Paulus in Philippi: Ethik und Theologie

Abstract

Abstract During his missionary activities in Asia Minor and Greece, Paul is continuously confronted with the ‘Gods of Others’. Interestingly enough, he is quite reluctant in reacting against his ‘pagan surroundings’-as Luke is in his portrayal of Paul (esp. Acts 16-17). On the basis of reconstructing Paul’s missionary activities in Philippi- a city which was most obviously characterized by ‘Romaness’ (romanitas)-and analyzing Phil 2:6-11-a core piece of Paul’s proclamation of ‘Christ’ -, this article argues that Paul was neither interested in anti-imperial polemics nor in the mythical construct of a ‘Christ-cult’. In order to react on his pagan surroundings in Macedonia and to make the ekklesia of Christ-believers attractive to its sympathizers, he rather uses a myth-historical text by which he teaches the ethos of Christ’s ‘Statusverzicht’ as a moral paradigm (exemplum): In pagan surroundings, Pauline theology thus finds its actual vanishing point in the discourse on ethics and ‘moral progress’.