Paradigms of Being in Christ - A Study of the Epistle to the Philippians

In his Epistle to the Philippians, Paul positions himself as an example of ''being in Christ''. The way in which he does this points out that he consciously positions himself in the tradition of classical rhetoric, where the use of paradigms (exempla) was a standard element in deliberative arguing. Paul describes his life as coloured by Christ in such a way that he represents Christ to the Philippians, and theresponse he hopes to evoke in their congregation is that of similar behaviour.The analysis of Smit combines observations on classical rhetoric, exegetical analyses of Philippians, and views from the perspective of gender and masculinity studies into a new and fresh analysis of the material. He shows that ancient ideals of deliberative rhetoric have influenced Philippians in much the same way in which they appear in e.g. Aristotle, Plutarch, and (also) 2 Maccabees. This study both positions Paul in the cultural context of his day and indicates the newness of his enterprise.>

List of contents

1. Introduction
2. The Communicative Setting: Genre, Structure, Aims and Context of Philippians
3. Models of Identity in Philippians
4. Conclusions
Bibliography

About the author

Peter-Ben Smit is Professor of Contextual Biblical Interpretation (Dom Hélder Câmara Chair) at Vrije Universiteit, the Netherlands.

Product details

• Authors: Peter-Ben Smit
• Assisted by: Michael Labahn (Editor)
• Publisher: T. & T. Clark Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 01.08.2013
• EAN: 9780567271624
• ISBN: 978-0-567-27162-4
• No. of pages: 224
• Series: International Studies in Christian Origins; Library of New Testament Studi; Library of New Testament Studi; The Library of New Testament Studies; International Studies in Christian Origins
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Religion/theology > Christianity; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Religion: general, reference works; RELIGION / Christianity / General, Christianity, Criticism and exegesis of sacred texts, New Testaments, Biblical Studies & Exegesis