The voice of Isaiah in Paul's proclamation of peace

The present study evaluates Paul's presentation of peace, especially as influenced and informed by his reading of Isaiah. The key Pauline passages considered are Eph 2:11-22; Rom 5:1-11; Col 1:15-20; and Eph 6:10-20. Our findings suggest that while no single motif expresses the totality of Paul's message, the concept of peace, in concert with associated motifs, becomes for the apostle to the Gentiles a theological concept that summarizes the meaning and ongoing significance of the Christ event. Moreover, as evidenced by the apostle's numerous allusions to Isaianic shalom texts, this OT prophet provides for Paul both the foundation and the building materials from which he formulates his own message of peace. Just as Isaiah developed his shalom motif through a powerful "word- and motif-complex'---including the related themes of righteousness, salvation, and redemption---so too does Paul. Furthermore, Paul not only draws from the Isaianic language of shalom, he draws from its larger message of a promised restoration, including a renewed relationship with YHWH and the eventual transformation of all creation. The resulting motif has clear christological, eschatological, soteriological, ecclesiological, and even cosmological dimensions, each of which find their rich heritage in Isaiah. Paul does not, however, merely replicate the Isaianic motif but, by grounding this peace salvation-historically in the cross-work of Christ, he goes beyond that which the OT prophet merely anticipated.; Finally, Paul's appropriation of the Isaianic shalom texts is largely eschatological---that is, he understood (or, at least applied) the words of the prophet as being realized in his own setting. While Paul's corresponding hermeneutical method finds parallels within intertestamental Judaism, unlike his Jewish counterparts, Paul's governing hermeneutical axioms were christologically-grounded, that is, they were inseparably tied to the person and message of Jesus Christ. In addition, for Paul, his application of Isaiah was frequently driven by an ecclesiological axiom---namely, the reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles into one new body.; By way of outline, Chapter 1 introduces key issues and presents methodological considerations, while chapter 2 analyzes the theme of shalom in Isaiah. Chapter 3 surveys the peace motif within the intertestamental Jewish literature, while Chapter 4 examines this theme within the individual NT corpus---thus providing the larger context for our analysis of Paul. Chapter 5 considers the criteria and textual evidence for Isaianic allusions in the primary peace texts of Paul and addresses issues of hermeneutical method. Chapter 6 provides the detailed exegetical analysis of the Pauline peace texts, with chapter 7 summarizing the overall findings of this work.