The significance of clothing imagery in the Pauline corpus

BL Religion;BS The Bible

Kim, Jung Hoon ; Marcus, Joel

University:University of Glasgow

Department:School of Critical Studies

关键词: BL Religion;    BS The Bible;   

Others  :  http://theses.gla.ac.uk/4871/1/1998KimPhD.pdf

来源: University of Glasgow

【 摘 要 】

This thesis concentrates on clarifying the significance of the clothing imagery in thePauline corpus. This imagery occurs in six Pauline epistles (clothing with Christ in Gal3:27 & Rom 13:14; clothing with the new man in Col 3:9-10 & Eph 4:22-24; and clothingwith the resurrection body in 1 Cor 15:49, 50-54 & 2 Cor 5:1-4). The imagery constitutes asignificant aspect of Pauline theology.For the background to the Pauline clothing-metaphor, Part I looks into clothingimagery in the OT, 1 & 2 Enoch, Apocalypse of Moses, Philo, rabbinic literature, Josephand Aseneth, The Hymn of the Pearl, Apuleius' Metamorphoses, the Roman custom ofclothing, and the baptismal praxis of the ancient church. In the Old Testament, significantbackground is found in the concept of God's clothing Adam and Eve with garments ofskins in Gen 3 :21, in various rituals of the priest being clothed with priestly garments (Ex29:4-9; Lev 16:3-4, 10-11, 23-24; Ezek 42:13-14; 44:19; cf. Zech 3:3-5), in traditionsabout God's Spirit's clothing himself with a specific human being (Jdg 6:34; 1 Ch 12:18; 2Ch 24:20), and the analogy between an eschatological transformation of the cosmos and achange of clothing (Ps 102:26). Later Jewish literature adds other emphases: the analogybetween the resurrection transfiguration and the replacement of an earthly garment with aheavenly one (1 Enoch 65:15-16; 2 Enoch 22:8-10), the concept of Adam and Eve's prefallclothing (ApoM 20-21), Philo's notions of the people being clothed with either virtue orvice and of the high priest's becoming superior to others when dressed in sacred priestlygarments, the idea of Adam's being clothed with splendour before the Fall in rabbinicwritings, and symbolic scenes of Aseneth's attire in Joseph and Aseneth. Also importantare the prince's change of garments in The Hymn of the Pearl, various scenes of Lucius'symbolic attire in his initiation to Isis in Metamorphoses, the Roman custom ofexchanging the toga praetexta with the toga virilis, and the practice of putting off andputting on clothes at baptism in the earliest church.Bearing in mind the result of a study of these background documents, Part 2undertakes an examination of the Pauline clothing metaphor. In the clothing-with-a-personpassages (Gal 3:27; Rom 13:14; Col 3:9-10; Eph 4:22-24), baptismal themes and theAdam-Christ typology predominate, while in the clothing-with-the-resurrection passages(1 Cor 15:49, 50-54; 2 Cor 5:1-4), the Adam-Christ contrast is presupposed. The formerpassages describe a radical change in a believer's nature at baptism, when he/she is unitedwith Christ as the second Adam, while the latter passages depict the eschatological changein the believer's mode of existence at the parousia. In brief, the Pauline clothing-metaphorsuggests that the life and glory in the image of God lost in Adam has been restored inbaptism in Christ, and will be consummated at the parousia.