Original scientific paper

Paul - model of christian behaviour

Marinko Vidović orcid.org/0000-0003-0746-023X ; Catholic Faculty of Theology, University of Split

Abstract

Starting from the fact that Paul was the only new-testament
writer who calls his addressees to imitate him, we have researched
the texts in which he is doing so. Since nowhere in his original
texts Paul explicitly speaks about the content of imitating, which
will appear later in deutero-Pauline documents, we could extract
that content only from a wider context of his calls. We have found
that the content of that call is always directed to Christ’s cross
which was reflected in Paul’s life and which, though blasphemy to
the Jews and madness to the Greeks, in various ways manifests its
redeeming power exactly in concrete life situations of an individual
and community. Sufferings because of the Gospel, togetherness,
not discords, because of the cross, reappraisal of reality, necessity
to work and pleading for earthly realities, all these are the
elements of the contents because of which Paul either praises or
calls his addressees when giving himself as a model of behaviour,
i.e. of imitation.

Keywords

imitation; imitating; co-imitators; troubles; suffering; persecutions; serving; perseverance; weakness; proclamation; proclaimer; model; paschal mystery

Hrčak ID:

55423

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/55423

Publication date:

21.6.2010.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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