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<\/a>In this fourth installment of the series of posts engaging with Josh Jipp\u2019s recent book Christ Is King: Paul\u2019s Royal Ideology<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, we consider Josh\u2019s fourth chapter \u201cKing and Kingdom: Sharing in the Rule of Christ the King\u201d where he relates ancient kingship ideology to the perennially difficult and elusive topic of participation in Christ.<\/p>\nIn writing up this post, it became too long, so I\u2019ve broken it up into two parts. The first is a summation of the argument of the chapter. The second will offer six critical observations and questions for Josh\u2019s response.<\/p>\n
Josh heads the chapter with a quotation from 2 Tim. 2:8, 11-12a that seems little noticed by Pauline scholars \u2013this absence is surely because of the tendency to ignore the so-called Pastorals. Still, even if Paul did not pen these words, the Davidic element is at the heart of the gospel his circle preached. The words:<\/p>\n
Remember Messiah Jesus, raised from the dead, from the seed for David, according to my gospel . . . The saying is faithful\u2014for if we have died with him, we shall also live with him; if we endure, we shall also rule together with him.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The contents of these verses capture the argument of the chapter: Jesus\u2019 identity as Israel\u2019s Davidic Messiah can explain, to a large extent, the logic of Paul\u2019s participation and incorporation themes.<\/p>\n
The chapter is expansive and detailed and I cannot attempt to engage with most of it here. It seems on every one of the 71 pages there is something with which to interact. The chapter has essentially four parts. It begins with a look again at the Christ hymns of Colossians and Philippians\u2014discussed in chapter 3\u2014in order to show that Paul applies the kingship discourse established in these hymns in the rest of the letter. Josh\u2019s argument is two-fold. First, he wishes to show that the panegyrics are resources for Paul to \u201csocialize his churches into a realm where Christ alone is supremely sovereign and invested with divine lordship over the cosmos\u201d. Second, he wants to demonstrate that Paul uses the claims in the hymns through the letters insisting that the churches do not only \u201cbenefit from but are even participants in Christ\u2019s sovereign rule<\/em>\u201d (148).<\/p>\n
Having established these two points, in the rest of the three parts of the chapter Josh seeks to address the question of connection: what was Paul\u2019s warrant (historical-religiously) for the move from asserting Jesus\u2019 kingship, on the one hand, to speaking of Christians actually participating in it on the other? While one answer to the question is in the negative: there isn\u2019t one; Paul is completely innovative. A more historically reasonable position is to assume some historical-religious context for the move, of which Paul would then creatively apply to his Gentile churches. The latter is what Josh believes and he seeks, rightly in my view, to establish in the chapter.<\/p>\n
Josh clearly states his argument:<\/p>\n
In what follows I argue that the primary root for understanding Paul\u2019s participatory discourse is the notion of Israel\u2019s King as simultaneously both the son of God who shares God\u2019s throne, participates in divine kingship, and shares God\u2019s \u03c0\u03bd\u03b5\u03cd\u03bc\u03b1, and<\/em> the embodied representative of his people who enables the people to share in the rule of the divine King. This provides the grammar and logic for Paul\u2019s ability to conceptualize his church\u2019s participation in the Royal narrative and identity of Christ . . . Paul charts for Jesus a clear and recognizable identity and narrative as Israel\u2019s royal Messiah, then he maps this royal trajectory onto the Messiah\u2019s people (149-50).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
In the two major remaining parts of the chapter, Josh studies Israel\u2019s kingship ideology that emerged out of the Davidic promise tradition (1 Sam. 7; 1 Chron. 17; LXX Psa. 2, 88, 109) and developed through the second temple period in some circles (e.g., Pss. Sol.<\/em> Qumran, 1 Enoch). This ideology asserted something in two directions. First, the king shares God\u2019s divine kinship; second, the king represents the people over which he rules. The latter is more specific. The people\u2019s pattern of life was determined by the king; more specific still, the covenant faithfulness of the people (or lack there of) was determined by the king\u2019s. In Josh\u2019s words, \u201cThrough David and his dynasty, the promise of Abraham that he will have a \u2018great name,\u2019 that through him all nations will be blessed, and that Israel will have peace from their enemies in the land, will come to fruition. As the elected bearer of God\u2019s promises, the health and success of the entire nation \u00a0[now \u2013 since the Davidic promise]] is wrapped up with the life and destiny of their Davidic king\u201d (161). Josh sums up the significance of the ideology this way:<\/p>\n
The Davidic King is uniquely positioned as one who simultaneously participates in divine kingship as God\u2019s elected firstborn son whose rule is an earthly manifestation and extension of God\u2019s royal rule and<\/em> as Israel\u2019s royal representative who is tasked with bestowing God\u2019s righteous and peaceful rule over God\u2019s people. This royal identity allows the king to mediate God\u2019s presence, rule, and benefits to God\u2019s people. Through the faithful and righteous King, the people are able to receive the glorious inheritance of the land, peace and prosperity, protection from their enemies, and divine so ship and an encounter with God\u2019s presence. In short, Israel\u2019s king mediates and manifests the kingdom of God (165).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
In the second major part of the chapter, Josh addresses Paul\u2019s letter to the Romans where he attempts to demonstrate that Paul\u2019s participation theme is rooted in this described kingship ideology. There is a final short part (fourth part) in which Josh provides brief discussions of passages in Ephesians and 1 Corinthians that corroborates his conclusions in Romans.<\/p>\n
This has been my favorite chapter thus far and represents a significant contribution both in its convincing argument for the significance of Davidic Messianism for Paul\u2019s theologizing generally and for\u00a0the meaning of Paul\u2019s participatory theology particularly; and while the argument that the origin\u00a0of \u201cin Christ\u201d is to be found in Jesus\u2019 Messianic identity is not new, Josh\u2019s discussion in this chapter\u00a0represents the most detailed, rigorous and convincing presentation of argument to date. I can imagine Tom Wright\u2019s smile after reading this chapter!<\/p>\n
In the next post, I\u2019ll offer six critical observations and questions about the chapter.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In this fourth installment of the series of posts engaging with Josh Jipp\u2019s recent book Christ Is King: Paul\u2019s Royal Ideology, we consider Josh\u2019s fourth chapter \u201cKing and Kingdom: Sharing in the Rule of Christ the King\u201d where he relates ancient kingship ideology to the perennially difficult and elusive topic of participation in Christ. In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":195,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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