St. Paul as a master of cross-cultural terminology

A lot of the terminology that Paul employs in the New Testament is loaded with multivalent semantic fields; his words have multiple meaning depending on the culture you are in. As both a former pharisee and a Roman Citizen his theological terminology is rich in both Jewish meaning and Greco-Roman resonance.

I recently encountered this great chart in Michael Gorman’s Apostle of the Crucified Lord: A Theological Introduction to Paul and His Letters. It highlights some of the genius of Paul’s use of language.

Each of these words holds somewhat different meanings depending on the context that you’re in, whether it be first century Judaism, Roman, or 21st century Christian. Read closely!