Year: 2024
Type: dissertation
Abstract: This paper uses textual analysis from the historical-critical methods and argumentative analysis to bring an understanding of Paul’s arguments about baptism in Rom 6, the understanding of the seal in 2 Clem 7-8 and the instructions concerning baptism in Did 7. The questions employed for this have two different aspects: the lived religion in the past and the use of the texts in the present. When it comes to the past, I ask what consequences baptism has according to the writers and how they perceive the difference between the old life and the new. Concerning the present, I ask how baptism is used in the rhetoric of the texts and whether each text is more focused on orthodoxy or orthopraxis. The consequence of baptism is, according to the texts, first and foremost a transition from the old life, which is under the reign of sin, into the new, under the reign of God. The rhetoric of Paul and 2 Clem consist of metaphors to help the receiver understand the seriousness and urgency of the message. I conclude that the two of them are more concerned with orthodoxy and that the Didaché focuses on orthopraxis. However, the key to understanding these texts is viewing orthodoxy and orthopraxis more as a spectrum of two overlapping fields rather than two opposite terms. When this mindset is applied, it becomes clear that neither the teachings nor the practice can be isolated or used on its own. The two depend on each other and are both important parts of the religion.
Author: Lindholm, Sara
Language: English
Subfield: Religious studies
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W6992039921