Browsing by Author "Sindo, Vuyani Stanley"

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    The interrelationship between leadership and identity formation in the Corinthian correspondence : a study of 1 Corinthians 1-4
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2018-11) Sindo, Vuyani Stanley; Punt, Jeremy; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Theology. Dept. of Old and New Testament.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The leadership aspect in the discourse of 1 Corinthians 1-4 has received significant attention in recent years, by scholars such as Carson (1993), Savage (1996), Hooker (1996), and Clarke (2000, 2006). These scholars have demonstrated that leadership-related issues are pertinent to Paul’s argument in these four chapters of 1 Corinthians. Using socio-historical approaches, many scholars highlight the fact that Paul’s presentation of leadership in these chapters contrasts sharply with the prevailing views regarding leadership in the Greco-Roman world. There is another group of scholars, however, such as Barentsen (2011), Tucker (2010) and Holmberg (1978), who incorporate social-scientific approaches in their analyses, which includes social identity theory. These scholars tend to focus on the power dynamic and identity-related issues in their treatment of leadership issues in 1 Corinthians 1-4. This dissertation will follow along a similar line of thought to these scholars. The present task is to argue that identity discourse is an integral part of the leadership discourse in 1 Corinthians 1- 4, with the aim to closely investigate the interrelationship between leadership and identity. This interrelationship becomes apparent when Paul’s use of the ἐν Χριστῷ and κλῆσις terminologies is considered. Scholarship has observed the prevalence of ἐν Χριστῷ and its associated terminologies (such as ἐν κυρίῳ, ἐν αὐτῳ, δἱα Χριστοῦ, σὐν Χριστῷ, σὐν αὐτῷ) in Paul’s argument in 1 Corinthians 1-4, concluding that this terminology is not accidental for Paul. Thus, for this dissertation, ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ terminology is the key terminology on which the interrelationship between leadership and identity in 1 Corinthians is established. It will be argued that Paul uses this terminology to frame his discourse in 1 Corinthians 1-4. This terminology helped Paul in two key aspects: Firstly, to get the attention and the hearing of a group of people, some of whom had rejected him as their apostle, due to their preference for one leader at the expense of the other (1 Cor. 1:10-12; 3:4-5). Paul uses the ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ terminology at the beginning of the letter to signal to the group that the subject matter about which he was writing was at the core related to in-group identity. This dissertation will argue that Paul used the ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ terminology to help him in the consensualization process. Secondly, this terminology allowed Paul to present himself as a group prototype. Again, since some members of the community had rejected him due to the Greco-Roman cultural influences on their perception of a leader, Paul counters those cultural influences by using the ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ terminology to remind the in-group members of their salient identity “in Christ”. Thus, Paul, in his use of ἐν Χριστῷ, was in fact “killing two birds with one stone”. Paul also used the ἐν Χριστῷ and κλῆσις terminologies for his group entrepreneur strategy, by reminding the group about how their identity “in Christ” is diametrically opposed to the world’s wisdom and power, the same categories that they were using to judge him. Paul, therefore, used these terminologies to shape (entrepreneur) the group identity, as he was able to demonstrate to the group what behaviour is aligned with the in-group identity.