Abstract
Within the ethnic-reasoning position, which has gained momentum in recent years, it is argued that in the in-Christ identity there exists no dichotomy between natural, physical relationships and constructed, made-up relationships. Ethnicity is viewed as fluid and changeable and as including the category of religion, which is understood as involving a nation’s culture and their cultic and ritualistic practices. Yet, it is a question whether these notions are compatible with the way in which the in-Christ identity is portrayed, especially by Paul. In terms of the theological way in which ethnicity and even religious practices are portrayed, they rather belong to the domain of humanness or human conduct, and thus to the anthropological domain. In contrast, believers’ relation to Abraham and their new mode of identity in the S/spirit is portrayed as being in contrast with the anthropological domain or the domain of ‘flesh’, which includes things such as ethnicity, human conduct and even religious practices. This tension between divine identity and human or natural identity in the New Testament is accounted for and applied to the ethnic-reasoning position, which also influences the way in which the in-Christ identity finds cultural expression in the lives of present-day readers.
Highlights
The concept of ‘ethnic reasoning’ has gained momentum in New Testament scholarship (e.g. Buell 2005; Concannon 2014; Harrill 2014; Horrell 2016; Johnson Hodge 2007; Sechrest 2009). The intent behind this concept is probably best described by Johnson Hodge (2007:4), who argues that ethnic reasoning is ‘a new way to read kinship and ethnic language in Paul that dismantles the contrast between a universal, “non-ethnic” Christianity and an ethnic, particular Judaism’
It is far from settled whether the concept of ethnos should include the concept of ‘religion’. Even if it would, religious aspects as portrayed in the New Testament have to be distinguished from what is understood under ‘religion’ within a contemporary, Western context. Notwithstanding the latter distinction, it has been argued that the religious, the ritualistic and the cultic can all be considered as anthropological phenomena in Paul, which means that they pertain to human conduct and human possibility
25.This does not imply that the newly expected eschatological ‘spiritual body’ of 1 Corinthians 15:44 is necessarily non-material, but it is of a different order than the ‘natural body’, which means it is super-natural and of a different kind than the ‘flesh and blood’ of natural human beings
Summary
The concept of ‘ethnic reasoning’ has gained momentum in New Testament scholarship (e.g. Buell 2005; Concannon 2014; Harrill 2014; Horrell 2016; Johnson Hodge 2007; Sechrest 2009). The identity in Christ is not rooted in an anthropological reality, which includes acts of religion, but in a theological reality, which points to God’s actions.8 Similar notions to those found in Colossians 2:16–3:4 are found in Galatians 4:9–19 and Romans 14:1–15:2. 1) denotes the new era of salvation history that was inaugurated by Christ’s death and resurrection (Longenecker 2016:684; Moo 2018:495) Another indicator in the text that two exclusive eschatological modes of identity are indicated by σάρξ and πνεῦμα is the fact that believers in Christ are portrayed as not being ‘in the flesh’ any more Irrespective of ethnicity, has to receive the Spirit as ‘eschatological gift’ (Ridderbos 1997:127; cf. Bruce 1983:110; Carson 1991:224–225)
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