Paul is an ancient personality who must first be rooted in the social and historical context of the first century world in order to understand how he went about his work. Some of the more important theological expressions of Paul (e.g., justification) are examined from a missional perspective, followed by concentrating on Paul’s missional strategy where we investigate Paul’s preference to work alongside a variety of co-workers—male and female—in different locations and at various times as he fulfilled his mandate of apostle to the Gentiles. While we consider these different issues, we also have an eye on major contemporary questions in Pauline studies, including whether Paul expected his communities to be centripetally or centrifugally focused in their missional orientation.
The bachelor level course is intended to help the student understand the theology as well as the realities, strategies and methods Paul employed in his mission. The Master’s course assumes some of this knowledge but seeks to extend the students’ understanding by grappling with the collaborative nature of Paul’s missionary work and also engaging key contemporary issues debated by interpreters and miss-iologists alike, including for example, whether the Apostle Paul expected his early Christian comm- unities to evangelize.
When most Christians think of Paul, they usually regard him as a letter-writer, pastor or a theologian—rarely is Paul considered from the perspective of missionary. In recent years, however, New Testament interpreters have begun to address this neglected dimension to Paul’s ministry making this a vital contemporary topic to explore. But Paul was not a missionary in our twenty-first century understanding; rather, he was an apostolic missionary whose theology was nothing less than an out-working of the mission of God whom he loved and served.
Texts from all thirteen of Paul’s letters will be examined in constructing his missional theology.
Paul is more often thought of as a letter-writer, pastor or theologian but seldom is he considered as a missionary. We will reflect on the reality that before Paul was any of these things he was first and foremost a missionary, and it is from this perspective that are able to construct his theology.
Students need to understand the ancient east Mediterranean context of the first-century – where the group took precedence over the individual – (very different to our twenty-first century western context) to grasp how important the founding of communities was to Paul’s raison d'etre as a missionary.
It is remarkable that Paul was a (Hellenistic) Jew and a Roman citizen who could converse in Hebrew and koinē Greek. This made Paul uniquely ‘qualified’ to be able to take and unpack ideas that were often Jewish in thought and origin and make them readily accessible to a Gentile audience.
Students will learn through a study of Paul’s missional methods how to engage others and be agents of change in their local context and community.
Paul did not only want his communities to preach the Gospel, but to also become the gospel, through incarnational Christ-centered lives that would change the world around them. This is my goal for every student taking this course.
