Journal for the Study of the New Testament 33(3) 303–315 © The Author(s) 2011 Reprints and permission: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0142064X10381957 jsnt.sagepub.com Corresponding author: Dustin W. Ellington, Justo Mwale Theological University College, Plot 19, Munali Road, Chamba Valley, P.O. Box 310199, Lusaka, Zambia 15301 Email: ellingtondustin@gmail.com Article Imitating Paul’s Relationship to the Gospel: 1 Corinthians 8.1–11.1 Dustin W. Ellington Abstract To overcome past shortcomings in the interpretation of Paul’s exhortation ‘Imitate me, as I imitate Christ’ (1 Cor. 11.1), we must study the roles of Paul’s ‘I’ and Christ in the context of 1 Cor. 8.1–11.1. Christ died for the weak (8.11), and Paul’s renunciation of his apostolic rights follows this pattern. Paul’s self-portrayal reaches its climax when he says that he does all things for the sake of the gospel, in order to be sugkoinwno_j au)tou= (9.23). This article proposes that the expression sugkoinwno_j au)tou= contains more shades of meaning than scholars have previously allowed. It summarizes Paul’s aim to be the gospel’s partner in the salvation of others and to participate in the gospel’s pattern and power. Paul’s call to imitation exhorts the Corinthian believers to share in his relationship to the gospel, working with it for the salvation of others and allowing its pattern and power to shape their life together. Keywords Death of Christ, example, gospel, imitate, participation, sugkoinwno&j In what Richard B. Hays (1997: 154) calls ‘the culminating appeal’ of Paul’s argument in 1 Cor. 8.1–11.1, 1 the apostle says, ‘Be imitators of me, as I am (an imitator) of Christ’ (11.1). This article proposes that previous mistakes in interpreting Paul’s command in 1 Cor. 11.1 can be traced to a striking oversight: what Paul says about himself and Christ in the preceding argument. The two most widely read scholars on Paul’s command to imitate himself are Elizabeth Castelli and Hans Dieter Betz. Castelli argues that the apostle’s call to imitation ‘has no 1. So also A. Lindemann (2000: 235). W. Willis notes the scholarly consensus regarding the compositional unity of this section of 1 Corinthians (2007: 110).