The Social Significance of the Sacralized Body in The Epistle to The Romans

357 Pages·2016·3.13 MB·English

The Social Significance of the Sacralized Body
in The Epistle to The Romans:
Pauline Subversion of Cultural Constructions of Human
Worth

By
Erin Bay

Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

January 2016

i
Abstract

The hierarchical stratification of Greco-Roman culture emphasized corporeal
features as integral to maintaining social status. The elite body was protected from
physical and sexual assault; the servile or low-status body was liable to such dishonoring
treatment. The body and its presentation – its gestures, postures and clothing – formed a
canvas which communicated to others a person’s social location. Low status, then, was a
somatic phenomemon: the scars of floggings, for example, signaled one’s degraded status
and left one vulnerable to further abuse. On the other hand, the primary literature
characterizes the bodies of high-ranking males (the politician, the general, the
paterfamilias) or of elite females (the priestess, wife or daughter) in sacral terminology.
This thesis investigates the meaning of Paul’s sacralization of the body in the
Epistle to the Romans. Romans 12:1 states “parakalw/ ou=n u`ma/j … parasth/sai ta.
sw,mata u`mw/n qusi,an zw/san a`gi,an euva,reston tw/| qew/|”, that is: “I exhort you … to offer
your bodies [to God] as a sacrifice which is living, holy and pleasing to God” (my
translation). Given the predominantly low social status of his hearers, Paul’s construction
of their bodies as holy helps establish an identity of high worth which conflicts with their
social locations. Paul’s construal of these degraded bodies is at odds with the cultural
norm to characterize only elite bodies in sacral and honorable terms. For many of Paul’s
hearers, their bodily identity was the antithesis of the sacral.
I will argue that, by construing the Christ-followers’ bodies as sacral, Paul
subverts the cultural construal of many of his hearers’ bodies. Those whose bodily
experiences and appearances would have been construed by the social code as demeaning
have this interpretation contested by Paul. For him, the suffering of the body is no longer
an indication of degraded status; rather, it is to be considered sacrificial, viz., an aspect of
worshiping identity. In contrast with the tendency of biblical scholars to neglect the lived
experiences of Paul and his hearers as bodily beings, it is suggested that Paul is deliberate
in claiming that it is the bodies of his hearers which are to be offered to God. Rather than
demanding that the Christ-followers offer “themselves” to God in some abstract sense,
Paul constructs their bodies as sacred phenomena which stand under God’s claim. By
construing their low-status bodies in such terms, Paul subverts the dominant social
narrative which read the bodies of the elite in terms of sacrality and honor and degraded
those whose bodies were vulnerable to physical and sexual assault, thereby offering a
potent counter-reading of the low-status body.
ii
Acknowledgements

My sincere thanks is owed firstly to Professor Paul Trebilco for making this journey a
fully-rounded experience. I have benifited enormously from his scholarly ability and his
wise character. My time spent learning from him will always be remembered as the
opportunity of a lifetime; as time spent with a true Christian gentleman.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Dr Arlene Allan, whose
supervision of my thesis is greatly appreciated. Dr Allan’s attention to detail and
encouraging comments have been a great support.
To my wife Tania, I can only state my immense gratitude for all her patience and
encouragement along the journey to get to this point. I thank her for believing in my
ability to see the project through to completion.
I thank my parents, Stuart and Beth Bay, for their unwavering support throughout
my life and education. Their sacrifice and support have made this thesis possible.
Finally, I express my heartfelt thanks to Dr Murry Harris. Dr Harris’ inspiration
and guidance sparked my journey into theological education and encouraged me at

critical points along the way.

This work is dedicated to
Isabella June,
Eva Faith,
and
Samuel Micah -

our three precious children.
i ii
Abbreviations

Primary Sources

Achilles Tatius (Ach. Tat.) Leucippe et Clitophon
Aeschines On the Embassy Aeschin. 3.
Against Timarchus In Tim.
Appian (App.) Bella Civilia B. Civ.
Apuleius Apologia Apol.
Metamorphoses Met.
Aristophanes (Ar.) Equites Eq.
Lysistrata Lys.
Plutus Plut.
Ranae Ran.
Aristotle (Arist.) Eudemian Ethics Eud. Eth.
De generatione animalium Gen. an.
Nicomachean Ethics Eth. Nic.
Politics Pol.
Rhetorica Rh.
Artemidorus Daldianus (Artem.) Oneirocritica Onir.
Athenaeus (Ath.) Deipnosophistae Deip.
Augustine (August.) Confessions Conf.
De Civitate Dei De Civ. D.
Cassius Dio (Cass. Dio) Historiae Romanae
Cato the Elder (Cat. Mai.) De Agricultura Agr.
Catullus (Catull.) Carmina
Chariton De Chaerea et Callirhoe
Cicero (Cic.) Epistulae ad Atticum Att.
Brutus Brut.
De Divinatione Div.
On his House Dom.
Epistulae ad Familiares Fam.
De Haruspicum Responso Har. Resp.
De legibus Leg.
iv
Pro Milone Mil.
Orator ad M. Brutum Orat.
Orationes Philippicae Phil.
In Pisonem Pis.
Pro Rabirio Perduellionis Reo Rab. Perd.
Post Reditum in Senatu Red. Sen.
De Republica Rep.
Pro Roscio comoedo QRosc.
Pro Sestio Sest.
Pro Sexto Roscio Amerino Rosc. Am.
In Verrem Verr.
Demosthenes (Dem.) Against Androiton And.
Chersonese Chers.
Against Leptines Lept.
Against Neaera Neaer.
Orationes Orat.
Against Timocrates Tim.
Dinarchus (Din.) Against Demosthenes Dem.
Dio Chrysostomus (Dio. Chrys.) Orationes Or.
Diodorus Siculus (Diod. Sic.) Bibliotheca Historica Bib. Hist.
Diogenes Laertius Lives of Eminent Philosophers Lives
Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Dion. Hal.) Antiquitates Romanae Ant. Rom.
Epictetus Epicteti Dissertationes Epict. Diss.
Eusebius (Euseb.) Historia ecclesiastica Hist. Eccl.
Euripides (Eur.) Electra El.
Iphigenia Aulidensis IA.
Festus De Verborum Significatu
L. Annaeus Florus (Flor.) Epitome Rerum Romanorum Epit.
Gaius (Gai.) Institutiones Inst.
Aulus Gellius (Gell.) Noctes Atticae NA
Herodotus (Hdt.) The Histories
Hippocrates (Hippoc.) Hippocratic Oath Hp. Jusj.
Horace (Hor.) Satirae Sat.
Isocrates (Isoc.) Ad Philippum Phil.
v
Panegyricus Paneg.
Josephus (Joseph.) Antiquitates Judaicae AJ
Bellum Judaicum BJ
Justinian Digesta Dig.
Juvenal (Juv.) Satires
Livy Ab urbe condita
Lucretius (Lucr.) De Rerum Natura
Macrobius (Macrob.) Saturnalia Sat.
Martial Epigrammata Epig.
Spectacula Spect.
Pomponius Mela De Situ Orbis Sit. Orb.
Menander (Men.) Perikeiromenē Pk.
Minucius Felix (Min. Fel) Octavius Oct.
Ovid (Ov.) Ars Amatoria Ars am.
Fasti Fast.
Ibis Ib.
Tristia Tr.
Iulius Paulus (Paulus) Sententiae Sent.
Petronius (Petron.) Satyricon Sat.
Philo Judaeus (Philo) De Decalogo Dec.
Philostratus (Philostr.) Vita Apollonii VA.
Plato (Pl.) Gorgias Grg.
Laws Leg.
Timaeus Tim.
Plautus (Plaut.) Aulularia Aul.
Captivi Capt.
Poenulus Poen.
Pseudolus Pseud.
Pliny (the Elder) (Plin.) Naturalis historia HN.
Pliny (the Younger) (Plin.) Epistulae Ep.
Panegyricus Pan.
Plutarch (Plut.) Antonius Ant.
Caesar Caes.
Crassus Crass.
vi
Dion Dio.
Eumenes Eum.
De Liberis Educandis De Lib.
Lucullus Luc.
Marcellus Marc.
Moralia Mor.
De Mulerium Virtutibus De Mul. Vir.
Numa Num.
Pompey Pomp.
Quaestiones Romanae Quaest. Rom.
Regum et Imperatorum Apophthegmata Regum
Sertorius Sert.
Romulus Rom.
De Sera Numinis Vindicta De Sera
Tiberius Gracchus Ti. Gracch.
De Sera.Timoleon Tim.
Vitae Decem Oratorum X Orat.
Polybius (Polyb.) Histories
Porphyry (Porph.) De Abstinentia Abst.
Quintilian (Quint.) Institutio oratoria Inst.
Sallust (Sall.) De Catilinae Coniuratione Cat.
Bellum Iugurthinum Iug.
Salvian De Gubernatione Dei Gub. Dei
Seneca (the Elder) (Sen.) Controversiae Controv.
Seneca (the Younger) (Sen.) De Beneficiis Ben.
De Brevitate Vitae Brev. Vit.
De Clementia Clem.
De Consolatione ad Helviam Cons. Helv.
Epistulae Ep.
De Ira Ira
De Consolatione ad Marciam Cons. Marc.
De Providentia Prov.
De Vita Beata Vit. Beat.
Servius (Serv.) Commentary on the Aeneid of Vergil Comm.
v ii
Sidonius Apollinaris (Sid. Apoll.) Epistulae Epist.
Strabo (Strab.) Geography Geog.
Suetonius (Suet.) Divus Augustus Aug.
Gaius Caligula Calig.
Divus Claudius Claud.
Domitianus Dom.
Galba Galb.
Divus Iulius Iul.
Nero Ner.
Tiberius Tib.
Vitellius Vit.
Symmachus Epistulae Ep.
Tacitus (Tac.) Agricola Agr.
Annales Ann.
Dial.Germania Germ.
Historiae Hist.
Tertullian (Tert.) Apologeticus Apol.
De Pallio Pal.
De Spectaculis De Spect.
Valerius Maximus (Val. Max.) Facta et Dicta Memorabilia
Varro De Lingua Latina Ling.
De Re Rustica Rust.
Virgil (Verg.) Aeneid Aen.
Xenophon (Xen.) Anabasis An.
Hellenica Hell.
Memorabilia Mem.
Oeconomicus Oec.
Respublica Lacedaemoniorum Lac.
De Vectigalibus Vect.

Others Duodecim Tabulae Duo. Tab.
Greek Anthology Anth. Gr.
Scriptores Historiae Augustae SHA
viii
Table of Contents
Abstract ............................................................................................................................................ i
Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... ii
Abbreviations ................................................................................................................................. iii
Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 1
Chapter 1: Methodology ................................................................................................................ 4
1. Historical Criticism ............................................................................................................ 4
2. Ideological Criticism ......................................................................................................... 7
3. Material Hermeneutic ........................................................................................................ 8
4. Embodied Identity ........................................................................................................... 10
5. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 14
Chapter 2: Literature Review ..................................................................................................... 16
1. Classical Scholarship on the Body: The Embodiment of Identity ................................... 16
A. Embodied Identity: Gender, Sexuality and Power ...................................................................... 16
B. The Human "I" Identified with the Body: Conceptions of the Afterlife ..................................... 17
C. The Divinities as Embodied ........................................................................................................ 19
D. The Roman Self as Performed .................................................................................................... 20
E. Gender and Sexuality ................................................................................................................... 24
F. Embodied Identity and Corporal Violence .................................................................................. 28
2. Biblical Scholarship: Embodiment of Identity, Gender and Sexuality ............................ 30
3. Biblical Scholarship on the Body and Romans ................................................................ 34
A. Bultmann ..................................................................................................................................... 35
B. Käsemann .................................................................................................................................... 35
C. Dunn ............................................................................................................................................ 37
D. Gundry ......................................................................................................................................... 38
E. Jewett ........................................................................................................................................... 38
F. Scornaienchi ................................................................................................................................. 39
4. My Definition: Sw/ma as “Material-Interrelated Self” ...................................................... 42
PART ONE: Sw/ma AND Corpus IN THE GRECO-ROMAN BACKGROUND ................. 44
Chapter 3: Greek Sw/ma ............................................................................................................... 44
1. The “Depthless” Sw/ma: The Body as Instrument ............................................................ 46
2. The Dominated Sw/ma: The Body as Volitioned Instrument ............................................ 57
A. Domination of Those Reduced to Sw,mata .................................................................................. 58
B. Violent Domination of the Volitioned Body ............................................................................... 65
i. Sexual Violence ..................................................................................................................... 69