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Transcendence and Fulfillment
A Critique of Paul’s Seven Pillars of Wisdom and Their Enduring Relevance
Benjamin W. Farley
Transcendence and Fulfillment
A Critique of Paul’s Seven Pillars of Wisdom and Their Enduring Relevance
Copyright © 2016 Benjamin W. Farley. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.
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paperback isbn: 978-1-4982-9977-0
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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha, edited by Bruce M. Metzger and Roland E. Murphy, New Revised Standard Version, New York: Oxford University Press. Copyright © 1991, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Dedicated to Alice Anne, John and Bryan, and Luther H. Richenbaker III
Acknowledgments
There are many scholars and friends to whom I am indebted and whose support and ideas have inspired this volume. Above all, I am indebted to Professors Donald G. Miller and Balmer Kelly of Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia, whose courses in the New Testament first whetted my interest in the historical Jesus and the Apostle Paul. I can never forget them or their interest and scholarship in pursuit of the truth. I am equally indebted to Alice Anne, my wife, for her encouragement and patience during the research and writing of this manuscript. I also wish to thank the staff of the Lutheran Southern Theological Seminary in Columbia, South Carolina, for obtaining resources in a prompt and efficient manner whenever I requested them. My gratitude goes as well to the Reverend Luther Rickenbaker III of Spartanburg, South Carolina, for his theological depth, eloquent style, and friendly support. The same is true of Drs. Ben Sloan, Ellen and Eric Skidmore, and Michael Bragan—faithful friends and colleagues across the years. My equal gratitude and appreciation goes to Professor Amy Willis of Lynchburg College for her constructive critique and suggestions concerning In the Twilight with God, which have guided me in the writing of this volume. Finally, I wish to thank Libby Case of Columbia, my friend and editorial assistant, whose keen eye and insistence on excellence have contributed immensely to the project. I would also be remiss not to mention the scores of former students who respectfully endured my lectures on the Old and New Testaments, philosophy, and world religions. As each chapter was written, it was impossible not to think of them.
1. Paul’s Seven Pillars of Wisdom
Why seven, one might ask? And why call them “pillars of wisdom” when Paul considered what his era deemed “wise” to be “foolishness” in the sight of God? Was not the wisdom he was offering totally different, indeed a “scandal” in the mind of his time?
As for the number seven, the answer is simple, if not disarming, and, in heart, twofold. The first is by way of inspiration from Prov 9:1, 3, 5–6:
Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn her seven pillars . . .
She has sent out her servant-girls, she calls from the highest places . . .
Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed.
Lay aside immaturity, and live, and walk in the way of insight.
Metaphorically, the above lines provide an intriguing glimpse into the soul of Paul. Both his world and thoughts, his mystical bent and directives, were a “mixture” of “bread and wine,” of cross and resurrection, resulting in a search for “maturity” and “insight” with the power to transform life. How much was Hebraic and interpolated from the variant perceptions of the kingdom of God, as either (1) foretold by the prophets, or (2) later inspired by the apocalyptic writings of the Hasmonean period, is still debatable. A similar question prevails concerning the extent to which his views were influenced by his Asian-Cilician background. Though current Pauline scholarship rejects the latter, internal evidence suggests otherwise. In truth, Paul’s Hebraic element dominates. Nonetheless, Paul’s focus on the death and rising again of the God-Man, Jesus, along with his mystical experiences and the empowerment they gave him, are characteristic features of the Hellenistic period. They form the silent background in which his appeal took root, thus making Paul’s interpretation of Christianity vital ever since his time.1
The second reason for seven pillars is more contemporary. Has the time not come for establishing a method of reassessing Paul’s message for an era long past his own, especially at a time when his presuppositions are foreign to the modern mind? Can one still find sufficient insight in his message—in his pillars of wisdom—to build one’s house of existence upon it? Even more demanding, can one separate Paul’s personal understanding of Christ Jesus—his link to the Eternal—from Jesus himself, and still have relevant pillars? Can there be a bonding of time and eternity that so unites the Universal and the particular as to preserve the integrity of the Eternal while fulfilling the longing of the finite, yet that still retains the value of Jesus’ historical life? Paul achieved such a synthesis for himself and proclaimed it across Asia Minor and as far west as Rome. For centuries after him, Paul’s message spoke to kings and kingdoms alike, achieving perhaps its greatest influence during the Reformation. But times have changed since then, though not the human plight. The Enlightenment provided other perspectives, along with the West’s discovery of the ascetic and philosophical views of Oriental religions. The latter offer enlightening perspectives on the phenomenon of transcendence and how it plays out in human life. Nonetheless, Paul’s pillars of wisdom still speak to the hearts of countless Christian communities, whether Catholic or Protestant, and even secular perspectives, if one takes a larger view.
One might ask, what are the seven pillars?
1. God and the Self: Transcendence
Paul’s first pillar is built upon the conviction that human beings live by more than a sense of quiet desperation, that life has always beckoned one toward something higher, however difficult it may be to discover or access. It is embedded in every moment of conscious self-searching. It dominates every facet of Paul’s thought and comes to fruition in the realization that the highest form of transcendence one can attain is living unto God in faith through Christ. For Paul, Christ is the focus, lest something less than Christ define transcendence and dilute one’s experience of wholeness and joy. It is his way of acknowledging the essence of Proverbs’ seven pillars of wisdom, that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One insight” (Prov 9:10)—the sum of the seven pillars.
2. The Consolation of
