Thinking with Soul: Psychē and Psychikos in the Construction of Early Christian Identities

Abstract

Early Christian writers devised numerous rhetorical strategies to clarify their perceptions of Christianity and to distinguish the followers of Jesus from various "others." Yet identity theorists have noticed that the self is not a "fixed" or static category, but rather one that is always under negotiation and (re) examination. Moreover, embedded within arguments distinguishing "us" from "them" are claims to power and knowledge. Drawing upon these insights, this essay examines how the concept of the soul, which had a long history of use in philosophic discussions on selfhood, became a useful tool to establish early Christian identities and marginalize opponents. Whether understood as a metaphor or as a "real" entity, psychē and its adjectival form psychikos became discursive "markers" in early Christian polemic or apologetic, enabling writers to carve out a sense of self and to establish a place for Christians on the social map of the Greco-Roman world.