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Käsemann rejected the idea that the hymn presents Christ as an example to be imitated. His objections to the notion of Christ as a model of ethical behavior are many, but his primary concern seems to be that an ethical interpretation of the hymn tends to reduce Christ to a mere “representative of a valid norm” of conduct, an example that lowliness and service will be rewarded.17 Käsemann’s theological concern is that in an ethical interpretation, the soteriological significance of Christ’s work is lost, and the Christian message becomes nothing more than a moral exhortation.18 Käsemann and those who have followed his challenge to traditional ethical interpretations have suggested that Jesus Christ cannot be imitated because he is unique. As Ralph Martin puts it, “Who can be a ‘second Christ’ who quits His heavenly glory and dies in shame and is taken up into the throne of the universe?”19 Another argument against the ethical interpretation is that it implies a “works righteousness” and minimizes the importance of God’s grace. Some have also argued that an emphasis on imitation is inconsistent with Paul’s ethics. Ralph Martin asserts that Paul never(!) uses the earthly life of Jesus as an example to be imitated.20 According to Martin, “The controlling motive of Pauline ethics is not imitation, but death and resurrection.”21 Perhaps the strongest argument against the idea of Christ as a model to be imitated is that verses 9 - 11 seem to be superfluous to Paul’s point.22 It would be impossible for human beings to imitate the elevation of Christ to rulership of the universe. Why then does Paul include verses 9 - 11 if his purpose in invoking the hymn is to provide the Philippians with an example to emulate? Ralph Martin states that in the traditional ethical interpretation, “verses 9 - 11 have no relevance to Paul’s ethical admonition.”23 It is possible that Paul is merely quoting the hymn in its entirety for the sake of completeness, but, as Jean-François Collange correctly asserts, any analysis of one part of the hymn that does not do justice to the other is misleading.24 17 Ibid., 50, 57. 18 Hurtado, “Jesus as Lordly Example,” 115. 19 Martin, Carmen Christi, 289f-90. 20 Morna Hooker agrees that it is true that Paul does not normally appeal to his readers to imitate Jesus Christ, but she notes that II Cor. 8-9 is parallel to our passage, and does present Christ as an example. “For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.” Paul is using the example of Jesus in this passage to urge the Corinthians to be generous in giving to the poor. She points out that this example is, of course, not that of the earthly Jesus. Morna D. Hooker, “Philippians 2:6-11,” in Jesus und Paulus: Festschrift für Werner Georg Kümmel zum 70. Geburtstag, ed. E. Earle Ellis and Erich Grässer (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1975), 154-55. See also, Michael Thompson, Clothed with Christ: The Example and Teaching of Jesus in Romans 12:1-15:35. Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series, 59 (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1991). 21 Martin, Carmen Christi, 288. 22 Kreitzer, “’When he at Last is First!,’” 114. 23 Martin, Carmen Christi, 289. 24 “Nous disons donc que toute interprétation d’une partie de l’hymne qui ne fait pas justice â l’autre est dangereuse.” Collange, L’Epitre de Saint Paul aux Philippiens,76.