BMCR 2009.04.22: Goodrich on Nguyen, Christian Identity in Corinth: A Comparative Study of 2 Corinthians, Epictetus and Valerius Maximus. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament. 2. Reihe 243

V. Henry T. Nguyen, Christian Identity in Corinth: A Comparative Study
of 2 Corinthians, Epictetus and Valerius Maximus. Wissenschaftliche
Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament. 2. Reihe 243.  Tuebingen:  Mohr
Siebeck, 2008.  Pp. xii, 272.  ISBN 9783161496660.  [euro  ]59.00 (pb).


Reviewed by John K. Goodrich, Durham University, England
([email protected])
Word count:  2088 words
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In this innovative and learned study Henry Nguyen attempts to illumine
the concept of "social identity" ("social persona") in early Pauline
Christianity through a heuristic comparison of three first-century CE
social critics: Valerius Maximus, Epictetus, and the Apostle Paul.
Throughout the book (a revised doctoral dissertation in New Testament
completed at the University of Aberdeen), Nguyen traces in these
ancient authors a shared dissatisfaction with the popular contemporary
practice of evaluating people based solely on external indicators of
rank and status. By analyzing the function of the correlative terms
persona and <greek>pro/swpon</greek>, as well as related themes in the
writings of Valerius, Epictetus, and Paul, Nguyen observes how each
author subverted this dominant cultural preoccupation and proposed
alternative models of social identity.

Chapter 1 lays some groundwork for the study. Here Nguyen briefly
presents the book's aim and articulates the methods he applies.
Concerning his sociohistorical approach, Nguyen explains that by
analyzing the cultural environment of the New Testament, including the
"social practices, beliefs, behaviour, values, and ideals of the people
in their own contexts," he is then able to "shed light on how [ancient]
people perceived and valued certain concepts" (8). Moreover, by
avoiding a purely lexical approach, Nguyen attempts to analyze social
identity as a concept, which he defines (using Richard Jenkin's
definition)[[1]] as "'our understanding of who we are and of who other
people are, and reciprocally, other people's understanding of
themselves and of others (which includes us)'" (1).

Chapter 2 introduces the reader to the traditional as well as popular
("conventional") Roman conceptions of social identity. For Nguyen, the
central words under investigation are the Latin persona and Greek
<greek>pro/swpon</greek>. Nguyen demonstrates that the two terms are
conceptually linked to one another and were occasionally used in
ancient literature to denote an individual's social identity,
particularly one's rank and status. Nguyen further demonstrates that in
Rome rank and status were associated with one's functions, honors,
duties, and rights. Given these traditional aspects of identity, Nguyen
then argues that rank and status were regularly and visually projected
in everyday life through one's attire, entourage, seat assignments,
legal privileges, and commemoratives (i.e., statues and inscriptions).
Nguyen uses these visual expressions of identity collectively to expose
the "persona-conscious nature of Roman society" (43).

Chapter 3 analyzes Valerius Maximus' conception of social identity
through his treatise Facta et dicta. Following an introduction to the
person of Valerius, his social position, and his purpose for writing
the treatise, Nguyen explains how in certain chapters of the work
(e.g., "Of physical likeness" [9.14]) Valerius, without ever
trivializing the Roman system of rank and status, criticized the
popular practice of projecting and assessing social identity through
exclusively external criteria. In place of this counterfeit portrayal
of one's identity, Valerius offered an alternative perspective by
presenting real-life examples (exempla) of nobility, which typified the
Roman values and virtues traditionally and ideally associated with
being a "Roman gentleman" and were ultimately personified in Tiberius.

While Nguyen adequately summarizes the content of Facta et dicta and
its significance for his study, on the whole the chapter lacks the
sufficient primary-source citations (esp. of exempla) to illustrate for
the unfamiliar reader how Valerius articulated his conception of Roman
identity (one must remember that this monograph is primarily intended
for New Testament specialists). This criticism in no way detracts from
the overall coherence of the argument, merely its ease of readability,
since the interested reader will be required to have a copy of Valerius
in hand.

Chapter 4 examines the Dissertationes and Encheiridion of Epictetus.
After an introduction to Epictetus' life, career, and literature,
Nguyen surveys Epictetus' many criticisms of the Roman hierarchical
system and popular culture (e.g., "Of personal adornment" [3.1]),
demonstrating his frustration with the elaborate expressions of social
identity which accompanied the pursuit of rank and status, especially
by orators. Nguyen notes that Epictetus labeled the desire for such
prestige an "incurable fever" and alleged that such desires "enslaved"
the individual. Nguyen further explains how Epictetus taught that one's
identity resided only internally, consisting primarily of one's
volition (<greek>proai/resis</greek>) and life role
(<greek>pro/swpon</greek>), which is individually allotted by God. An
individual's identity, then, should be marked by freedom from desire
and the attainment of those attributes which make one morally "good and
excellent" (<greek>kalo\s kai\ a)gaqo/s</greek>).

Although the originality of these studies in Valerius and Epictetus
carry significance for Classical research in their own right, the
pay-off for Nguyen is the exegetical and theological insight the
project furnishes for Pauline interpretation. In his treatment of Paul
in chapters 5 and 6, Nguyen examines 2 Corinthians almost exclusively,
due to the frequency therein of the term <greek>pro/swpon</greek> (12
of 24 Pauline uses) as well as its explicit critique of those who
evaluate people based on purely external criteria. In chapter 5 Nguyen
situates the reader in first-century CE Corinth. Appealing to Paul's
epistles and other literary sources, Nguyen demonstrates how many in
the colony "aspired to improve their social standing by visibly
expressing their persona through their outward appearance" (129).
Nguyen then presumes, along with the majority of New Testament
scholars, that many of the popular societal norms of Corinth influenced
the church and in fact caused many of the problems that Paul battled in
his Corinthian epistles, including a preoccupation with rank, status,
wealth, beauty, wisdom, eloquence, and other external manifestations of
identity.

Chapter 6 reaches the exegetical and theological climax of the book
with an analysis of Paul's portrayal of Christian identity in 2
Corinthians, which Nguyen contends has both an internal and external
dimension. First, Nguyen examines the internal dimension of identity in
2 Cor 2.14-7.4, underscoring Paul's repeated promotion of his inner,
rather than outer, ministerial qualifications. For instance, Nguyen
suggests that when Paul stressed the "Spirit" over the "letter"
(3.1-6), a heart-directed rather than appearance-directed ministry
(4.7-12), the "treasure" rather than the "earthen vessel" (4.7-12), the
"inner person" over the "outer person" (4.16), "unseen things" rather
than "seen things" (4.18), "living by faith" rather than "outward
appearance" (5.7), "boasting in the heart" rather than "in
<greek>pro/swpon</greek>" (5.12), and knowing things <greek>kata\
pneu=ma</greek> rather than <greek>kata\ sa/rka</greek> (5.16-17), Paul
was in fact "diminishing the value of the exterior features of identity
and placing all weight on the interior features of identity, the latter
being the more authentic and genuine aspect of the person" (171). While
some critics will take issue with the Platonic overtones of Nguyen's
interior-exterior distinction and reject his reading of some of these
supporting texts, the reader will nevertheless concur that Paul's
conception of Christian identity (according to this epistle anyway)
stresses the internal reality of Christian identity and subverts the
popular Roman perspective.

But for Nguyen, Christian identity, as portrayed in 2 Corinthians,
finds its final expression in the external dimension, which Paul
spelled out in the phrase "in the <greek>pro/swpon</greek> of Christ"
(2 Cor 4.6). While Nguyen makes too much of the contrast between
"Moses's <greek>pro/swpon</greek> as a temporary expression of his
identity as a visible presence of God" and "Christ's
<greek>pro/swpon</greek> . . . as the permanent expression of his
identity as God's visible presence," he is nevertheless correct when
asserting that "the latter of the two <greek>pro/swpa</greek> should be
regarded as the appropriate goal for the Christians' transformation of
identity" (182). To this end, Nguyen contends that the
"<greek>pro/swpon</greek> of Christ" (4.6) is equivalent to the "image
of God" (4.4; cf. 3.18) and so refers to Christ's identity. Thus, when
Paul stated that God reveals in the hearts of Christians "the knowledge
of the glory of God in the <greek>pro/swpon</greek> of Christ" (2 Cor
4.6), he implied that Christians exhibit the identity of Christ,
specifically as they manifest the character of Jesus and embody his
death and resurrection in everyday life. For the Christian, then, "the
very life of Jesus breaks through and manifests itself in the midst of
his weakness and suffering" (193). Thus, Nguyen concludes: "Paul
approaches identity by presenting both an internal and external aspect
of Christian identity -- an outward dimension that expresses the inward
spiritual transformation, rather than superficial values. That is, Paul
is not simply making an outward/inward distinction, but a distinction
between outward expressions based on superficial values and outward
expressions based on the inward spiritual transformation that is taking
effect" (194).

Next, Nguyen extends his argument by treating Paul's apologetic use of
<greek>pro/swpon</greek> in 2 Corinthians 10.1 and 7. He contends that
the phrase <greek>kata\ pro/swpon</greek> in 10.1 "helps to draw the
Corinthians' attention to his [Paul's] display of the characteristics
of the person of Christ" (197). Moreover, the expression <greek>ta\
kata\ pro/swpon ble/pete</greek> in 10.7 is either an exhortation for
the Corinthians to begin noticing Paul's Christ-like character, or an
indicative statement about their "preoccupation with external status
symbols" (198). In either case, here Paul chastised the church for
their failure to see his embodiment of Christ's identity. Nguyen then
explains how Paul continued to subvert the Corinthians' social values
throughout the remainder of the letter with the "power in weakness"
motif. The chapter concludes with a summary analysis of Paul's use of
<greek>pro/swpon</greek> in 2 Corinthians, a brief look at supporting
evidence in Paul's other epistles, and a stimulating comparison of the
models of social identity articulated by Valerius, Epictetus, and Paul.


There are many commendable features of Nguyen's study. The surveys of
Valerius, Epictetus, and Paul are quite detailed and will be useful for
students of both Classics and New Testament for the light they cast on
the social history of the Greco-Roman world. Moreover, while many other
studies concerning Roman social history have addressed related topics
(e.g., honor, clothing, patronage, social mobility, etc.), this study
brings many of these topics together into conversation, filling a
lacuna in scholarship by addressing the more abstract concept of
identity, to which all of these contribute.

Specifically for the benefit of New Testament scholarship, Nguyen sheds
light on a lexical nuance of a particularly loaded, yet neglected term,
<greek>pro/swpon</greek>, and demonstrates that in 2 Corinthians
<greek>pro/swpon</greek> was Paul's choice term for "identity."
Furthermore, based on this study it is clear that the term
<greek>pro/swpon</greek> and the theme of identity are particularly
significant for Paul's discourse in 2 Corinthians. Nguyen's treatment
of identity is, therefore, extremely welcome as it ties together many
familiar texts and motifs under this more general rubric.

One wonders, however, how helpful it is to limit Paul's definition of
identity to this one model. While embodiment of Christ is clearly a
major component of Christian identity in the passages Nguyen has
examined, it can also be argued from elsewhere in 2 Corinthians that
other theological realities also contribute toward Paul's perspective
(e.g., that Christians are partakers and sharers of divine grace). In
other words, while Nguyen's approach (which traces Paul's employment of
<greek>pro/swpon</greek> and internal/external themes) has led him to
his conclusions, a different starting point may lead another researcher
elsewhere. Thus, attempting to identify the center of a distinctly
Pauline definition of identity may be compared with attempting to
identify the core of Paul's theology: different approaches will produce
variegated results.

Additionally, while Nguyen defined "social identity" and the various
nuances of persona and <greek>pro/swpon</greek> at the beginning of the
book, what these terms mean when he uses them in context, and whether
or not they are being employed pejoratively, can on occasion remain
rather unclear for the reader. This is perhaps due to the lack of
terminological variety Nguyen employs when referring to the concept
(see for instance the first full paragraph on page 44, where persona is
used eight times in a span of four sentences). Nguyen's intended
meanings for these terms could have been clarified had he simply
utilized a greater variety of synonyms. Indeed, because the study
concerns a particular social concept, which is admittedly difficult to
pinpoint, Nguyen inevitably struggles to find a consistent way to refer
to social identity that does not leave the reader with a clouded
understanding of what exactly is being discussed.

Moreover, Nguyen's repeated use of value-laden terms (e.g.,
"superficial," "shallow," "obsessive") is quite pervasive. While
sometimes these terms describe an ancient author's perspective, in many
other instances it is difficult to discern whether the terms express
the ancient or modern author's assessment.

Aside from these minor criticisms, the book is an interesting and
successful undertaking. Nguyen demonstrates a strong understanding of
the relevant texts, which is not always evident in "background studies"
in New Testament scholarship. Indeed, Nguyen's comparative method is
exemplary, modeling the thoroughness in socio-historical research and
acquaintance with the primary-source material for which modern biblical
scholarship should aim.

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Notes:


1.   Jenkins, Social Identity (Routledge: London, 1996), 5.