Social Identity, the Virtues, and the Good Life: A New Approach to Romans 12:1–15:13

Abstract

Romans 12:1–15:13 comprises a recognizable unit in the letter. But existing attempts to describe its distinctiveness focus upon concepts of “ethics” and “paraenesis” which are problematic in a number of respects. This study proposes a new manner of characterizing this section of Romans that integrates social identity theory with notions of the good life and the virtues derived from Aristotle that have staged a powerful resurgence in recent ethical discourse. This integrated approach is then applied to Romans 12:1–15:13 in a general way. From this discussion it emerges that this part of the letter can be interpreted both as Paul's attempt to outline descriptors of the new identity his addressees experience as members of the Christ-movement, especially in relation to agape, and as a vision of the moral life very similar to the Aristotelian interest in the virtues as the means to promote human flourishing.

Paul’s 'former conduct in the Judean way of life' (Gal 1:13) … or not?

“…Gal 4:10). Esler (2003b;2003c) states that Paul's approach in Romans was probably due to negative reactions to his work in Galatia, where he was far less sensitive to Judean identity than in Romans, and he came to realise that he should not seek to erase the subgroup identities of Judeans and non-Judeans. However, Barclay (1996:212) also points out the difficulties in Paul's instructions in Romans.…”

The Theo-Logic of Paul's Ethics in Recent Research: Crosscurrents and Future Directions in Scholarship in the Last Forty Years

“…the kind of interpretation that seeks to identify how worldview influences social ethos inspired a group of New Testament scholars to treat each New testament book from the perspective of the interpenetration of ethics, ethos and identity (Van der Watt 2006). While the subject of ethos has been dealt with by a number of pauline scholars (see Barton 2001;Esler 2003), the importance of 'identity' is still often presumed rather than explicated. the ground has been tilled a bit by joel Green (2007) and a group of scholars at a Nordic conference in 2007 (see Holmberg and Winninge 2008), especially on the cognitive aspects of identity, but there is much left to be done.…”