This article provides new perspectives on navigating complex social identity in the letter to
Philemon by means of the heuristic use of social identity complexity theory (SICT) in
combination with socio-rhetorical analysis (SRA). The application of SICT as a heuristic tool in
New Testament (NT) studies is relatively new, but it is positioned within the novel research
being carried out on social identity theory in the NT.
CONTRIBUTION : This article wants to make a new contribution by illustrating how SICT can help
us to think in more nuanced ways about nested identity(s) in Philemon.
Description:
Ilse Swart is participating in
the research project ‘Mission
and Ethics’ directed by Prof.
Dr Jacobus Kok, Department
of New Testament and
Related Literature, Faculty of
Theology and Religion,
University of Pretoria
This paper flows forth from Ilse Swart’s unpublished Masters
thesis at ETF Leuven under supervision of Prof. J. Kok.
