Ehre und Unehre

The question of whether Jas 2:1-6 is colored by pagan social reality of the early empire has been the subject of quite some discussion in recent scholarship. In this article I take up the thesis of the historian Elke Hartmann which holds that in social spaces of the early Principate there was a close connection between certain aspects of self-staging performed through external signs (clothing, formal and informal status symbols) and the process of social hierarchy formation. Early imperial prose literature and satirical poetry, such as Martial's epigrams, documents this social reality in settings like the banquet and the theater and reflects on the topics of honor and dishonor, distinction and degradation. Against this backdrop, Jas 2:1-6 evaluates these topics and social practices in a Christocentric way and with reference to Jewish tradition (Septuagint, Aristeas), thus turning them into a negative foil for the social unity and equality in Christian assemblies.