Writing on the Edge

In Paul's angry letter, everything is magnified. His obstructers have insidious motives, their Galatian victims are dense and on the brink of spiritual peril, and the law itself is outmoded and a malevolent taskmaster. How do we read beneath the rhetoric? Writing on the Edge surveys ancient Greco-Roman and modern linguistic sources on hyperbole and demonstrates that it is possible to separate out the effect of Paul's edgy rhetoric on his ideas. Eleven criteria are applied to identify Paul's most hyperbolic passages in Galatians, followed by a reinterpretation of those passages and the entire thrust of the letter. Paul's true attitudes emerge, and a more consistent picture of the apostle materializes, one in line with his Torah-observant behavior in Acts. ""A methodological quantum leap in studying Paul's theology. Cruise is one of the few scholars since John Chrysostom to see that how Paul expresses himself is at least as important as what he says. Cruise demonstrates that the apostle's theology cannot be fully understood without paying attention to his rhetoric."" –Lauri Thuren, University of Eastern Finland / Joensuu ""Cruise makes a solid contribution to the field of Paul and Rhetoric. With clear and highly accessible prose, he provides his readers with a helpful overview of recent scholarship on Paul and the Law and then takes them on a deep and convincing exploration into the world of literary hyperbole. Readers will come away with a keen appreciation for biblical hyperbole and especially for Paul's use of hyperbole in Galatians."" –Nina E. Livesey, University of Oklahoma in Norman ""Cruise's groundbreaking study of hyperbole in Galatians is a major contribution to post-supersessionist interpretation of the New Testament. It is a must-read for scholars and ecclesial leaders who teach on Galatians and the wider subject of Paul and Judaism."" –David J. Rudolph, The King's University Charles E. Cruise is an Adjunct Professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois.