Reading the Areopagus Speech in Acts 17 from the perspective of sacral manumission of slaves in ancient Greece
This article suggests that the metaphor of Paul as seed-picker who gathers dirt from the market in Athens (Acts 17:18) is part of the broad slave metaphor found in Greco-Roman literature and in the New Testament. The stigma of depersonalization, desocialization, and religious marginalization is atta...
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| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Sage Publications
February 2017
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| In: |
Biblical theology bulletin
Year: 2017, Volume: 47, Issue: 1, Pages: 47-58 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Bible. Apostelgeschichte 17
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| Further subjects: | B
slavery in antiquity
B Spiritual Life B fictive kinship B Paul's kerygma B resurrection belief B social death B Luke-Acts |
| Parallel Edition: | Electronic
Electronic |
| Summary: | This article suggests that the metaphor of Paul as seed-picker who gathers dirt from the market in Athens (Acts 17:18) is part of the broad slave metaphor found in Greco-Roman literature and in the New Testament. The stigma of depersonalization, desocialization, and religious marginalization is attached to enslavement. Slaves are excluded from authentic personhood. The article explores the rhetoric in Paul's Areopagus speech. It demonstrates Pauline influence on the narrative in Luke-Acts. The essence of the Areopagus speech is the universal unity of humanity and the life-giving effect of the resurrection belief. Building on the notions of fictive kinship and quasi-kinship the article compares the practice of sacral manumission for slaves with that of manumissio in ecclesia. |
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| ISSN: | 0045-1843 |
| Contains: | In: Biblical theology bulletin
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