NT2213 The Pauline Tradition: 1 & 2 Corinthians
 Mary E. Hinkle
Associate Professor of New Testament
Luther Seminary
Fall 2004

Week 13 | Dec 6-12

To Do List for Week 13

  1. Post your judgment to the leadership of women debate if you were not on one of the teams.
  2. Participate in this week's debate. Find details on this page and the debate page.
    • If you are on a debate team, help your team throughout the week.
    • If you are not on a team, read and judge the debate by next Monday, Dec. 13.
  3. Read on the topic (full bibliography below):
    • Nissen, reserve piece, and
    • Strijdom, reserve piece,
  4. Let me know your plans for a final project. Sending an email or, for those nearby, dropping by my office would be great.

Paul as a Role Model for Missional Leaders

Throughout the semester, we have talked about how Paul is sometimes a welcome companion on our faith journey and sometimes either hard to understand or advocating things we do not agree with. What about Paul as a role model for ministry? Specifically, is Paul a good role model for the kind of "missional leadership" that Luther Seminary aims to prepare you for? What can we take from Paul's example, and what might we leave behind? These are the questions we will address this week as we debate the proposition,

Paul is a good role model for missional leaders.

There are two articles on reserve for this topic.

Readings

Johannes Nissen has written a book titled, The New Testament and Mission. In it, he reviews all the New Testament books for how they conceive of Christian mission. His chapter on Paul is titled, "Constrained by the Love of God: Paul's Foundation and Practice of Mission." Here's an outline of the reading. Part I looks at why Paul did mission. Part II looks at how he accomplished it.

I. The motivation for Paul's mission

  • Paul's conversion and call
  • The universal scope of salvation (Romans)
  • Ministers of reconciliation (2 Corinthians)
  • Firmness and flexibility (1 Corinthians)
  • The basic principles
  • The flexibility
  • Cross & culture

II. Paul's missionary strategy and his communities

  • Different forms of mission in early Christianity
  • Paul's missionary strategy
  • Conflicting roles of missionaries
  • In Christ - a new community
  • The collection
  • The encounter between Christians & non-Christians: belief and practice
  • Theological and christological aspects of Paul's answer

III. Hermeneutical perspectives

  • The double apostolate (pillar and traveling apostolates)
  • Urban mission
  • The collection as a model for partnership
  • Integrity and openness
  • Rejection, inclusion or…?

The second reading is a shorter, more recent piece that reviews recent authors offering criticism of Paul on these topics. It is Johan Strijdom, "A model not to Be Imitated? Recent Criticisms of Paul," Hervormde Teologiese Studies, 57 no. 1-2 (2001) 612-622.

  • ethnic intolerance (i.e. intolerance of Jewish customs in Galatians)
  • class (i.e. contentment to maintain distinctions between wealthy and poor)
  • gender inequity
  • condemnation of same-sex relations

If you have ever wanted to give Paul a piece of your mind on any of these topics, reading this article may be cathartic. On the other hand, you may find it a harsh criticism of one of your heroes. Either way, it's engaging reading.

Final Projects

Let me know, if you haven't already, what you're planning for a final project. More information is available on links from the Week 12 page.

New Handout for Preachers

If you are planning to write a sermon and you're thinking, "How do I do that?" take a look at the Word document called The Four D's of Sermon Preparation. I developed this for my Matthew class, but if you're new to sermon preparation, you might find it helpful with Pauline texts too.