Original Research
We and They in Romans
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies | Vol 58, No 2 | a566 |
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v58i2.566
| © 2002 Bruce J. Malina
| This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 20 October 2002 | Published: 17 December 2002
Submitted: 20 October 2002 | Published: 17 December 2002
About the author(s)
Bruce J. Malina, Creighton University, United StatesFull Text:
PDF (247KB)Abstract
According to cultural anthropologists ingroup/outgroup divisions are fundamental to Mediterranean views of the world. This essay considers Paul’s in-group/outgroup, or “we/they” perceptions. The ethnocentrism revealed in this dichotomy indicates that Paul, like other Mediterraneans of his time, showed little interest in the outgroup. Not surprisingly, neither was the God of Israel. Non-Israelites simply did not fit into the divine plan of things until non-Israelites, some centuries later, began to identify with Paul’s “we” – something Paul did not foresee.
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