The significance of clothing imagery in the Pauline corpus

Kim, Jung Hoon (1998) The significance of clothing imagery in the Pauline corpus. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

This thesis concentrates on clarifying the significance of the clothing imagery in the
Pauline corpus. This imagery occurs in six Pauline epistles (clothing with Christ in Gal
3:27 & Rom 13:14; clothing with the new man in Col 3:9-10 & Eph 4:22-24; and clothing
with the resurrection body in 1 Cor 15:49, 50-54 & 2 Cor 5:1-4). The imagery constitutes a
significant aspect of Pauline theology.
For the background to the Pauline clothing-metaphor, Part I looks into clothing
imagery in the OT, 1 & 2 Enoch, Apocalypse of Moses, Philo, rabbinic literature, Joseph
and Aseneth, The Hymn of the Pearl, Apuleius' Metamorphoses, the Roman custom of
clothing, and the baptismal praxis of the ancient church. In the Old Testament, significant
background is found in the concept of God's clothing Adam and Eve with garments of
skins in Gen 3 :21, in various rituals of the priest being clothed with priestly garments (Ex
29:4-9; Lev 16:3-4, 10-11, 23-24; Ezek 42:13-14; 44:19; cf. Zech 3:3-5), in traditions
about God's Spirit's clothing himself with a specific human being (Jdg 6:34; 1 Ch 12:18; 2
Ch 24:20), and the analogy between an eschatological transformation of the cosmos and a
change of clothing (Ps 102:26). Later Jewish literature adds other emphases: the analogy
between the resurrection transfiguration and the replacement of an earthly garment with a
heavenly one (1 Enoch 65:15-16; 2 Enoch 22:8-10), the concept of Adam and Eve's prefall
clothing (ApoM 20-21), Philo's notions of the people being clothed with either virtue or
vice and of the high priest's becoming superior to others when dressed in sacred priestly
garments, the idea of Adam's being clothed with splendour before the Fall in rabbinic
writings, and symbolic scenes of Aseneth's attire in Joseph and Aseneth. Also important
are the prince's change of garments in The Hymn of the Pearl, various scenes of Lucius'
symbolic attire in his initiation to Isis in Metamorphoses, the Roman custom of
exchanging the toga praetexta with the toga virilis, and the practice of putting off and
putting on clothes at baptism in the earliest church.
Bearing in mind the result of a study of these background documents, Part 2
undertakes an examination of the Pauline clothing metaphor. In the clothing-with-a-person
passages (Gal 3:27; Rom 13:14; Col 3:9-10; Eph 4:22-24), baptismal themes and the
Adam-Christ typology predominate, while in the clothing-with-the-resurrection passages
(1 Cor 15:49, 50-54; 2 Cor 5:1-4), the Adam-Christ contrast is presupposed. The former
passages describe a radical change in a believer's nature at baptism, when he/she is united
with Christ as the second Adam, while the latter passages depict the eschatological change
in the believer's mode of existence at the parousia. In brief, the Pauline clothing-metaphor
suggests that the life and glory in the image of God lost in Adam has been restored in
baptism in Christ, and will be consummated at the parousia.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BL Religion; B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BS The Bible
• Colleges/Schools: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Critical Studies > Theology and Religious Studies
• Supervisor's Name: Marcus, Dr. Joel
• Date of Award: 1998
• Depositing User: Ms Dawn Pike
• Unique ID: glathesis:1998-4871
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 23 Jan 2014 12:41
• Last Modified: 23 Jan 2014 12:41
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/4871