Anti-Imperial Subtexts in Paul: An Attempt at Building a Firmer Foundation Within the last decade or so interest in so-called “anti-imperial” or “post-colonial” readings of Paul has grown immensely in Anglo- American scholarly circles. Though they seem to have especially flourished in the political climate of the Bush era, it is likely that the topic will continue to be of interest among theologians in the English- speaking world for some time to come, not least due to the fact that the term “Empire” is no longer being used in its conventional political sense. Rather, it has become a catchword for any power structures deemed hegemonic and harmful, whether spiritual, economic, ecological or otherwise. The “anti-imperial Paul” is likely to find himself fighting any number of battles the real Paul never even imagined: against globalization and hedge funds; for gay marriage and polar bears. Thus, a great deal is at stake in the debate about Paul and Empire. One’s position has implications for a whole host of questions. I. Problems confronting the thesis of an “anti-imperial” Paul 1. Lack of Direct Anti-Roman Rhetoric In some quarters the discussion proceeds as if it were an established fact that Paul articulated an anti-imperial theology, but valid questions remain. Luke certainly does not present Paul as a subversive figure; in fact, he is at pains to defend Paul against the charges brought against him as an anti-Roman agitator. Indeed, he portrays him as a Roman citizen who is very much aware of the benefits Rome has bestowed on him. Yet even if one discounts Luke’s portrait of Paul as a tendentious piece of propaganda designed to rehabilitate his hero in Roman eyes, we are still confronted by a lack of explicit statements by Paul that could be construed as subversive. It may well be argued that it would be unreasonable to expect them. Authoritarian regimes like Rome simply do not tolerate that sort of rhetoric (1), and no person who availed himself of public fora in the (1) Cf. V. RUDICH, Political Dissidence under Nero. The Price of Dissimi- lation (London 1993) 242: “On the balance of evidence, the Julio-Claudian regime