Book Review: You Belong to Christ: Paul and the Formation of Social Identity in 1 Corinthians

Baker, Coleman A.

doi:10.1177/0146107912441309j

Cited by 3 publications

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“…Paul himself was an example of this (Kok, 2014: 8). Negatively, Brian Tucker (2010) attributes problems in the church of Corinth to their over identification with Roman identity and a misunderstanding of the significance of their "in Christ" identity. Transformation by the renewing of the mind as described in Romans 12:2 describes, at least in part, identity transformation.…”

Section: Identity Formation In the New Testamentmentioning

confidence: 99%

From conformity to transformation: Discipleship and identity in the context of social conflict

Ott

2023

Missiology

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Around the world social polarization and conflict is being increasingly experienced both in the general society and within church. There is evidence that many Christians are being more influenced by their social affinity groups than by their sense of identity in Christ, contributing to social tensions. This essay addresses the challenge of making disciples who are not conformed to the world but rather transformed (Rom 12:2). An approach is proposed that first defines the nature of discipleship and the importance of fostering a biblical “in Christ” identity among followers of Jesus. Social identity theory is employed both in biblical interpretation and in understanding Christian identity that transcends other identities. Adult learning theories are then used to propose an approach of “disequilibration and reframing” to foster identity formation. Three types of transformative encounters as pedagogical methods are described.

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Section: Identity Formation In the New Testamentmentioning

confidence: 99%

From conformity to transformation: Discipleship and identity in the context of social conflict

Ott

2023

Missiology

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“…In western scholarship, identity formation within any given culture is normally described in an etic manner as a socially directed process of negotiation between group norms and boundaries, cultural phenomena such as ethnicity, honour and shame, patron and client relationship and kinship language and relations (cf. Buell 2005;Campbell 2008;Hodge 2007;Tucker 2010Tucker , 2011. In theory, social categorisation takes place, based on intergroup behaviour in which there exists a process of discrimination against the outgroup and favouring the ingroup (Esler 2014:14-15).…”

Section: Defining the Epistemologies Behind Postcolonialism And The T...mentioning

confidence: 99%

The epistemological irony of postcolonialism: A perspective from Paul’s flesh-Spirit dichotomy

du Toit

2023

Verbum et Ecclesia

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Among other things, postcolonialism claims to react against western epistemology. Although postcolonial approaches react to the traditional tendency in colonialism to silence the Other by political, social and economic structures and ideologies, non-western identity is often categorised in a way in which identity formation is argued to be based on a naturalistic process of social construction and myth-making. The way in which identity is perceived in western epistemology, including the in-Christ identity, is largely influenced by a naturalistic stance, which is a prominent tendency in western epistemology. In contrast, non-western epistemologies often perceive spiritual beings and powers to be real, which are considered to intervene in human affairs. The irony within most postcolonial approaches is thus that they critique western power structures but continue to utilise western, naturalistic epistemologies to deconstruct religious experience. In this contribution, this discrepancy is explored and evaluated against the often-misunderstood flesh-Spirit dichotomy in the Pauline corpus.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: In respect of epistemology, this research overlaps with the field of philosophy, and in respect of identity theory it overlaps with the field of social sciences. The discussion of postcolonial biblical criticism itself is interdisciplinary in that it involves New Testament exegesis, its underlying epistemology as well as its interpretative methodologies.

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“…An additional temporal component draws on the work of Cinnirella on "possible social identities" (Cinnirella 1998) to bring together the role of scriptural re-interpretation in social identity negotiation and a group's social memory, the communal retelling of which is both shaped by and shapes their self-perception and response to that situation. The insights of Brian Tucker (2010) into the nested identities of the Corinthians in the Greco-Roman culture and the simultaneous taking on of a group narrative provided by Israel's sacred texts elucidate Paul's complex identity negotiation in 1 Cor 10:1-22. Here, Paul addresses the idol food issue by establishing shared experiences with the wilderness generation to interpret the Corinthians' situation as parallel with the deviant idolatrous behavior of their forebears and thus subject to the same judgments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scriptural Re-Interpretation and Social Identity Negotiation in the Corinthian Letters

Seal

2023

Religions

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This article describes the socially formative function of the Corinthian letters and the role that Paul’s reinterpretation of scripture plays in shaping the Corinthians’ social identity. Paul’s sustained engagement with scriptural texts in 1 Cor 10:1–22 and 2 Cor 3:1–4:6 provide the focus for analysis as two different interactions with exodus and wilderness narratives in two different social situations within the same correspondence. Like others in Second Temple Judaism, Paul uses the exodus and wilderness narratives of Israel’s paradigmatic rebellion to interpret a social situation, define group identity, and increase intergroup differentiation from outsiders and intragroup cohesiveness. Social Identity Theory (SIT) provides the conceptual framework for a robust interpretive model that identifies specific textual features that realize each aspect of social identity. This approach shows that in 1 Cor 10:1–22, Paul addresses the idol food issue by establishing shared experiences with the wilderness generation to interpret the Corinthians’ situation as parallel with the deviant idolatrous behavior of their forebears. In 2 Cor 3:1–4:6, Paul addresses tensions with the Corinthians using the veiling language of Exod 34 to differentiate the ingroup from outgroups according to their sight or blindness, respectively, which correlate to response to his ministry.

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Book Review: You Belong to Christ: Paul and the Formation of Social Identity in 1 Corinthians

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

From conformity to transformation: Discipleship and identity in the context of social conflict

From conformity to transformation: Discipleship and identity in the context of social conflict

The epistemological irony of postcolonialism: A perspective from Paul’s flesh-Spirit dichotomy

Scriptural Re-Interpretation and Social Identity Negotiation in the Corinthian Letters

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