Overvaluing the Stigma: An Example of Self-Stigmatization in the Jesus Movement (Q 14:26—27;17:33)

Abstract

This article tries to show the usefulness of social-scientific models for interpreting biblical texts. The Sociology of Knowledge can help Historical Criticism build a framework in which to locate the data recovered by textual, formal, literary, and narrative criticism. Thus, merging both sciences, social and exegetical, we can get a better knowledge of the beginnings of Christianity. A model called “self-stigmatization” is described to illustrate how a charismatic leader unmasks social interests, legitimizes, and establishes a new social structure by taking on negative values or behaviors and converting them into positive ones. This model can be observed in the three sayings contained in Q 14:26—27; 17:33 about “rejecting family,” “carrying the cross,” and “turning life upside down.”