Tarsus “need ever have visited the city, much less lived there.”
This, they assert, is based on the fact that ancient civic citizenship passed
through descent and not through domicile. Further, Paul’s return to Tarsus
following his conversion suggests “only that some of the family still lived
there, rather than it was Paul’s home town.” They conclude that attempts
to develop a formative Tarsian context for Paul’s character and teaching
“are built on insecure foundations.”1 This controversial claim runs counter
to most biblical and classical scholarship as it relates to the background of
the apostle Paul. In fact, as Riesner notes, “It is striking in the larger sense
how seldom this bit of Lukan information has been doubted by skeptical
scholarship.”2 If true, it would significantly diminish the historical
connection between Paul and Tarsus of Cilicia as one of its most famous
native sons. This paper will seek to reassess Paul’s connection to Tarsus
and Cilicia in light of the comments by Wallace and Williams. In responding to their claims, we will first review the relevant biblical and historical background related to Paul’s three worlds

Kaynakça

• Broughton 1938 Broughton, T.R.S., “Roman Asia Minor” in An Economic Survey of Ancient Rome, ed. T. Frank, Baltimore Dueck 2000 Dueck, D., Strabo of Amasia, New York
• Ehrenberg 1969 Ehrenberg, V., The Greek State, London
• Hachlili 1994 Hachlili, R., “Synagogues, Diaspora Synagogues” in Anchor Bible Dictionary, ed. D. N. Friedman, Garden City
• Hachlili 1998 Hachlili, R., Ancient Jewish Art and Archaeology in the Diaspora, Leiden
• Hengel 1991 Hengel, M., The Pre-Christian Paul, London
• Hengel – Schwemer 1997 Hengel, M. – Schwemer, A.M., Paul Between Damascus and Antioch: The Unknown Years, Louisville
• Hill 1996 Hill, S., Early Byzantine Churches of Cilicia and Isauria, Brookfield
• Horsley 1982 Horsley, G.H.R., New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity, North Ryde
• Jones 1940 Jones, A.H.M., The Greek City from Alexander to Justinian, Oxford
• Jones 1979 Jones, C.P., The Roman World of Dio Chrysostom, Harvard Murphy O’Connor 1996 Murphy O’Connor, J., Paul A Critical Life, Oxford
• Nock 1972 Nock, A.D., “Isopoliteia and the Jews” in Essays on Religion and the Ancient World, ed. Z. Steward, Oxford
• Ramsay 1907 Ramsay, W.M., The Cities of St. Paul, London
• Ramsay 2001 [1925] Ramsay, W.M., St. Paul The Traveler and Roman Citizen, ed. M. Wilson, Grand Rapids
• Rapske 1994a Rapske, B., “Acts, Travel, and Shipwreck” in The Book of Acts in its First
• Century Setting, ed. B. Winter, Grand Rapids
• Rapske 1994b Rapske, B., Paul in Roman Custody, Grand Rapids
• Riesner 1998 Riesner, R., Paul’s Early Period: Chronology, Mission Strategy, Theology, Grand Rapids
• Robert 1964 Robert, L., Nouvelles inscriptions de Sardes, Paris
• Seager – Kraabel 1983 Seager, A.R. – Kraabel, A.T., “The Synagogue and the Jewish Community” in Sardis From Prehistoric to Roman Times, ed. G.M.A. Hanfmann, Cambridge
• Sheppard 1979 Sheppard, A.R.R., “Jews, Christians and Heretics in Acmonia and Eumeneia,” Anatolian Studies 29
• Sherk 1969 Sherk, R., Roman Documents in the Greek East, Baltimore Sherwin-White 1963 Sherwin-White, A.N., Roman Law and Roman Society in the New Testament, Oxford
• Syme 1939 Syme, R., “Observations on the Province of Cilicia,” in Anatolian Studies
• Presented to William Hepburn Buckler, ed. W. M. Calder and J. Keil, Manchester
• Tajra 1989 Tajra, H.W., The Trial of St. Paul: Juridical Exegesis of the Second Half of the Acts of the Apostles, Tübingen
• Tarn – Griffth 1952 Tarn, W.W. – Griffth, G.T., Hellenistic Civilization, London
• Trebilco 1991 Trebilco, P., Jewish Communities in Asia Minor, Cambridge
• Van der Horst 1990 Van der Horst, P., “Juden und Christen in Aphrodisias” in Juden und Christen in der Antike, ed. J. van Amersfoort and J. van Oort, Kampen
• Wallace – Williams 1993 Wallace, R. – Williams, W., The Acts of the Apostles: A Companion, London
• Wallace – Williams 1998 Wallace, R. – Williams, W., The Three Worlds of Paul of Tarsus, London
• Wilson 2000 Wilson, M., “The First Christian Churches in Anatolia: Antioch or Cilicia?” paper presented at the Second International Symposium on Pisidian Antioch, Yalvaç
• Witherington III 1998 Witherington III, B., The Acts of the Apostles, Grand Rapids