Gentile Christian Identity-- Part Nine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Q. Much of the focus of this book is on the varied and changing use of specific terms like ethne and what it might reveal about the changing perspectives\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gentile Christian Identity-- Part Nine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Q. Much of the focus of this book is on the varied and changing use of specific terms like ethne and what it might reveal about the changing perspectives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2021\/01\/13\/gentile-christian-identity-part-nine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Bible and Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-01-13T06:11:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-12-15T19:13:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/55\/2020\/12\/511uAOgjQ3L._SX329_BO1204203200_.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ben Witherington\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ben Witherington\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2021\/01\/13\/gentile-christian-identity-part-nine\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2021\/01\/13\/gentile-christian-identity-part-nine\/\",\"name\":\"Gentile Christian Identity-- Part Nine\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-13T06:11:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-12-15T19:13:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/67da39aff728f9d015878d198839df4b\"},\"description\":\"Q. Much of the focus of this book is on the varied and changing use of specific terms like ethne and what it might reveal about the changing perspectives\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2021\/01\/13\/gentile-christian-identity-part-nine\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2021\/01\/13\/gentile-christian-identity-part-nine\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2021\/01\/13\/gentile-christian-identity-part-nine\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Gentile Christian Identity– Part Nine\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/\",\"name\":\"The Bible and Culture\",\"description\":\"A One-Stop Shop for All Things Biblical and Christian\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/67da39aff728f9d015878d198839df4b\",\"name\":\"Ben Witherington\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cf1998568f0b6ccbd63f56b44d47303?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cf1998568f0b6ccbd63f56b44d47303?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ben Witherington\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/author\/benw333\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Gentile Christian Identity-- Part Nine","description":"Q. Much of the focus of this book is on the varied and changing use of specific terms like ethne and what it might reveal about the changing perspectives","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Gentile Christian Identity-- Part Nine","og_description":"Q. Much of the focus of this book is on the varied and changing use of specific terms like ethne and what it might reveal about the changing perspectives","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2021\/01\/13\/gentile-christian-identity-part-nine\/","og_site_name":"The Bible and Culture","article_published_time":"2021-01-13T06:11:14+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-12-15T19:13:29+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/55\/2020\/12\/511uAOgjQ3L._SX329_BO1204203200_.jpg"}],"author":"Ben Witherington","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ben Witherington","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2021\/01\/13\/gentile-christian-identity-part-nine\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2021\/01\/13\/gentile-christian-identity-part-nine\/","name":"Gentile Christian Identity-- Part Nine","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-01-13T06:11:14+00:00","dateModified":"2020-12-15T19:13:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/67da39aff728f9d015878d198839df4b"},"description":"Q. Much of the focus of this book is on the varied and changing use of specific terms like ethne and what it might reveal about the changing perspectives","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2021\/01\/13\/gentile-christian-identity-part-nine\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2021\/01\/13\/gentile-christian-identity-part-nine\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2021\/01\/13\/gentile-christian-identity-part-nine\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Gentile Christian Identity– Part Nine"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/","name":"The Bible and Culture","description":"A One-Stop Shop for All Things Biblical and Christian","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/67da39aff728f9d015878d198839df4b","name":"Ben Witherington","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cf1998568f0b6ccbd63f56b44d47303?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cf1998568f0b6ccbd63f56b44d47303?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Ben Witherington"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/author\/benw333\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38182\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":38182,"date":"2021-01-13T01:11:14","date_gmt":"2021-01-13T06:11:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=38182"},"modified":"2020-12-15T14:13:29","modified_gmt":"2020-12-15T19:13:29","slug":"gentile-christian-identity-part-nine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2021\/01\/13\/gentile-christian-identity-part-nine\/","title":{"rendered":"Gentile Christian Identity– Part Nine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

A. Yes, as I indicated in response to the previous question, I think that, by the middle of the second century at least, decisive new steps were taken in the largely gentile, proto-orthodox church as it attempted to position itself with respect to Greco-Roman world on one side and relationship with Jews and Judaism on the other. I won\u2019t say anything more about that here, though I will pick up one point about terminology.<\/p>\n

The term \u201csupersession\u201d describes a situation where, by virtue of its perceived superiority, one entity comes to occupy a position that previously belonged to another, the displaced group becoming outmoded or obsolete in the process. The term, then, carries with it the idea that the superseded entity did have some validity or value in the past. Thus it is appropriate for those forms of Christian self-definition that see the church as a new stage in God\u2019s dealings with the world\u2014the fulfillment of prophetic promises, the beneficiaries of a new covenant, even the \u201cnew Israel.\u201d But some forms of the Christian self-definition that emerge in this period go farther, to deny any positive value to the \u201cold covenant\u201d at all, and to see the church simply as a continuation of a line of scriptural heroes who related to God on different, essentially \u201cChristian\u201d terms. It seems to me that supersession doesn\u2019t adequately convey this kind of approach, where Torah-centred Jewish identity was emptied of any positive significance. In the book I suggest that this constitutes not supersession but something like arrogation or appropriation, an approach \u201cin which the gentile church redefined the dramatis personae in Israel\u2019s story in such a way that the positive human characters in the story were identified as prototypical Christians (true Israel), while the negative characters constituted the people of the Jews.\u201d I\u2019m not sure that appropriation is the right term here; perhaps the situation was more one of \u201cexpropriation.\u201d In any case, while \u201csupersession\u201d describes one aspect of Christian self-definition adversus Judaeos during this period, it doesn\u2019t quite capture the whole story.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"