Withstanding Persecution as a Corroboration of Legitimacy in the New Testament: Reflections on the Resulting Ethical and Hermeneutical Quandary

Abstract

Assertions of standing, authority, and power claimed on the basis of withstanding persecution play a prominent and heretofore under-appreciated role in much of the New Testament literature. Yet deriving legitimacy from persecution presents an interpretive quandary not unlike those inherited from biblical passages that condone slavery or unhealthy attitudes toward women and men. Reflection on how we construe ourselves in relation to suffering is an agendum inadequately realized in the New Testament that commends itself for twenty-first century ethics and theology.

Framing Human Dignity Through Domination and Submission? Negotiating Borders and Loyalties (Of Power) in the New Testament

“…Not only were the concerns of Pauline texts carried over into later times, but the resultant construct of Pauline thought was subsequently used as primary heuristic framework for reading and interpreting Paul. 45 In his discussion of NT texts' legitimation of suffering as corroboration of legitimacy, Kelhoffer (2011) came to similar conclusions.…”