This hermeneutical case-study illustrates the complexities of using biblical materials to shed light upon present-day concerns. The specific situation addressed is the recent evangelical controversy regarding gender roles. A significant strand of this debate concerns the relationship between gender and the doctrine of God. This proposition is derived from 1 Corinthians 11. Whilst aspects of this argument are criticized, Lakey also argues that questions of God and gender are related. 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 articulates sexual difference using the metaphysical language of antiquity, thereby situating the sexes vis-à-vis each other as microcosms of God and Christ vis-à-vis the cosmos. For Paul, the Church circumscribes that part of the cosmos able to express its creaturely relationship to God.However, modern interpreters arguably cannot share Paul''s cosmological and anthropological assumptions. Lakey points us towards forging a solution for how to interpret as Christian Scripture a text that invites its readers to assume a stance that is now problematic for many modern Christians.

Michael Lakey explores the theological significance of the rituals of Baptism and the Lord's Supper in Pauline theology, with the argument culminating in an analysis of the significance of ritual dining in 1 Corinthians 10:14-22 and the Lord’s Supper in 1 Corinthians 11:17-34. By contrast with ‘social world’ forms of comparison between rituals in the Pauline communities and other communities in antiquity, this study focuses primarily upon the theologically integrating function these rituals perform in relation to Paul's theology and ethics.Lakey builds upon Clifford Geertz's systemic understanding of religion by showing how, for Paul, Baptism and the Lord's Supper facilitate specific connections between his metaphysics on the one hand, and the form or pattern of life he enjoins upon his churches on the other. This volume considers precisely what - given his theological and ethical premises - Paul's underlying beliefs regarding these ritual events may have been, allowing for a preliminary discussion of specific lines of post-interpretation in the early patristic period.

This hermeneutical case-study illustrates the complexities of using biblical materials to shed light upon present-day concerns. The specific situation addressed is the recent evangelical controversy regarding gender roles. A significant strand of this debate concerns the relationship between gender and the doctrine of God. This proposition is derived from 1 Corinthians 11. Whilst aspects of this argument are criticized, Lakey also argues that questions of God and gender are related. 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 articulates sexual difference using the metaphysical language of antiquity, thereby situating the sexes vis-à-vis each other as microcosms of God and Christ vis-à-vis the cosmos. For Paul, the Church circumscribes that part of the cosmos able to express its creaturely relationship to God.However, modern interpreters arguably cannot share Paul's cosmological and anthropological assumptions. Lakey points us towards forging a solution for how to interpret as Christian Scripture a text that invites its readers to assume a stance that is now problematic for many modern Christians.

Michael Lakey explores the theological significance of the rituals of Baptism and the Lord''s Supper in Pauline theology, with the argument culminating in an analysis of the significance of ritual dining in 1 Corinthians 10:14-22 and the Lord''s Supper in 1 Corinthians 11:17-34. By contrast with ''social world'' forms of comparison between rituals in the Pauline communities and other communities in antiquity, this study focuses primarily upon the theologically integrating function these rituals perform in relation to Paul''s theology and ethics.Lakey builds upon Clifford Geertz''s systemic understanding of religion by showing how, for Paul, Baptism and the Lord''s Supper facilitate specific connections between his metaphysics on the one hand, and the form or pattern of life he enjoins upon his churches on the other. This volume considers precisely what - given his theological and ethical premises - Paul''s underlying beliefs regarding these ritual events may have been, allowing for a preliminary discussion of specific lines of post-interpretation in the early patristic period.

Michael Lakey explores the theological significance of the rituals of Baptism and the Lord''s Supper in Pauline theology, with the argument culminating in an analysis of the significance of ritual dining in 1 Corinthians 10:14-22 and the Lord''s Supper in 1 Corinthians 11:17-34. By contrast with ''social world'' forms of comparison between rituals in the Pauline communities and other communities in antiquity, this study focuses primarily upon the theologically integrating function these rituals perform in relation to Paul''s theology and ethics.Lakey builds upon Clifford Geertz''s systemic understanding of religion by showing how, for Paul, Baptism and the Lord''s Supper facilitate specific connections between his metaphysics on the one hand, and the form or pattern of life he enjoins upon his churches on the other. This volume considers precisely what - given his theological and ethical premises - Paul''s underlying beliefs regarding these ritual events may have been, allowing for a preliminary discussion of specific lines of post-interpretation in the early patristic period.

This hermeneutical case-study illustrates the complexities of using biblical materials to shed light upon present-day concerns. The specific situation addressed is the recent evangelical controversy regarding gender roles. A significant strand of this debate concerns the relationship between gender and the doctrine of God. This proposition is derived from 1 Corinthians 11. Whilst aspects of this argument are criticized, Lakey also argues that questions of God and gender are related. 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 articulates sexual difference using the metaphysical language of antiquity, thereby situating the sexes vis-à-vis each other as microcosms of God and Christ vis-à-vis the cosmos. For Paul, the Church circumscribes that part of the cosmos able to express its creaturely relationship to God.However, modern interpreters arguably cannot share Paul's cosmological and anthropological assumptions. Lakey points us towards forging a solution for how to interpret as Christian Scripture a text that invites its readers to assume a stance that is now problematic for many modern Christians.

This hermeneutical case-study illustrates the complexities of using biblical materials to shed light upon present-day concerns. The specific situation addressed is the recent evangelical controversy regarding gender roles. A significant strand of this debate concerns the relationship between gender and the doctrine of God. This proposition is derived from 1 Corinthians 11. Whilst aspects of this argument are criticized, Lakey also argues that questions of God and gender are related. 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 articulates sexual difference using the metaphysical language of antiquity, thereby situating the sexes vis-à-vis each other as microcosms of God and Christ vis-à-vis the cosmos. For Paul, the Church circumscribes that part of the cosmos able to express its creaturely relationship to God.However, modern interpreters arguably cannot share Paul''s cosmological and anthropological assumptions. Lakey points us towards forging a solution for how to interpret as Christian Scripture a text that invites its readers to assume a stance that is now problematic for many modern Christians.

Michael Lakey explores the theological significance of the rituals of Baptism and the Lord's Supper in Pauline theology, with the argument culminating in an analysis of the significance of ritual dining in 1 Corinthians 10:14-22 and the Lord’s Supper in 1 Corinthians 11:17-34. By contrast with ‘social world’ forms of comparison between rituals in the Pauline communities and other communities in antiquity, this study focuses primarily upon the theologically integrating function these rituals perform in relation to Paul's theology and ethics.Lakey builds upon Clifford Geertz's systemic understanding of religion by showing how, for Paul, Baptism and the Lord's Supper facilitate specific connections between his metaphysics on the one hand, and the form or pattern of life he enjoins upon his churches on the other. This volume considers precisely what - given his theological and ethical premises - Paul's underlying beliefs regarding these ritual events may have been, allowing for a preliminary discussion of specific lines of post-interpretation in the early patristic period.

This hermeneutical case-study illustrates the complexities of using biblical materials to shed light upon present-day concerns. The specific situation addressed is the recent evangelical controversy regarding gender roles. A significant strand of this debate concerns the relationship between gender and the doctrine of God. This proposition is derived from 1 Corinthians 11. Whilst aspects of this argument are criticized, Lakey also argues that questions of God and gender are related. 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 articulates sexual difference using the metaphysical language of antiquity, thereby situating the sexes vis-à-vis each other as microcosms of God and Christ vis-à-vis the cosmos. For Paul, the Church circumscribes that part of the cosmos able to express its creaturely relationship to God.However, modern interpreters arguably cannot share Paul's cosmological and anthropological assumptions. Lakey points us towards forging a solution for how to interpret as Christian Scripture a text that invites its readers to assume a stance that is now problematic for many modern Christians.

Michael Lakey explores the theological significance of the rituals of Baptism and the Lord''s Supper in Pauline theology, with the argument culminating in an analysis of the significance of ritual dining in 1 Corinthians 10:14-22 and the Lord''s Supper in 1 Corinthians 11:17-34. By contrast with ''social world'' forms of comparison between rituals in the Pauline communities and other communities in antiquity, this study focuses primarily upon the theologically integrating function these rituals perform in relation to Paul''s theology and ethics.Lakey builds upon Clifford Geertz''s systemic understanding of religion by showing how, for Paul, Baptism and the Lord''s Supper facilitate specific connections between his metaphysics on the one hand, and the form or pattern of life he enjoins upon his churches on the other. This volume considers precisely what - given his theological and ethical premises - Paul''s underlying beliefs regarding these ritual events may have been, allowing for a preliminary discussion of specific lines of post-interpretation in the early patristic period.

Michael Lakey explores the theological significance of the rituals of Baptism and the Lord''s Supper in Pauline theology, with the argument culminating in an analysis of the significance of ritual dining in 1 Corinthians 10:14-22 and the Lord''s Supper in 1 Corinthians 11:17-34. By contrast with ''social world'' forms of comparison between rituals in the Pauline communities and other communities in antiquity, this study focuses primarily upon the theologically integrating function these rituals perform in relation to Paul''s theology and ethics.Lakey builds upon Clifford Geertz''s systemic understanding of religion by showing how, for Paul, Baptism and the Lord''s Supper facilitate specific connections between his metaphysics on the one hand, and the form or pattern of life he enjoins upon his churches on the other. This volume considers precisely what - given his theological and ethical premises - Paul''s underlying beliefs regarding these ritual events may have been, allowing for a preliminary discussion of specific lines of post-interpretation in the early patristic period.

This hermeneutical case-study illustrates the complexities of using biblical materials to shed light upon present-day concerns. The specific situation addressed is the recent evangelical controversy regarding gender roles. A significant strand of this debate concerns the relationship between gender and the doctrine of God. This proposition is derived from 1 Corinthians 11. Whilst aspects of this argument are criticized, Lakey also argues that questions of God and gender are related. 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 articulates sexual difference using the metaphysical language of antiquity, thereby situating the sexes vis-à-vis each other as microcosms of God and Christ vis-à-vis the cosmos. For Paul, the Church circumscribes that part of the cosmos able to express its creaturely relationship to God.However, modern interpreters arguably cannot share Paul's cosmological and anthropological assumptions. Lakey points us towards forging a solution for how to interpret as Christian Scripture a text that invites its readers to assume a stance that is now problematic for many modern Christians.