dusting off a pseudo-historical letter 301
at vv. 4 and 5). Just as Ps.-Paul will attain eternal life and joy, so also will
the recipients, if they continue to remain steadfast, whereas those causing
their suffering stand outside the true faith and thus will not share in the
divine blessings to follow.
With the transition into the body closing (et id ipsum), Ps.-Paul directly
applies his own moral example to the situation facing the recipients. thus,
the body middle effectively addresses the motivation for writing articu-
lated in the body opening and closing by both unpacking the community
situation and using Ps.-Paul as the key moral exemplar to encourage the
recipients within that situation.
the second literary arrangement for the body middle is a chiastic fram-
ing that elucidates these points, with the central unit placing stress upon
Ps.-Paul as the model of suffering. the transitional markers structuring the
letter body result in five subunits that can be arranged as follows:
a1 – Neque destituant vos... (v. 4)—Potential threat to the church (Body
opening)
B1 – Et nunc... (v. 5)—Implication of divine activity (co-workers)
(Body Middle)
C – Et nunc... (v. 6)—Ps.-Paul’s suffering as moral exemplar (Body
Middle)
B2 – Et hoc... (vv. 7–8)—Implication of divine activity (Ps.-Paul)
(Body Middle)
a2 – Et id ipsum... (v. 9)—need for unity in the church (Body Closing)
this chiasm places stress upon Ps.-Paul’s suffering as evidence of the truth
of the gospel by placing his suffering at the central unit (C), while a1/
a2 establish the motivation for writing within an antithesis of potential
threat (a1) and the need for unity within the laodicean church in the face
of such a threat (a2). this framing mechanism in vv. 4 and 9 juxtaposes
the ideal condition that the recipients are exhorted to adhere to with the
danger of schism due to any challenges to what the author considers the
true gospel. By remaining true to Ps.-Paul’s version of Christian teaching,
the recipients will realize the divine benefits of eternal life (articulated
in B1 and B2), thus enabling “his mercy to work in you” (v. 9a). Whether
eternal life is understood in this letter as a type of realized eschatology,
future eschatology, or some mixture of the two is unclear.29 richard Pervo,
29 a future eschatology likely underlies the eschatological promise that closes the
thanksgiving period. here in the letter body, however, the life given could be a present
reality that continues on into eternity (vita aeternae; v. 5b) or after death (sive per vitam
sive per mortem. Est enim mihi vere vita in Christo et mori gaudium; vv. 7b–8) (note espe-
cially Ps.-Paul’s present condition of having “life in Christ” and potential future of “joy” in