Paul's Fictive Kinship Movement

Abstract

This examination of Paul's kinship terminology focuses on Paul's perception of Jesus as Son and of those baptized into his death, thereby sharing in the fruits of his resurrection as adopted sons of God. In the fictive kinship model of God's bonds with those "in Christ," Paul eschews the notion of a kind of political messiahship that the Gospel accounts perceive for Jesus. Moreover, Paul opens his fictive family to gentiles in a way not so promoted in the Gospels. Thus, Paul's model of Jesus, based on rebirth as Son, carries with it a complex of implications that issue in the renewal of a more traditional kinship system for an extended family of Abraham. Adding gentiles to this kinship group creates in effect a movement, many of whose components continue even today.