Paul's Paradigmatic I

This is a literary study of the "I" passages in Paul, and his explicit and implicit use of his personal example in the argument of his undisputed letters. This study claims that Paul uses his personal example as an explicit literary strategy in 1 Corinthians, Galatians and Philippians, and as an arguably implicit strategy in 1 Thessalonians and Philemon. He uses his own example to ground and illustrate his argumentation in a rhetorically sophisticated manner, often structuring his argument on such a basis. In places a crisp statement of his own case serves as a thesis statement of the argument that follows (e.g., Rom. 1.17; Gal. 1.10), while at other times it serves to summarize the argument and to provide a transition to the next phase (especially in 1 Corinthians and Gal. 2.15-21). All the while Paul's self-portrayals in his letters serve not autobiographical or egoistic purposes but pedagogical and argumentative aims.