Sanctification and Oneness in 1 Corinthians with Implications for the Case of 'Mixed Marriages' (1 Corinthians 7.12-16)
This essay is a social-scientific study of Paul's deployment of holiness language in 1 Corinthians. Specifically, an interpretation of holiness is offered to explain Paul's argument in 1 Cor 7.12-16 in favour of non-separation in the case of a believer married to a non-believer. For Paul,...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
Published: |
[2017]
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In: |
New Testament studies
Year: 2017, Volume: 63, Issue: 1, Pages: 38-55 |
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Bible. Corinthians 1. 7,12-16
/ Mixed marriage
/ Holiness
/ Holiness (motif)
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IxTheo Classification: | CB Christian life; spirituality HC New Testament NBE Anthropology NCF Sexual ethics |
Further subjects: | B
Sanctification
B Holiness B Mixed Marriage B SOCIAL-SCIENTIFIC INTERPRETATION B Oneness B Children B Pauline Ethics |
Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
Summary: | This essay is a social-scientific study of Paul's deployment of holiness language in 1 Corinthians. Specifically, an interpretation of holiness is offered to explain Paul's argument in 1 Cor 7.12-16 in favour of non-separation in the case of a believer married to a non-believer. For Paul, holiness involves participation in the oneness of God interpreted christologically. This participation is embodied in the holiness-as-oneness of the church. In relations between believers and unbelievers, purity rules to do with sex and marriage carry a significant symbolic burden. In some cases, clear lines of demarcation are drawn. Other cases constitute grey areas; and the suggestion here is that mixed marriages' are one such. For Paul, holiness is a matter of neither genealogical nor cultic purity. Rather, it has a boundary-transcending quality. In the case of a mixed marriage, the unbelieving partner, together with the children, is sanctified by remaining in oneness with the believing partner. Paul's concern for the oneness of the church spills over into a concern for the oneness of the household. |
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ISSN: | 1469-8145 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: New Testament studies
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1017/S0028688516000266 |