Asceticism and Christian Identity in Antiquity: A Dialogue with Foucault and Paul

Abstract

Presentations of Christian identity in antiquity are often in line with modern Protestantism, in which renunciation and asceticism do not play an important role. In contrast, this article takes asceticism as its starting point, and introduces Foucault and his discussion of askesis as a point of departure. His focus on ethics as a way to constitute oneself as a moral subject challenges traditional presentations of ethics in the New Testament. The article attempts a reading of Paul’s argument in 1 Cor. 6.12-20 (why a Christian man should not have sex with prostitutes) inspired by Foucault. It is suggested that Paul is concerned with the formation of a Christian male identity, without interest for the situation of the women involved, but de-stabilizing the social identity of free Corinthian men.

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