The notion of“imitation”was frequently employed in Antiquity in the
sense of living up to certain ideals. An important function of Greek biog-
raphies was to provide models for coming generations to follow. According
to Albrecht Dihle (1970, p. 20), classical Greek biographies presented heroic
lives to be imitated. Dihle (1970, p. 18) suggested, in particular, that Plato’s
Apology of Socratespresented the philosopher as an ethical example, estab-
lishing the genre of biography in the modern sense. Socrates’character as
a source of moral imitation in Antiquity cannot be overestimated; the
“example of Socrates”(exemplum Socratis) was a well-known topos in early
Christianity (Döring, 1979). In Jewish literature, historicalfigures had been
mentioned as models for imitation since Hellenistic times. The earliest
examples include the biographical sketches of “famous men” in Sirach
44 – 50 and the heroes of 1–2 Maccabees.^9 The tradition continued in the
Book of Tobit, the Wisdom of Solomon (4.2), theTestament of the Twelve
Patriarchs(10.4.3, 12.3.1, 12.4.1, etc.), as well as in the works of Philo and
Josephus (Kurz, 1990). The homily known as 4 Maccabees (probably from
thefirst centuryAD) invokes the moral example of the Jewish martyrs (4
Macc. 9.23, 13.9). In the New Testament, Paul frequently calls his readers to
imitate him as well as Jesus (1 Cor. 4:16, 11.1; Phil. 3:17; 1 Thess. 1:6; 2 Thess.
3:7, 9; cf. De Boer, 1962; Copan, 2007; Gieschen, 2008). In all of these
references, the point is to take an example from an outstanding figure in
living up to some standard or ideal. For instance, the example of the martyrs
in 4 Maccabees teaches the reader how passions can be controlled to endure
extreme sufferings. Even the “imitation” of God is recommended in the
Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs (10.4.3, μιμεῖταικύριον, “imitate the
Lord”). In addition to imitating models that were presented in literature,
philosophers advised students to learn from masters by co-habiting with
them (Seneca,Epistle6.5-6; Dio Chrysostomos,Discourse55.4–5; cf. Talbert,
1974, pp. 89–110; Malherbe, 1987, pp. 52–3).
Imitating Paul, Jesus, the apostles, the martyrs, and other holy persons, who
were highly esteemed by the early Church, can be understood in light of the
above discussion of the heuristics that guide the choice of models to learn
from. One may wonder, however, what the“status”of a role model exactly
means in this context. How does imitating a pillar saint contribute to one’s
evolutionaryfitness? Imitating people with high status does not necessarily
mean that we learn patterns of thought and behavior that make one“success-
ful”in the sense of leaving more offspring. While the imitation of people with
high status can result in an increase of reproductivefitness (for example, by
learning successful social strategies), the blindness of the process with respect
to the content of what is imitated means that we also imitate people with
(^9) The wordὑπόδειγμα(“example”) is used in Sirach 44:16 and 2 Macc. 6:28, 31.
184 Cognitive Science and the New Testament