8 Paul on the human vocation: Concluding summary

Abstract

In this final chapter we briefly summarise our main results. In chapter 1, we proposed that the problem of why Paul uses the language of λογικός in Romans 12.1 deserves fresh consideration in its ancient context. We have sketched our own solution in outline: by using the language of λογικὴ λατρεία, Paul appeals to the philosophical idea of a genuinely human vocation in the cosmos and claims its possible fulfilment in the communities of Christ-followers. Our solution rests on a fresh reading of some of the parallels that interpreters have adduced, in particular Epictetus 1.16.20–21, and on a broader contextualisation of the definition of human beings as θνητὰ λογικὰ ζῷα. We have pointed out weaknesses and strengths of previous proposed solutions, which chiefly render λογικός either as “reasonable”, “spiritual”, or “genuine”, though we have also discussed Reichert’s proposal (“communicative”) and Scott’s recent suggestion (“guided by reasoning thought”). These proposals either focus on linguistic parallels (the “semantic approach”) or on thematic parallels (the “traditionsgeschichtlich approach”). The problem with the “semantic approach” is that the parallels are linguistically similar, but may be thematically different from Rom 12.1; conversely, the “traditionsgeschichtlich approach” finds parallels which are thematically similar (resting on a judgment about the topic), yet may be linguistically distant. We have advocated an approach which focuses on fewer qualitative parallels, which are explored in depth and within a broader ancient discourse. Finally, we have introduced some of our interpretative terms (“human vocation”, “genuine humanness”, “sign production”). In chapter 2,we have evaluated Scott’s recent study on the semantics of λογικός, which identifies seven different categories of its use. We have found that Scott’s study puts some important linguistic constraints on other solutions, but that it contains several methodological problems, and that his own proposal for Rom 12.1 contextualises too narrowly and misses the significance, within the ancient cultural encyclopedia, of discussions involving humans as λογικὰ ζῷα and of the evaluative connotations of such language within ancient discourse on what it means to be human. In particular, we have examined the evidence on which Scott’s own proposal for Rom 12.1 rests and shown that it offers inadequate parallels for λογικὴ λατρεία. In the same chapter (section 2.2), we have then explored the definition of human beings as θνητὰ λογικὰ ζῷα using a corpus-based discourse analysis. We have shown in detail that this definition was pre-Pauline, associated mainly with Stoicism, but also became part of other philosophical traditions, and would have been well known to wider audiences. We