Alternative Salvations by Bacon Hannah

Author:Bacon, Hannah
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury UK

Martyrdom and Salvation in Early Christianity

In one of the earliest creedal statements preserved in the New Testament, St Paul writes:

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins (ὑπὲρ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν) in accordance with the scriptures. (1 Cor. 15:3)

For Paul, as for all New Testament authors, the death of Jesus was a decisive salvific event through which the sins of believers could be forgiven. While there is some variation in the New Testament over the precise mechanics of atonement (e.g. Hengel 1981; Frey and Schröter 2005) the authors generally assent to Luke’s affirmation that there is ‘no other name under heaven by which people can be saved’ (Acts 4:22), and that the shedding of Jesus’ blood is the significant factor in effecting salvation. So for John, ‘The blood of Jesus … cleanses us from all sin’ (1 Jn 1:7), while the author to the Hebrews insists the singular nature of Christ’s atoning sacrifice: Jesus is

a high priest, holy, blameless, unstained, separated from sinners, exalted above the Heavens [who] has no need … to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people; he did this once for all when he offered up himself. (Heb. 7:26-27; cf. 9–10)

However, some early Christian texts trouble both the singularity and sufficiency of Christ’s suffering and death.

In Colossians, both appear to be challenged, as Paul’s suffering seems to contribute to the as yet incomplete work of salvation:

Now I rejoice in my sufferings (ἐν τοῖς παθήμασιν) for your sake (ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν), and in my flesh I compete what is lacking (τὰ ὑστερήματα) in Christ’s afflictions (θλίψεων τοῦ Χριστοῦ) for the sake of his body (ὑπὲρ τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ), that is, the Church. (Col. 1:24)

Whether or not the letter is by the hand of the apostle, Paul is presented as in some way making up for a perceived shortfall in Christ’s suffering. Arthur Droge goes so far as to suggest Paul is here presented as ‘a second Christ’ (1988: 263).

A similar idea is found in 2 Corinthians 1:5-7, where Paul and his fellow-workers ‘share abundantly in Christ’s suffering’ (τὰ παθήματα τοῦ Χριστοῦ), which is for the church’s ‘comfort (παράκλησις) and salvation (σωτηρία)’. In 2 Corinthians, Paul also envisages that members of the church will share in the suffering of the apostles (1:7; see Lim 2009). Paul usually presents himself as an imitator of Christ, and urges his churches to imitate him in turn (1 Thess. 1:6; 1 Cor. 11:1; 2 Cor. 1:6; Gal. 4:12; cf. 2 Thess. 3:7, 9). Moreover, Paul can even speak of himself being poured out as a sacrificial libation for the faith of his churches (Phil. 2:17; cf. 2 Tim. 4:6-7). As such, Paul’s suffering is ‘for’ the church, and so even if the presence of any expiatory significance in Colossians 1:24 is contested, it is clear that Paul’s suffering performs a vicarious service.

However, Paul is not alone in this blurring of the distinction between Christ’s suffering and that of the early Christians.

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