Original Research - Special Collection: Mission and Ethics
Sensitivity towards the reaction of outsiders as ethical motivation in early Christian paraenesis
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies | Vol 68, No 1 | a1212 |
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v68i1.1212
| © 2012 Andrie B. du Toit
| This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 09 January 2012 | Published: 29 June 2012
Submitted: 09 January 2012 | Published: 29 June 2012
About the author(s)
Andrie B. du Toit, Department of New Testament Studies, University of Pretoria, South AfricaAbstract
Early Christian documents contain many indications of a sensitivity towards the presence of non-Christians in their environment, a sensitivity which increased as the expectation of an imminent end receded. This study concentrated on those paraenetic texts which maintain that Christians, in the shaping of their lifestyle, should reckon with the reaction of outsiders. Two trajectories, a negative as well as a positive one, were identified. Subsequently the double perlocutionary aim of these ‘outsider sayings’ was scrutinised. A final word summarised the hermeneutic implications of these sayings for today. Since in many societies the credibility of the gospel message is under pressure, exemplary living is a sine qua non.
Keywords
outsiders; Christian lifestyle; paraenesis; mission; slandering; glorifying God; indirect proclamation
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