Remain in Your Calling

Synopsis:
Remain in Your Calling explores the way the Apostle Paul negotiates and transforms existing social identities of the Corinthian Christ-followers in order to extend his gentile mission. Building on the findings of Tucker's first monograph, You Belong to Christ: Paul and the Formation of Social Identity in 1 Corinthians 1-4, this work expands the focus to the rest of 1 Corinthians. The study addresses the way Paul forms Christ-movement identity and the kind of identity that emerges from his kinship formation. It examines the way previous Jewish and gentile social identities continue but are also transformed "in Christ." It then provides case studies from 1 Corinthians that show the way social-scientific criticism and ancient source material provide insights concerning Paul's formational goals. The first looks at the way Roman water practices and patronage influence baptismal practices in Corinth. The next uncovers the challenges associated with the transformation of the Roman household when it functions as sacred space within the ekklesia. The final study investigates the way Paul uses apocalyptic discourse to recontextualize the Corinthians' identity in order to remind them that God, rather than the Roman Empire, is in control of history.

Endorsements:

"In this in-depth study of the formation of social identities, Tucker steps carefully but with an easy confidence through the maze of theoretical approaches. His assessment of differing stances is astute, well informed, and fair. In conversation with a vast array of literature, and in careful negotiation with the text of the New Testament, he offers a fascinating introduction to Paul's approach to the formation of social identities that is unlikely soon to be surpassed."
--William S. Campbell
Reader in Biblical Studies
University of Wales, Trinity St. David

"J. Brian Tucker has produced an impressive study in one of the most important and exiting areas of Pauline scholarship: the construction of Christian identity. Tucker's suggestion that Paul transforms, rather than creates, existing social identities without obliterating the original ones is highly convincing and moves the discussion significantly forward. This is an indispensable work for scholars of early Christianity and foundational for students of the formation of the early Christ movement."
--Magnus Zetterholm
Associate Professor of New Testament Studies
Lund University

Author Biography:
J. Brian Tucker is Associate Professor of New Testament at Moody Theological Seminary in Plymouth, Michigan. He is the author of You Belong to Christ: Paul and the Formation of Social Identity in 1 Corinthians 1-4 (Pickwick, 2010).