A Multicultural Paul in The Globalized Roman Empire

Abstract

This article looks at Paul as a multicultural individual in the globalized Roman Empire. Following theorists such as Verónica Benet-Martínez, Ying-yi Hong, Mark Khei, and Seth Schwartz, multiculturalism is defined here as a person’s access to more than one knowledge system. The mutual adjustment of these systems, acculturation, is understood as a group phenomenon sensitive to minority and majority positions, often taking place on the abstract level of identity discourse and accessible through the concept of social identity. The article argues that while Jewishness represents for Paul a robust heritage culture, it does not rule out Paul’s access to other cultural knowledge systems. Paul sometimes distances himself from his Jewish identity in favor of an identity “in Christ,” which Paul portrays as a knowledge system, even though this system was not very developed. At times, Paul also identifies with Romanness (Romanitas), signs of which are scarce but potentially visible in his stereotypical criticism of Jews. The article argues that anti-imperial readings of Paul are exegetically one-sided and need reassessment in the light of the new theoretical developments in the study of the Roman Empire as a globalized environment that is not best understood through dichotomies.