Paul and identity construction in early Christianity and the Roman Empire (original) (raw)
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HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies, 2012
Paul allowed pagans to become members of the newly founded communities of Christ-believers and thus members of God’s covenant people, Israel, without becoming circumcised. However, even if many of the ‘pagan Christians’ who became members of the new messianic movement had a background as God-Fearers in the frame of diaspora synagogues, the radicalism of their ‘step in faith’ can hardly be overestimated. With their turn from different pagan cults and their gods to the mysterious God of Israel and his crucified and risen Son, Jesus Christ, a whole coordinate system of human relationships, expectations, hopes and norms must have changed. This paper explores the construction of Christian identity and its relationship with ethics according to Paul. It is illustrated how Paul himself describes the system of changed relationships: turning away from the idols towards the living God, being in Christ or – together with others – part of the ‘body of Christ’. Moreover, these three dimensions of...
Paul and His Jewish Identity: An Overview
Spes Christiana , 2012
Paul was a Jew from the Diaspora who never ceased to affirm his deep connection with the people, land and traditions of Israel. Even after his conversion/call, Paul was persuaded to be a godly Jew living out true Juda-ism. What he was and did before is in continuity with what he became af-ter his dramatic encounter with the risen Christ. Jesus did not obliterate Paul’s past; rather he helped him to bring it to the appointed (by God) completion. This paper offers an overview of how scholars understand texts such as 1 Corinthians 9:20–21, 2 Corinthians 11:22, Philippians 3:4–6, Galatians 1:13–14, and Romans 11:1 to be indicative of the fact that Paul always considered himself to be (though in fieri) an Israelite, a Ben-jaminite, a Hebrew, a Jew, a Pharisee, and a zealot for God and His plan as revealed in Christ.
FM Paul and Identity Construction hts vol
HTS Teologiese Studies/ Theological Studies 76(4), a5652., 2020
The question of what subjects Paul addresses in his letters has been a matter of debate in New Testament scholarship. This debate shows the evolution of Pauline studies, whereby early scholars argued that Paul addressed topics ranging from questions of human existence, to relations between Jews and Gentiles, and even topics connecting Paul with the Roman Empire. Most of these scholars view Paul mainly from a religious perspective, particularly in terms of the relationship between Judaism and Christianity. However, viewing Paul from a Jewish versus a Christian religious perspective only fails to present the multivalent function of the Pauline corpus. This article employs social identity theory to read Galatians 3:1–10 in order to defend the argument that Paul employs his letters to construct a superordinate identity for his community which embraces not only political perspectives but also has religious and economic trajectories. Contribution: The application of identification, contest and comparison, concepts derived from sociology, to analyze Galatians 3:1-10 in reference to 1st century economic, religious and political contexts to explain the multivalent nature of early Christian identity, contributes to multidisciplinary research aspects of Biblical studies which is in tandem with the scope of HTS Theological Journal.
Paul and the Construction of Early Christian Identity
The Oxford Handbook of Pauline Studies, 2020
E. P. Sanders’ reconstruction of ancient Judaism resulted in an increasing interest in Paul’s relation to Judaism. While scholars before Sanders commonly assumed that Paul converted to Christianity and thus developed a religious identity separate from Judaism, Sanders’ view of Judaism as a religion of grace forced scholars to problematize Paul’s relation to his religious identity. Three major scholarly trends can be distinguished. Some scholars maintain, in spite of Sanders, that Paul rejected Judaism and developed a ‘Christian’ identity of sorts. Others take an intermediate position, arguing that Paul only repudiated those parts of Jewish tradition that separated Jews from non-Jews while otherwise being basically faithful to his religious heritage. Finally and most recently, still other scholars argue that Paul remained fully Jewish after becoming a follower of Jesus and that, consequently, he never developed a religious identity separated from Judaism.
Hermeneutics in identity formation: Paul’s use of Genesis in Galatians 4
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies, 2011
Paul’s hermeneutics, in dealing with the scriptures and traditions of Israel and his concern for a specific identity for the communities he interacted with, require attention for the reciprocal, interrelationship between hermeneutics and identity in his letters. Paul’s quotations from and allusions to the scriptures of Israel but also his argument which was a re-interpretation of the traditions of Israel, functions in Galatians 4:21–5:1 at one level as counter-argument to the position of his opponents in Galatia but, at another deeper level, also as a forceful attempt to (re)establish and reinforce the identity of the community of followers of Jesus. His appropriation of the scriptures, his revisionist interpretation of the Abraham narrative and in particular his construal of its lasting implications provided the interpretative map on which Paul plotted an emerging ‘Christian’ identity. But, reciprocally, Paul’s sense of a new or renewed identity in Christ also determined the contou...
This is the second of two related studies of Jewish approaches to the apostle Paul. The context of the first was that of Jewish-Christian dialogue, while the context of the second is that of intra-Jewish ideological debate. Jewish Pauline Studies can be understood as a theatre of war in a wider intra-Jewish ideological battle. That is, Jewish commentaries on Paul appear to reflect and inform more general debates in the Jewish community on issues such as how to establish Jewish authenticity, how to regard the Law in modernity, how to respond to non-Jewish culture and ideas, how to regard marginal figures, how to relate Judaism and nationalism, and how to relate Judaism and Christianity. Some of the key figures treated in this schematic survey of the history of the Jewish interpretation of Paul include Claude Montefiore,
Abraham, Paul, and the Politics of Christian Identity
Jewish Studies Quarterly, 2009
The identity politics of "chosenness" come into particular focus when viewed through the heuristic lens of central characters in the sacred stories of the people of God. In this essay I want to call special attention to the Apostle Paul, to his use of Abraham, and then to modern uses of Paul in navigating Christian identity politics in relation to non-Christian Jews. Paul, as we will see, serves as a crucial fulcrum in leveraging both ancient and modern Christian identity politics. Pauls use of Abraham was central to his understanding of Gentile chosenness in Christ (seen especially in Romans 4 and Galatians 3); and modern Christian use of Paul has been central to Christian affirmations of Jewish chosenness by God apart from Christ (especially on the basis of Romans 9-11). By the "politics of Christian identity" I am referring to how interpretive contexts give shape to the contours of Christian identity at any particular time and place. In this essay I am interested in both Pauls interpretive contexts and the contexts of modern interpreters of Paul. With modern interpreters I especially have in mind the so-called "new perspective on Paul" (seen in the work of James Dunn and others, grounded in E. P. Sanders seminal work). In particular, I am interested in the approach to Paul that might be called "reinventing Paul"-long established in the writings of Lloyd Gaston and John Gager, but more recently seen in the work of such scholars of early Christianity as
Is Paul an anomaly or apostate of his fellow Jewish community? Is Paul, after becoming Christ-follower, still a member of Diaspora Jews within ancient Judaism, or a betrayer that has changed his faith allegiance? John M.G. Barclay has applied “interactionist” or “social reaction” perspective to evaluate the degree of deviance of Paul after Damascus from ancient Judaism. In this paper, I undertake a similar approach from another way around. Instead of inquiring about the extent that Paul was judged, I investigate how Paul treated deviant insiders before and after his encounter with Jesus in Damascus. By taking some insights from the Black Sheep Effects in Social Identity Theory, I argue that Paul’s extreme judgments and measures against unlikeable ingroup members are radically different before and after he encountered Christ in Damascus. Some Pauline texts will be examined about his attitudes and actions towards black sheep. I argue that there are radical changes in paradigms of Paul towards “black sheep.” Paul’s understanding of “the zeal for the Law” is diametrically different from “zeal for the gospel.” The change is not a slight shift of perspective but the radical change of his own religious identity grounded in his understanding of the gospel Christ crucified.