Ethnic Fluidity in Ephesians

Abstract

This essay examines Ephesians in light of current research in ethnic studies. The methodological advance of such an approach is twofold: first, it moves the exegesis of the domestic codes to the wider frame of the letter; and, second, it goes beyond the limited hermeneutical framework of the 'origins' of the reconciliation language to the more productive examination of its function in the text. The concept of 'one new humanity' provides evidence for the author's ethnic reasoning, which participated in ancient cultural affirmations of the essential fluidity and changeability of all ethnicity. The author of Ephesians domesticates the mythical language of baptism by making it fit the conventional morality of a household economy, thus presenting the letter's most important ecclesiological concept, that of 'the body of Christ', as a unity that is more moral than mythic.

Ethnicity and Early Christianity: New Approaches to Religious Kinship and Community

“…Buell, drawing upon contemporary sociological and anthropological writings about race and ethnicity, argues that 'early Christians used ethnic reasoning to legitimize various forms of Christianness as the universal, most authentic manifestation of humanity, and it offered Christians both a way to define themselves relative to "outsiders" and to compete with other "insiders" to assert the superiority of their varying visions of Christianness' (2005: 2). Buell's analysis proposes that classificatory systems, be they racial, religious, ethnic, gendered or class-based, function as social and cultural processes, which, in turn, suggests that these seemingly 'real and fixed human differences…are in fact social creations and not eternal realities' (Buell 2005: 6; see also Wilhite 2007;Barreto 2010;Harrill 2014). Classification is inscribed in time, which means that it reflects particular temporal agendas and ideologies (Berzon 2016).…”

Ethnic reasoning and early Christian identity: A Pauline theological perspective

“…In recent years, 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'.…”

Tafsir Efesus 6: 5-8 Tentang Teologi Kerja Dan Aplikasinya Bagi Pemuda Gereja

“…14: 7-9), bukan dimotivasi oleh nilai atau manfaat dari orang lain. Harrill menekankan pentingnya kesehatian pekerja dengan tuannya sebagai ekspresi hubungan di dalam Kristus, hal tersebut dapat dipersamakan dengan 'tubuh kristus' di dunia kerja 40. Karena itu sikap berontak dalam diri pekerja Kristen hendaknya dipertimbangkan, lebih luas lagi, 43 Trevor Grizzle, Ephesians, A Pentecostal Commentary, ed.…”