PAUL THE JEW, POWER OF EVIL AND ROME

Abstract

Continuing to read the Pauline letters as 'Christian' theological treatises sidelines their author's Jewishness and life in the Roman Empire. Paul's Jewishness within Empire is important for understanding the letters' take on power and also the powers. His Jewish identity and life in Empire informed which powers Paul addressed, how he understood their nature, and how he related to them. This contribution questions the hiatus most often presupposed but at times also argued in the Pauline letters, between notions of evil and empire from the perspective of Paul's Jewishness.