Quote 3
For
in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many
of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with
Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave
or free, there is no longer male or female; for all of you are one
in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:26–28)
The meaning of this passage, written
by Paul in a letter to the church at Galatians, is still very much
at the center of controversy among biblical scholars today. Some
scholars contend that Paul’s notion of equality here speaks of a
spiritual or transcendental equality rather than a social equality.
This interpretation diminishes the social implications of the texts.
Others claim that Paul has in mind social or ecclesiastical equality
with serious political implications. Biblical scholar Elisabeth
Schüssler Fiorenza argues that among Christ’s followers, status
differences are no longer valid. Statements such as Paul’s reflect
an equality that many scholars claim was present in the vision and
practice of the earliest Christian missionary movement. Currently,
many feminist and other biblical scholars are reconstructing the
early Christian community to find important traces of social egalitarianism.
Many point to this passage as one of the most important indicators
of the egalitarian ideals of the early Christian community.
