MM Mitchell’s scientific contributions

Contemporary scholars, extending back to Hans Windisch's 1924 commentary on 2 Corinthians, have pointed to parallels between Paul's language of "boasting" in 2 Corinthians 11-12 and Plutarch's treatise "De Laude Ipsius". But would an ancient reader have made this connection between Paul's letters and discussions about self-praise ("periautologia") in ancient rhetorical and philosophical writings? This paper demonstrates that John Chrysostom, the rhetorically trained Antiochene, did just that, particular in his fifth oration "De Laudibus Sancti Pauli", where he defends Paul's "speech about himself" on precisely the grounds Plutarch allowed for inoffensive boasting in his famous treatise.