THE IDEOLOGY AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PHRASE “IN CHRIST” IN PAULINE THEOLOGY Submitted to: Prof. Augustine Introduction By: Henry, M.Th/ Reg.1211 It is said that everyone, who writes or speaks a lot, has some favorite phrase he uses very frequently. The Apostle Paul, as for me, had such a phrase, and it is “in Christ” ( en christo ). John Murray says, “in Christ” is “the central truth of the whole doctrine of salvation.” [1] And the expression “in Christ,” as Bruce Demarest observes, occurs 216 times in the Pauline letters and 26 times in the Johannine literature. [2] According to Albert Schweitzer , this ‘being-in-Christ’ is the main key of the Pauline teaching: “Once grasped it gives the clue to the whole.” [3] Given the large number of occurrences and the wide range of contexts, Demarest affirms, “The phrase embodies a breadth of meaning.” [4] For Paul, as Michael Parsons also affirms, “Union with Chris
Ka mi hna nih keimah cu an ka hngalh duh lo caah an rawk (Hosea 4:6)