Paul and Participation in Christ: The Patristic Witness

Since the 1970s and E. P. Sanders' Paul and Palestinian Judaism, Pauline scholars have become increasingly aware of the significance of participation (formerly, Pauline mysticism) in Paul's letters. In them, he employed a diversity of participatory expressions, e.g., speaking of believers being "in Christ," baptized "into Christ," being crucified "with" Christ, etc. While Paul makes frequent references to participation, he never explained what it was, thus leaving modern interpreters with an enigma and an impasse. This book seeks to redress this neglected question of Pauline participation through an examination of the Greek-speaking eastern Fathers, a suggestion of scholar Richard Hays.To this end, this book explores four select patristic texts from Irenaeus, Origen, Athanasius, and Cyril of Alexandria, paying close attention to how each may shed potential new light on the enigma Pauline participation.