Author: Ronald F. Hock Publisher: Fortress Press ISBN: 9781451417685 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 120
Book Description
In this "slim, readable, and provocative volume" (Journal of Biblical Literature), Ronald Hock focuses on the apostle Paul and his work within the social and intellectual context of the Greek East of the early Roman Empire. Hock discusses the New Testament evidence concerning tentmaking in relation to Paul's life as an apostle of Christ. Relevant literary and nonliterary texts from outside the New Testament add detail to a picture of ancient society and open new areas for study. The author describes the typical experiences that arose from such a way of life traveling, the tentmaking trade, the missionary use of the workshop, attitudes toward work, and Paul's own reflections on the significance of his tentmaking for the apostolic self-understanding.
Author: Efrain Agosto Publisher: Chalice Press ISBN: 9780827235069 Category : Business & Economics Languages : en Pages : 260
Book Description
Servant Leadership addresses a fundamental concern of the contemporary church by asking pertinent questions of the New Testament: Who became a leader in the Jesus movement and in Pauline Christianity? What was the social status of these leaders in the outside world as compared to the importance of such social status within the faith community? What practices characterized their leadership within the communities they served? The book explores models of leadership in the New Testament s two prime exemplars, Jesus and Paul, and in their respective communities of faith. It studies both Paul s statements and actions with regard to leadership issues with specific church communities, using Thessalonians, the Corinthians, the Galatians, and the Philippians correspondence as case studies in the practice of leadership. It concludes with a discussion of leadership challenges in the modern church and how a Pauline or Deutero-Pauline model can work for us today. The author shows how understanding one s followers, as well as the goals and purposes of the group one leads, is a fundamental function of leadership today, even in the corporate world. Similarly, although we expect Christian leadership to be confrontational and assertive at times, it must also be open to creating opportunities for others to exercise their gifts and, therefore, their leadership. Good leaders move others to respond to their own personal calls and commitments.
Author: Néstor Oscar Míguez Publisher: Fortress Press ISBN: 145141515X Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 296
Book Description
In Not Like Those Who Have No Hope, Nestor O. Miguez brings the insights of historical-critical study and political analysis together with incisive theological reflection. Taking on European philosophical interpretations of Paul, the "North Atlantic consensus" regarding social stratification in the Pauline churches, and the distortions of "rapture" theology, Miguez situates Paul's mission in the political context of Roman Thessalonica and reads his first letter in engagement with Latin American realities. The result is a surprising rediscovery of Paul as an organic intellectual for whom hope is always a socially concrete reality.
Author: Jerry L. Sumney Publisher: A&C Black ISBN: 1850752346 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 259
Book Description
To develop a method for identifying Paul's opponents it is first necessary to analyse procedures used by previous scholars. Too little attention has been paid in the past to issues of method, and many procedures have been used which violate the canons of historical research. In the first place, limits should be set upon the use of historical reconstructions and of external sources, and the determinative source for identifying the opponents of any letter must be that letter itself. Secondly, a satisfactory method will analyse passages within the primary text according to the nature of the section (e.g. polemical or didactic) and the types of statements they contain (e.g. explicit statements about opponents or allusions to them). Then each combination of context and statement type is evaluated to determine (1) how certain we can be about whether the passage refers to opponents and (2) how much distortion is likely to be present. The application of the proposed method to the two letters within 2 Corinthians indicates that Paul faced the same group of opponents in both letters. These opponents were pneumatics who demanded a particular manner of life as evidence that a person possesses the measure of the spirit which makes one an apostle.
Author: Jeremy Kidwell Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 1317014316 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 348
Book Description
An important reconceptualisation is taking place in the way people express creativity, work together, and engage in labour; particularly, suggests Kidwell, a surprising resurgence in recent years of manual and craft work. Noting the wide array of outlets that now market hand-made goods and the array of popular books which advocate ‘making’ as a basis for activism or personal improvement, this book seeks to understand how the micro-politics of craft work might offer insights for a broader theology of work. Why does it matter that we do work which is meaningful, excellent, and beautiful? Through a close reading of Christian scripture, The Theology of Craft and the Craft of Work examines the theology and ethics of work in light of original biblical exegesis. Kidwell presents a detailed exegetical study of temple construction accounts in the Hebrew bible and the New Testament. Illuminating a theological account of craft, and employing the ancient vision of ‘good work’ which is preserved in these biblical texts, Kidwell critically interrogates modern forms of industrial manufacture. This includes a variety of contemporary work problems particularly the instrumentalisation and exploitation of the non-human material world and the dehumanisation of workers. Primary themes taken up in the book include agency, aesthetics, sociality, skill, and the material culture of work, culminating with the conclusion that the church (or ‘new temple’) is both the product and the site of moral work. Arguing that Christian worship provides a moral context for work, this book also examines early Christian practices to suggest a theological reconceptualisation of work.
Author: Verlyn Verbrugge Publisher: Zondervan Academic ISBN: 0310525136 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 241
Book Description
The apostle Paul, one of the most prominent figures in the early Jesus movement, had a lot to say about money. His letters deal with real people as they lived their Christian lives in the Greco-Roman world. He finds it necessary to address “those who are rich in this present world” (1 Tim 6:17). But he also has to address those do not want to work, for whatever reason, and are “idle and disruptive” (2 Thess 3:6). Moreover, whereas most churches today have a certain socio-economic homogeneity, some of Paul’s churches had a combination of upper class wealthy people and lower class slaves worshiping side-by-side, and it inevitably created friction (esp. 1 Cor 11:17–34). During the past twenty years a significant amount of research has been done on class-consciousness in the Greco-Roman world and on the significance of Paul’s fund-raising venture “for the poor among the Lord’s people in Jerusalem”—“the collection”—for his ministry. Relying on the surprising results of current Pauline scholarship and a careful exegesis of a variety of New Testament texts, this book offers a thorough investigation of the apostle Paul’s sayings and dealings with money.
Author: James R. Harrison Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers ISBN: 1532613466 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 475
Book Description
Paul’s Language of Grace in Its Graeco-Roman Context was originally published by Mohr Siebeck in 2003 and is now reprinted by Wipf and Stock with a new introduction by its author, James R. Harrison. The book was the first major investigation of charis (‘grace’, ‘favor’) in its social, political, and religious context since G. P. Wetter’s pioneering 1913 monograph on the topic. Focusing on the evidence of the inscriptions, papyri, philosophers, and Greek Jewish literature, Harrison examined the operations of the eastern Mediterranean benefaction system, probing the dynamic of reciprocity between the beneficiary and benefactor, whether human or divine. Before Paul’s converts were first exposed to the gospel, they would have held a variety of beliefs regarding the beneficence of the gods. The apostle, therefore, needed to tailor his language of grace as much to the theological and social concerns of the Mediterranean city-states in his missionary outreach as to the variegated traditions of first-century Judaism. In terms of human grace, although Paul endorses the reciprocity system, he redefines its rationale in light of the gospel of grace and transforms its social expression in his house churches. The explosion of ‘grace’ language that occurs in 2 Corinthians 8–9 regarding the Jerusalem collection is unusual in its frequency in comparison to the honorific inscriptions, underscoring the apostle’s distinctive approach to giving. Regarding divine beneficence, Paul accommodates his gospel to contemporary benefaction idiom. But he retains a distinctiveness of viewpoint regarding divine charis: it is non-cultic; it is mediated through a dishonored and impoverished Benefactor; it overturns the do ut des expectation (‘I give so that you may give’) regarding divine blessing in antiquity. Harrison’s book still remains the authoritative coverage of the Graeco-Roman context of charis.
Author: Gennadi A. Sergienko Publisher: Langham Monographs ISBN: 1907713743 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 251
Book Description
For many of whom I often told you, and even now am writing with tears, walk as the enemies of the cross of Christ: they walk to their final destruction, their god is the belly and their glory is in shameful things, their minds are earthly bound. But our πολίτευμα is in heaven from where we expect the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our Savior. Philippians 3:18-20 Paul’s letters to Philippians show us that this rather outspoken man had plenty of opportunity and cause to aggravate his christian contemporaries. However, for Paul to use such hostility and to name people as “enemies” shows us that we should take note and try to understand the meaning behind his statement. In this work the author asks: who were these enemies? What did they do wrong? Why did they deserve destruction? In search of these questions the investigation looks to the early Christian communities and their formation within the socio-political realities of the urban centers of the Roman Empire. Through this we learn a great deal about the uneven and complex dynamics of the early Christian community and a deep understanding of Paul’s warning to them.
Author: Ronald F. Hock
Author: Ronald F. Hock
Author: Efrain Agosto
Author: Néstor Oscar Míguez
Author: Jerry L. Sumney
Author: Jeremy Kidwell
Author: Verlyn Verbrugge
Author: James R. Harrison
Author: Gennadi A. Sergienko
Author: Bruce W. Winter