Paul’s Iconic Christ among Mediterranean Cult Statues: A Comparison of Divine Images

While scholars continue to debate whether Paul ever explicitly called the messiah a god, there can be no question that he called the messiah an image of a god (2 Cor. 4.4). Even so, there has been no shortage of comparative studies that situate Paul’s messiah among ancient Mediterranean gods, includ...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal for the study of the New Testament Vol. 47; no. 4; pp. 676 - 713
Main Author Chantziantoniou, Alexander
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London, England SAGE Publications 01.06.2025
Subjects
Cult statues
image christology
divine images
Paul
materiality
Online AccessGet full text
ISSN0142-064X
1745-5294
DOI10.1177/0142064X241303439

Cover

More Information
Summary:While scholars continue to debate whether Paul ever explicitly called the messiah a god, there can be no question that he called the messiah an image of a god (2 Cor. 4.4). Even so, there has been no shortage of comparative studies that situate Paul’s messiah among ancient Mediterranean gods, including the Jewish god himself, whereas what is arguably more proximate comparanda for Paul’s iconic claims tend not to be taken into consideration, namely, ancient Mediterranean images of gods. Taking for granted that Paul’s god—the Jewish god—was a Mediterranean god among others, in this article I redescribe Paul’s messiah as a Mediterranean cult image among others. By exploring the relation between gods and their images, between divinity and materiality, with images of gods as material media that make present the gods they image, new light is cast on the debated relation between the Jewish god and his christological image in Paul’s letters.
ISSN:0142-064X
1745-5294
DOI:10.1177/0142064X241303439