The “inner man” – Fundamental Concept of Pauline Anthropology?
Abstract
The reader of the Pauline Epistles encounters the metaphor of the “inner man” for the first time in 2 Cor 4:16. Inconspicuous at first glance, this metaphor reveals not only a wide reception history within Christian thought and tradition but also a conceptual depth which brings us close to the origins of our thought on human personality and subjectivity. In this article, I want thus to elaborate on the concept of the “inner man” in Paul. Tracing its origins in Plato, I want to show how this metaphor must be understood on a conceptual level using metaphors as archaeological tools that help to discover concepts that might get lost when only interpreted as linguistic ornaments. Claiming that Plato explicitly expresses the human »self« as a continuous agent in front of changing phenomena of the human soul with his concept of the “inner man,” I will then turn to Paul. Even though it is impossible to trace the exact origins of this metaphor in the writings of the Apostle, it is my thesis that it can be found in 2 Cor 4:16 in substance. Paul thus uses the metaphor of the “inner man” to express the newly redeemed and yet justified Christian »self« that is confronted with opposition and contradiction that waste away the outer man. The exact Greek wording of this metaphor allows to identify the pictorial level of this metaphor in Paul with the temple in Jerusalem. As I will show, Paul thus integrates two anthropological lines that he derives from the creational accounts in the “inner man,” showing interesting parallels to Philo of Alexandria. With the metaphor of the “inner man,” the reader of 2 Cor 4:16 therefore encounters a or even the fundamental concept of Pauline Anthropology.
Keywords:
Paul, Pauline anthropology, selfhood, inner man, subjectivityReferences
Annas, J., An introduction to Plato’s Republic (Oxford: Clarendon Press 1981).
Assmann, J., Die Erfindung des inneren Menschen. Studien zur religiösen Anthropologie (Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verl.-Haus Mohn 1993).
Betz, H.D., “The Concept of the ‘Inner Human Being’ (ho esō anthrōpos) in the Anthropology of Paul,” New Testament Studies 46/3 (2000) 315–341. (Crossref)
Blumenberg, H., Paradigmen zu einer Metaphorologie, 2 ed. (Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp 1999).
Claus, D.B., Towards the Soul. An Inquiry into the Meaning of psychē before Plato (New Haven, MI: Yale University Press 1981).
Clement of Alexandria, The Exhortation to the Greeks. The Rich Man’s Salvation. To the Newly Baptized (Loeb Classical Library 92; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1919). (Crossref)
Derville, A. – Solignac, A., “Homme Intérieur,” Dictionnaire de Spiritualité ascétique et mystique: doctrine et histoire (Paris: Beauchnesne 1969) VIII/1.
Duchrow, U., Christenheit und Weltverantwortung. Traditionsgeschichte und systematische Struktur der Zweireichelehre, 2 ed. (Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta 1983).
Gäckle, V., Allgemeines Priestertum. Zur Metaphorisierung des Priestertitels im Frühjudentum und Neuen Testament (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck 2014). (Crossref)
Haverkamp, A., Theorie der Metapher (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft 1983).
Hecht, S., Der innere Mensch. Begriff und Ursprung christlich-platonischer Subjektivität (Alber-Reihe Thesen 82; Freiburg: Alber 2021).
Heckel, T.K., Der innere Mensch. Die paulinische Verarbeitung eines platonischen Motivs (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2/53; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck 1993).
Jäger, G., “NUS” in Platons Dialogen (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 1967).
Janowski, B., Konfliktgespräche mit Gott. Eine Anthropologie der Psalmen, ed. 4 (Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlagsgesellschaft 2003).
Jewett, R., Paul’s Anthropological Terms. A Study of Their Use in Conflict Settings (Leiden: Brill 1971). (Crossref)
John Paul II, Love and Responsibility (San Francisco, CA: Ignatius Press 1993).
Kittay, E.F., Metaphor. Its Cognitive Force and Linguistic Structure (Oxford: Clarendon 1987).
Klein, H., Der zweite Korintherbrief (Hermannstadt: Honterus 2015).
Kobusch, T., Christliche Philosophie. Die Entdeckung der Subjektivität (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft 2006).
Kobusch, T., Selbstwerdung und Personalität Spätantike Philosophie und ihr Einfluß auf die Moderne (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck 2018).
Kruse, C.G., The Second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians. An Introduction and Commentary (Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press 1987).
Lakoff, G. – Johnson, M., Metaphors We Live By (Chicago, IL; London: University of Chicago Press 2003). (Crossref)
Leisegang, H., Der Heilige Geist. Das Wesen und Werden der mystisch-intuitiven Erkenntnis in der Philosophie und Religion der Griechen. Die vorchristlichen Anschauungen und Lehren vom Pneuma und der mystisch-intuitiven Erkenntnis (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft 1967).
Lightfoot, J. – Reginald, J. – Harmer, R., The Apostolic Fathers. Greek Texts and English Translations (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House 1982).
Löwith, K., “Die Sprache als Vermittler von Mensch und Welt,” Gesammelte Abhandlungen. Zur Kritik der geschichtlichen Existenz (ed. K. Löwith) (Stuttgart: Kohlhammer 1960) 208–227.
Lubac, H. de, Typologie-Allegorie-Geistiger Sinn. Studien zur Geschichte der christlichen Schriftauslegung (Freiburg: Johannes Verlag 1999).
Markschies, C., “Die platonische Metapher vom «inneren Menschen»: Eine Brücke zwischen antiker Philosophie und altchristlicher Theologie,” International Journal of the Classical Tradition 1/3 (1995) 3–18. (Crossref)
Markschies, C., “Innerer Mensch,” Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum. Sachwörterbuch zur Auseinandersetzung des Christentums mit der antiken Welt (Stuttgart: Hiersemann 1998) XVIII, 266–312.
Menn, S., Plato on God as nous (Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press 1995).
Niehoff, N., Philo of Alexandria. An Intellectual Biography (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press 2017). (Crossref)
Ortony, A. (ed.), Metaphor and Thought, ed. 2 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1993). (Crossref)
Pender, E., Images of Persons Unseen (International Plato Studies 11; Sankt Augustin: Academia 2000).
Philo, “On Dreams,” Philo in Ten Volumes (and two supplementary volumes) (Loeb Classical Library 275; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1934) V. (Crossref)
Philo, “On the Creation,” Philo in Ten Volumes (and two supplementary volumes) (Loeb Classical Library 226; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1981) I.
Plato, “Gorgias,” Plato in Twelve Volumes (Loeb Classical Library 166; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1967) III.
Plato, “Laws,” Plato in Twelve Volumes (Loeb Classical Library 187; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1967) X.
Plato, “Laws,” Plato in Twelve Volumes (Loeb Classical Library 192; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1968) XI.
Plato, “Meno,” Plato in Twelve Volumes (Loeb Classical Library 165; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1967) II.
Plato, “Phaedo,” Plato in Twelve Volumes (Loeb Classical Library 36; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1966) I.
Plato, “Philebus,” Plato in Twelve Volumes (Loeb Classical Library 164; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1925) VIII. (Crossref)
Plato, “Republic,” Plato in Twelve Volumes (Loeb Classical Library 237, 276; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1969) V–VI.
Plato, “Theaetetus,” Plato in Twelve Volumes (Loeb Classical Library 123; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1921) VII. (Crossref)
Plato, “Timaeus,” Plato in Twelve Volumes (Loeb Classical Library 234; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1925) IX.
Reitzenstein, R., Die Hellenistischen Mysterienreligionen. Nach ihren Grundgedanken und Wirkungen, 3 ed. (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft 1966).
Ricoeur, P., “Stellung und Funktion der Metapher in biblischer Sprache,” Zur Hermeneutik religiöser Sprache (eds. P. Ricoeur – E. Jüngel) (München: Kaiser 1974) 45–71. (Crossref)
Runia, D.T., “Philo of Alexandria and the Beginnings of Christian Thought,” Studia Philonica Annual 7 (1995) 143–160.
Schnell, R., “Wer sieht das Unsichtbare?,” Anima und sêle. Darstellungen und Systematisierungen von Seele im Mittelalter (ed. K.S. Philipowski) (Berlin: Schmidt 2006) 83–112.
Schnelle, U., Einleitung in das Neue Testament, ed. 9 (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 2017). (Crossref)
Schmeller, T., “Der zweite Korintherbrief,” Einleitung in das Neue Testament (eds. M. Ebner – S. Schreiber) (Stuttgart: Kohlhammer 2008) 326–346.
Snell, B., Die Entdeckung des Geistes. Studien zur Entstehung des europäischen Denkens bei den Griechen, ed. 4 (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 1975).
Tertullian, “A Treatise On the Soul,” Ante-Nicene Fathers (Buffalo, NY: The Christian Literature Publishing 1887) III, 181–235.
Van Kooten, G., Paul’s Anthropology in Context. The Image of God, Assimilation to God, and Tripartite Man in Ancient Judaism, Ancient Philosophy and Early Christianity (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck 2008).
Van Kooten, G., “The Anthropological Trichotomy of Spirit, Soul and Body in Philo of Alexandria and Paul of Tarsus,” Anthropology in the New Testament and Its Ancient Context. Papers from the EABS-meeting in Piliscsaba/Budapest (Leuven: Peeters 2010) 87–119.
Windisch, H., Der zweite Korintherbrief, 9 ed. (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 1924).
Wolff, K., “Martin Luthers »innerer Mensch«,” Lutherjahrbuch 75 (2008) 31–66.
Zarnow, C., Identität und Religion. Philosophische, soziologische, religionspsychologische und theologische Dimensionen des Identitätsbegriffs (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck 2010).
Fordham University London Centre https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1311-3616
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
- Pursuant to the Act on Copyright and Related Rights of February 4, 1994, the Author of the publication grants to the Publisher of the journal „The Biblical Annals” e a non-exclusive and royalty-free license to use the Work submitted for publication, without time and territorial restrictions in the following fields of use:
a) record the Work and copy it by means of any technique (including printing and electronic recording) on all known data carriers (including IT, electronic and polygraphic), and in all IT systems (in particular those available online);
b) enter the Work into computer memory, disseminate the Work and its copies, as well as market the Work and its copies;
c) publicly perform, replay, display and screen the Work, as well as lend, rent and lease the Work and its copies;
d) make available, market and disseminate the Work and its copies via IT networks, and in particular via the Internet, including the promotion or advertising of the Work, the journal or the Publisher. - The Author shall further grant his/her consent for the Publisher to use and dispose of derivative works.
- The Publisher may sublicense the work.
- Third parties may use the articles and other materials containing the Works, or developed on the basis of the Works in line with the model Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (also referred to as CC BY 4.0).
