Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament · 2. Reihe Herausgeber / Editor Jörg Frey (Zürich) Mitherausgeber / Associate Editors Friedrich Avemarie (Marburg) Markus Bockmuehl (Oxford) Hans-Josef Klauck (Chicago, IL) 296 Moral Language in the New Testament The Interrelatedness of Language and Ethics in Early Christian Writings Kontexte und Normen neutestamentlicher Ethik/ Contexts and Norms of New Testament Ethics Volume II Edited by Ruben Zimmermann and Jan G. van der Watt in Cooperation with Susanne Luther Mohr Siebeck Ruben Zimmermann is Professor for New Testament Studies at the Johannes Guten- berg-University of Mainz. Jan G.van der Watt is Professor for New Testament Studies at the Radboud-University of Nijmegen/NL. Susanne Luther is currently research assistent (wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin) at the Chair of New Testament Studies of Professor Zimmermann at the Johannes Gutenberg- University of Mainz. e-ISBN PDF 978-3-16-1 51639 - 9 ISBN 978-3-16-150354-2 ISSN 0340-9570 (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament, 2. Reihe) Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbiblio- graphie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de. © 2010 by Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, Germany. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form (beyond that permitted by copyright law) without the publisher’s written permission. This applies particularly to reproductions, translations, microfilms and storage and processing in electronic systems. The book was printed by Laupp & Göbel in Nehren on non-aging paper and bound by Buchbinderei Nädele in Nehren. Printed in Germany. Foreword This volume is the result of a “Humboldt-Kolleg” conference that was held at the University of Pretoria (South Africa) in September 2008 and was supported by the Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation (Germany). It was part of the joint research project of Jan van der Watt and Ruben Zimmer- mann on Ethics in the New Testament, which was undertaken in 2008 and supported by a Feodor Lynen-Fellowship of the Alexander von Humboldt- Foundation. This project is to be seen in the context of other research projects by the editors on Ethics in the Ancient World at the Universities of Mainz (Center for Ethics in Antiquity and Christianity) and Nijmegen. It represents the second volume in the series “Context and Norms of New Testament Eth- ics”. Among the various aspects of an “implicit ethics” in Early Christian writings the important role of language has often been underestimated. This volume specifically focuses on the relationship between language and ethical expression. The participants were asked to consider at least three aspects related to moral language: the intratextual level, the intertextual level and the extratextual level. We would like to extend our gratitude to the Alexander von Humboldt- Foundation for their support and the University of Pretoria for providing the facilities. We would also like to thank Elise Henning for practical arrangements during the conference. Jutta Nennstiel and Susanne Luther were responsi- ble for the editing of this volume and deserve our sincere gratitude. Thanks also to Almuth Peiper and Charlotte Seiwerth, who helped with the indi- ces. Jan G. D. van der Watt Mainz, July 2010 Ruben Zimmermann Table of Contents Foreword .................................................................................................................... V Ruben Zimmermann / Susanne Luther Moral Language in the New Testament. An Introduction .......................................... 1 I. Ethics and Language Ruben Zimmermann Ethics in the New Testament and Language: Basic Explorations and Eph 5:21–33 as Test Case .................................................. 19 Etienne de Villiers Defining Morality in Christian Ethics and the Study of New Testament Ethics ......................................................................................... 51 Sean Freyne In Search of Identity: Narrativity, Discipleship and Moral Agency .................................................................................................... 67 II. Jesus and the Gospels Karl-Wilhelm Niebuhr Jesus’ “Conception of Man” as an Expression of his “Ethics” ................................. 89 Matthias Konradt “Whoever humbles himself like this child ...” The Ethical Instruction in Matthew’s Community Discourse (Matt 18) and Its Narrative Setting ........................................................................ 105 Jan G. van der Watt Ethics through the Power of Language: Some Explorations in the Gospel according to John ............................................... 139 VIII Table of Contents Kobus Kok As the Father has sent me, I send you: Towards a missional-incarnational Ethos in John 4 ............................................... 168 III. Pauline Literature Hermut Löhr The Exposition of Moral Rules and Principles in Pauline Letters. Preliminary Observations on Moral Language in Earliest Christianity .................. 197 Jeremy Punt “Unethical” Language in the Pauline Letters? Stereotyping, Vilification and Identity Matters ...................................................... 212 Friedrich Wilhelm Horn Putting on Christ: On the Relation of Sacramental and Ethical Language in the Pauline Epistles ............................................................... 232 François S. Malan Moral Language in the New Testament: Language and Ethics in 2 Corinthians 3 .................................................................. 245 Pieter G. R. de Villiers Moral Language in Philemon .................................................................................. 255 IV. Later New Testament and Early Christian Writings Jörg Frey Disparagement as Argument: The Polemical Use of Moral Language in Second Peter ....................................................................... 275 Gert J. Steyn Some Possible Intertextual Influences from the Jewish Scriptures on the (Moral) Language of Hebrews .................................................... 311 Susanne Luther Protreptic Ethics in the Letter of James: The Potential of Figurative Language in Character Formation .............................. 330 Lambert D. Jacobs The “Ethics” of Badmouthing the Other: Vilification as Persuasive Speech Act in First Clement ......................................... 365 Table of Contents IX V. Hermeneutical Questions Richard A. Burridge Ethics and Genre: The Narrative Setting of Moral Language in the New Testament ............................................................................................. 383 Elijah Mahlangu The Familial Metaphorical Language of Inclusion in the New Testament and HIV/AIDS Destigmatization in Africa .................................. 397 Authors and Editors ................................................................................................. 415 Index of References ................................................................................................. 417 Index of Modern Authors ....................................................................................... 435 Index of Subjects and Key Terms .......................................................................... 444 Moral Language in the New Testament An Introduction RUBEN ZIMMERMANN / SUSANNE LUTHER Morality requires language. Language carries ethical meaning. These two basic statements probably find general consensus, but ques- tions arise as soon as the interrelatedness of language and morality is specified. This volume proposes to address this problem and shed more light upon morality and language in the New Testament. In more concrete terms the following questions may be addressed: How do Ethics and Lan- guage belong together? Indeed, do they belong together at all? Does lan- guage have a special ethical value – or is morality related solely to particu- lar contents without being influenced by means of the linguistic medium in which it is communicated? Is there a certain form or genre of “moral lan- guage” – is, for instance, the imperative grammatical form the only way to express an ethical statement? Or can any grammatical form, or any form of language be used to communicate a sense of ought, or moral obligation? 1. Ethics and Language – Interactions 1.1 Ethics and Language – Two Contradictory Statements Putting the introductory questions into two contradictory statements, the subject of this volume may be defined with sharper clarity: 1.There is no language of ethics! 2. Language has always been ethical! “There is no language of ethics!” This first statement is based on a dis- tinction between language and ethics. “It is clear that ethics cannot be put into words. Ethics is transcendental.” By using such formulations in his Tractatus logico-philosophicus,1 the early Wittgenstein expresses his con- viction that statements must be logical and verifiable in order to satisfy scientific requirements. Ethical statements require no such logic or verifi- ability. Instead, they are based on non-rational value systems. Wittgenstein said, “In the world everything is as it is, and everything happens as it does 1 See Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-philosophicus (Suhrkamp-Edition 12; Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1963); cf. idem, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (trans. David F. Pears and Brian F. McGuinness; London: Routledge, 1971), 6.421, 147. 2 Ruben Zimmermann / Susanne Luther happen: in it no value exists – and if it did exist, it would have no value.