New Testament military metaphors

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New Testament military metaphors refer particularly to the legionaries of the 1st century Imperial Roman army. Wells 0706 054.jpg
New Testament military metaphors refer particularly to the legionaries of the 1st century Imperial Roman army.

The New Testament uses a number of military metaphors in discussing Christianity, especially in the Pauline epistles.

In Philippians 2:25 [1] and Philemon 1:2, [2] Paul describes fellow Christians as "fellow soldiers" (in Greek, συστρατιώτῃ, sustratiōtē). [3] The image of a soldier is also used in 2 Timothy 2:3–4 [4] as a metaphor for courage, loyalty and dedication; [5] this is followed by the metaphor of an athlete, emphasising hard work. In 1 Corinthians 9:7, [6] this image is used in a discussion of church workers receiving payment, with a metaphorical reference to a soldier's rations and expenses. [7]

Ephesians 6:10–18 [8] discusses faith, righteousness, and other elements of Christianity as the armour of God, and this imagery is replicated by John Bunyan in The Pilgrim's Progress , [9] and by many other Christian writers.

Related imagery appears in hymns such as "Soldiers of Christ, Arise" and "Onward, Christian Soldiers". [10]

See also

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References

  1. Philippians 2:25, NIV (BibleGateway).
  2. Philemon 1:2, NIV (BibleGateway).
  3. Peter Thomas O'Brien, The Epistle to the Philippians: A commentary on the Greek text , Eerdmans, 1991, ISBN   0-85364-531-0, pp. 330–331.
  4. 2 Timothy 2:3–4, NIV (BibleGateway): "Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer."
  5. John Norman Davidson Kelly, A Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles: I Timothy, II Timothy, Titus , Part 1, Continuum International Publishing Group, 1963, ISBN   0-7136-1366-1, p. 175.
  6. 1 Corinthians 9:7, NIV (BibleGateway): "Who serves as a soldier at his own expense?"
  7. Anthony C. Thiselton, The First Epistle to the Corinthians: A Commentary on the Greek text , Eerdmans, 2000, ISBN   0-85364-559-0, pp. 683–684.
  8. Ephesians 6:10–18, NIV (BibleGateway).
  9. Kathleen M. Swaim, Pilgrim's Progress, Puritan Progress: Discourses and Contexts , University of Illinois Press, 1993, ISBN   0-252-01894-X, p. 14.
  10. Alison G. Sulloway, Gerard Manley Hopkins and the Victorian temper , Routledge, 1972, ISBN   0-7100-7354-2, p. 220.