Religious communities today act as both significant resources, as well as potential threats to cooperation in diversity. The purpose of the project was to investigate the first-century writer Paul’s view of collective (ethnic, cultural and religious) identity, and to consider the interpretation and translation of the Greek term σάρξ (sarx) in relation to this issue.
Rhetorical and linguistic analyses of Paul’s letter to the Galatians showed that not only did he affirm an increased level of diversity in important aspects of the community he encountered, but that he also explicitly refuted any replacement or successionist paradigms in the relation between Jews and Galatians while providing sophisticated arguments against calls for assimilation while. The term σάρξ was interpreted in the project as a monosemous term with a relatively uncomplicated semantic structure, namely as meaning collective group and/or collective identity. This meaning has been tested in other texts elsewhere but until now was never tested as a consistent semantic structure across the uses of the term in Galatians. The result of the analyses was affirmative. A high risk/high gain component of the project, this result has far-reaching consequences for the interpretation of the term and with it, the understanding of Paul’s argumentation with regard to the construct of collective identity in this letter. Paul addressed the collective group’s desire for conformity and affirmed that they must not succumb to such pressure —the desire of the σάρξ.
The objectives of the action included mapping the occurrences of σάρξ in Paul, and analyzing them in their literary context. The second objective was to compare these uses of σάρξ with uses of the term in relevant contemporary literature, an objective to be further explored. Third, social systems theory (Bowen) was adopted as an interpretive lens. As research into social systems consistently has shown, social systems with a high level of differentiation are more resilient than systems with lower levels. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul seeks to defend an increased level of differentiation (i.e. the extent of individual variation supported by the system). The fourth objective was to consider options for translation of relevant passages in Paul’s letters into a sample of target languages.
Together, a more monosemous interpretation of the term σάρξ, a rhetorical analysis of Galatians that renders a more coherent understanding of the letter. Social systems theory provides the conceptual tools to see dimensions of the text that might have gone unnoticed if one did not employ this lens. In times of hardships and stress, most social systems go through a phase of trying to decrease the level of differentiation but relevant knowledge could motivate subgroups and individuals to choose ways that instead would promote the resilience in the system, namely, to resist the desire for conformity. The result of the project has significant implications for any minority that is compelled to assimilate and under-function, and for the resilience in the larger system. The results move the state of the art beyond its previous state, and the implications are relevant for those who seeks to understand and act in favor of the resilience in any particular social system.
