What Does It Mean to ‘Learn Christ’ (Ephesians 4.20)? A Comparison of Paul and Plutarch on Learning Virtue
In Ephesians, Paul has an interesting turn of phrase when he speaks of ‘learning’ ( manthanō ) Christ and being ‘taught’ ( didaskō ) ‘in’ Him: Ephesians 4.20-24 "But that is not the way you be learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness." The power of Paul’s language can be better appreciated when we see how he is using it over against the alternative in Greek philosophy. When Paul speaks of learning Christ, his concern is ethical. His ethical concern involves not only what the righteous and holy life should involve; it also concerns how a corrupt person with deceitful desires might be renewed and put on the new self. Thus, his topic, as Gre