“Our políteuma Belongs in Heaven” (Phil 3:20): Comparing Paul’s and Seneca’s Narratives of Consolation

This article argues that Paul’s narrative about collective πολίτευμα in heaven (Phil 3:20) constitutes a moment of climactic consolation in the letter to the Philippians. This position is reached through an extended comparison with Seneca’s On Consolation to Mother Helvia (Ad Helviam). It emerges th...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Muir, Alex W. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill 2022
In: Novum Testamentum
Year: 2022, Volume: 64, Issue: 2, Pages: 249-266
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Bible. Philipperbrief 3,20 / Settlement (Motif) / Seneca, Lucius Annaeus, Philosophus -65, Consolatio ad Helviam / politeuma / Comfort (Motif)
IxTheo Classification:HC New Testament
VA Philosophy
Further subjects:B Seneca Indians
B Comparison
B πολίτευμα
B Consolation
B Phil 3:20
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Summary:This article argues that Paul’s narrative about collective πολίτευμα in heaven (Phil 3:20) constitutes a moment of climactic consolation in the letter to the Philippians. This position is reached through an extended comparison with Seneca’s On Consolation to Mother Helvia (Ad Helviam). It emerges that similar narratives of consolation are constructed in the Ad Helviam and Phil 3:15–21. In both texts, adversity is recognised and rationalised, before it is defied then transcended through rhetorical and cosmological arguments. There are, however, also differences owing to Paul’s and Seneca’s different contexts: in particular, the threat of certain Judaizing opponents to Paul’s gospel in Philippi.
ISSN:1568-5365
Contains:Enthalten in: Novum Testamentum
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15685365-bja10011