Entering God’s Kingdom (Not) Like A Little Child : : Images of the Child in Matthew, 1 Corinthians, and Thomas / / Eunyung Lim.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter DG Ebook Package English 2021
• VerfasserIn: Lim, Eunyung,
• Place / Publishing House: Berlin ;, Boston : : De Gruyter, , [2021]; ©2021
• Year of Publication: 2021
• Language: English
• Series: Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft , 243
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (XIV, 172 p.)
• Other title: Frontmatter --; Abstract --; Acknowledgments --; Contents --; Abbreviations --; Chapter 1 Introduction --; Chapter 2 Entering the Kingdom of Heaven Not Like the Sons of Earthly Kings: The Gospel of Matthew --; Chapter 3 Infants in Christ, Not Children of God’s Kingdom: 1 Corinthians --; Chapter 4 Entering the Kingdom as a Baby: The Gospel of Thomas --; Chapter 5 Conclusion --; Bibliography --; General Index --; Index of Biblical and Early Christian References --; Index of Other Ancient Sources
• Format: Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
• ISBN: 9783110695076; 9783110750720; 9783110750706; 9783110754001; 9783110753776; 9783110754193; 9783110753974
• ISSN: 0171-6441
• DOI: 10.1515/9783110695076
• Access: restricted access
• Hierarchical level: Monograph
• Statement of Responsibility: Eunyung Lim.

What does it mean to be “like a child” in antiquity? How did early Christ-followers use a childlike condition to articulate concrete qualifications for God’s kingdom? Many people today romanticize Jesus’s welcoming of little children against the backdrop of the ancient world or project modern Christian conceptions of children onto biblical texts. Eschewing such a Christian exceptionalist approach to history, this book explores how the Gospel of Matthew, 1 Corinthians, and the Gospel of Thomas each associate childlikeness with God’s kingdom within their socio-cultural milieus. The book investigates these three texts vis-à-vis philosophical, historical, and archaeological materials concerning ancient children and childhood, revealing that early Christ-followers deployed various aspects of children to envision ideal human qualities or bodily forms. Calling the modern reader’s attention to children’s intellectual incapability, asexuality, and socio-political utility in ancient intellectual thought and everyday practices, the book sheds new light on the rich and diverse theological visions that early Christ-followers pursued by means of images of children.