Codex and Contest
What an Early Christian Manuscript Reveals about Social Identity Formation Amid Persecution and Competing Christianities
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3308281 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Nycholas Lawrence David Oliveira (0009-0001-1241-138X, University of Pretoria, corresponding author), Jin Kuan Kok (0000-0002-1538-3089, Evangelical Theological Faculty) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 44 |
| Publication date | 2023-12-27 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religions (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/rel15010044 |
| OpenAlex | W4390272701 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 28 |
Recent scholarship on the Bodmer Miscellaneous Codex (BMC) has analysed various features of the manuscript, mostly attempting to answer questions like "Why was this codex created?" and "What purpose did it serve?" Some have given more specific answers, while others believe the document to be largely enigmatic. To further the academy's understanding of this ancient codex, this paper will examine the BMC, which comprises 11 different writings, for evidence of early Christian social identity formation. More specifically, it will heuristically apply Social Identity Theory (SIT) and Social Identity Complexity Theory (SICT) to reflect on identity and boundary construction in the BMC. It will be argued that various features of this ancient codex reveal a process of social identity formation, specifically an emerging orthodox Christian identity that is seeking positive distinctiveness and striving to reinforce the boundaries between an ingroup and various other outgroups. Furthermore, it is argued that the evidence of these features, in the context of persecution and competing Christianities, denotes a lower level of social identity complexity
Aesthetics · Archaeology · CONTEST · Epistemology · Identity formation · Ingroups and outgroups · Optimal distinctiveness theory · Persecution · Political science · Scholarship · Self-concept · Social group · Social identity approach · Social identity theory · Sociology · Theology · History · Law · Philosophy · Psychology · Religion and Society Interactions · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology · Social Psychology · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence
The Early Christian World
The Origins of Early Christian Literature
Guardians Of Letters
Poems in Context
Scribal Habits in Early Greek New Testament Papyri
Social Identity Complexity
Papyrus 72 and the Bodmer Miscellaneous Codex
The Concept of “Community” and the History of Early Christianity
Social categorization and intergroup behaviour
Social categorization and similarity in intergroup behaviour
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,5 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2024 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |