Solidarity and Difference

A Contemporary Reading of Paul's Ethics

David G. Horrell

• Publisher: T&T Clark
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9780567662828
• eBook ISBN: 9780567662842
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Studies

David G. Horrell presents a study of Pauline ethics, examining how Paul's moral discourse envisages and constructs communities in which there is a strong sense of solidarity but also legitimate difference in various aspects of ethical practice. Horrell reads New Testament texts with an explicit awareness of contemporary ethical theory, and assesses Paul's contribution as a moral thinker in the context of modern debate.


Using a framework indebted to the social sciences, as well as to contemporary ethical theory, Horrell examines the construction of community in Paul's letters, the notions of purity, boundaries and identity, Paul's attempts to deal with diversity in his churches, the role of imitating Christ in Paul's ethics, and the ethic Paul develops for interaction with 'outsiders'. Finally, the pattern of Paul's moral thinking is considered in relation to the liberal-communitarian debate, with explicit consideration given to the central moral norms of Pauline thought, and the prospects for, and problems with, appropriating these in the contemporary world. This Cornerstones edition includes an extended reflective introduction and a substantial foreword from N.T. Wright.

Table of contents

• Other Titles in the Cornerstones Series
• Dedication
• Title
• Contents 
• Foreword
• Preface to the Cornerstones Edition
• Solidarity and Difference Ten Years On
• Preface
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
• 1 Approaches to Pauline Ethics: From Bultmann to Boyarin
• 2 Liberals and Communitarians: Contrasting Approaches in Contemporary Ethical Theory
• 3 Reading Paul: Myth, Ritual, Identity and Ethics
• 4 The Construction of Community: Corporate Solidarity in Christ
• 5 Purity, Boundaries and Identity: The Rhetoric of Distinction
• 6 Solidarity, Difference and Other-Regard: The Strong and the Weak (1 Cor 8–10, Rom 14–15)
• 7 Other-Regard and Christ as Moral Paradigm
• 8 Ethics and Outsiders
• 9 Solidarity and Difference: Paul among Liberals and Communitarians
• Bibliography
• Indexes
• Index of Ancient References
• Copyright