Description
Book SynopsisIn this work, Jeehei Park proposes Greek and Roman cosmopolitanism as a constructive category through which to navigate a reading of human diversity and communal unity in Paul’s letters. Park takes a thorough look at the cosmopolitan ideas of Diogenes of Sinope, Philo, Plutarch, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius to establish Paul as an interlocutor who critically participated in the discourse of cosmopolitanism. Park characterizes Paul’s understanding of unity with the distinctive phrase “heterogeneous unity,” in which human differences are respected and embraced rather than being universalized or homogenized. This book offers a novel analysis of Paul’s rhetoric about citizenship in Philippians and its adoption of Greek and Roman cosmopolitanism as an interpretive contour.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Abbreviations 1 Introduction 1 Beyond Universalism and Particularism 2 Why Cosmopolitanism? 3 Becoming a Citizen 2 Defining Κοσμοπολίτης 1 Life as a Voluntary Exile: Diogenes of Sinope’s Cosmopolitanism 2 Nomos-abiding Citizens: Philo of Alexandria’s Cosmopolitanism 3 Citizens of the Same Cosmos: Plutarch’s Cosmopolitanism 4 Kin of God: Epictetus’s Cosmopolitanism 5 Parts of the Whole: Marcus Aurelius’s Cosmopolitanism 6 Conclusion 3 Citizens of Christ 1 Philippians 1:27–30: Living as Citizens of Christ 2 Philippians 3:17–21: Heavenly Πολίτευμα 3 Conclusion 4 Equal, Thus United 1 1 Corinthians 12:12–14: Many, Baptized into One Body 2 Galatians 3:26–29: One in Christ, Neither Jew Nor Greek 3 Conclusion 5 Heterogeneous, Yet United 1 Romans 10:12–13: The Same Lord of All 2 Romans 12:3–5, 9–13: One Body, Many Members 3 Conclusion 6 Conclusion 1 Cosmopolitan Ecclesiology 2 Continuing Cosmopolitan Unity 3 Cosmopolitanism and Beyond Bibliography Index of Ancient Sources Index of Modern Authors
