The translation of Heb 3.14 has been a matter of dispute. The problem lies in the ambiguity of the Greek μἐτοχοι τον χριστον. Some, like Spicq, render the clause ‘we are partners with Christ’ in the sense of companionship. The meaning would be like that of τοὺς μἐόχους σου (‘your companions’) in 1.9. Others, such as Westcott, prefer ‘partakers of Christ’ in the sense of ‘having part in him’ as in the ἔπepsilon;ις μἐρôς μἐ’ ὲμον of John 13.8. Finally others, such as O. Michel, see in it an inclusive sense encompassing both companionship with and participation in Christ.
This chapter argues that a theorized and historically contextual approach to ethnicity and race allows us to look critically at these concepts in Paul’s letters and challenges the traditional reading of Paul. After reviewing race and ethnicity in Pauline scholarship, this essay applies these approaches to the Pauline texts. Arguing for an understanding of racial and ethnic identity as both ‘natural’ and malleable, of identity as multiple, and of religion as central to ethnic identity construction, this chapter shows that these discourses, rather than being peripheral or rejected by Paul, are central to his thinking. We see that Paul conceives of central theological issues—such as Paul’s identity as a Jew, Israel’s standing before God, and the invitation to faithful Gentiles-in-Christ—in terms of ethnic reasoning. This approach contributes not only to a more historically situated reading of Paul, but also to modern understandings of racial and religious identity.
For Paul, human participation in Christ is inaugurated and sustained by God’s apocalyptic incursion into the realm of sin and death through the incarnation and death of Christ in solidarity with sinful humanity. Human personhood is constructed in union with larger powers—on the one hand, sin, and on the other hand, the grace of God in Christ. Through Christ’s interchange with humanity under the power of sin, to the point of death on a cross, humanity is set free from sin’s power and joined with Christ.
‘Participants of the Divine Nature’: The Modern Retrieval of Participation“In Christ” in Paul: Explorations in Paul's Theology of Union and Participation, Michael J.Thate, Kevin J.Vanhoozer and Constantine R.Campbell (eds), Eerdmans, 2018 (ISBN 978‐0‐8028‐7394‐1), x +582 pp., pb $55Participating in Christ: Explorations in Paul's Theology and Spirituality, Michael J.Gorman, Baker Academic, 2019 (ISBN 978‐1‐5409‐6036‐8), xxvi + 296 pp., pb $30Participation in God: A Study in Christian Doctrine and Metaphysics, AndrewDavison, Cambridge University Press, 2019 (ISBN 978‐1‐1084‐8328‐5), xii + 423 pp., hb £75
