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The relevance of Paul's missionary methods to today's Christian mission
(1994)
It cannot be denied that the missionary methods of the great missionary Paul of Tarsus in the first century are exceptional, because they resulted in the phenomenal growth of the Christian church especially in Asia. It can ...
Pauline concept of leadership in the Corinthian letters and its significance to the evangelical churches today
(1996)
Leadership is the most important ingredient in the success of any organization. This is because leadership captures concepts, visions and over-all direction.
Peter Wagner in his book, Leading Your Church To Growth, wrote: "Effective church leadership accurately perceives where the people in the congregation are now, and what their potential is for the future. The gift of leadership is the special ability that God gives to certain members of the body of Christ to set goals in accordance with God's purpose for the future, and to communicate those goals to others in such a way that they voluntarily and harmoniously work together to accomplish these goals for the glory of God."
It cannot be denied that our churches today are suffering from the problems of division, faction, pride, immorality, etc. which by nature is almost similar with those of the problems of the Corinthian church in 55 A.D. Inevitably, church split is everywhere to the extent that it does not only ruin the testimony of the church itself but above all, it ruins the ministry of God. Jesus Christ is the God of order and not of chaos, unity and not of division, love and not of hatred, peace and not of war.
With all these threatening realities, we cannot help but honestly ask ourselves questions like, is there something wrong in our church leadership? If there is, what are we going to do with it? Is there a need for us to go back to the biblical principles of leadership? What must we do with the immoral members and those who create chaos and disorder within the church?
This paper was written in the hope that it might be of help to our local churches undergoing such kind of predicament. The study centers on the Christian ministry of Paul focussing in leadership qualities which enabled him to strengthen the spiritually sick church of Corinth. In order to clarify the points discussed about his leadership, a survey is made in Paul's historical and religious background and the circumstances which led to the establishment of the Corinthian Church.
At Corinth Paul encountered several serious problems such as faction or division among leaders, pride, immorality, misuse and abuse of spiritual gifts, personal attacks, humiliation, rejection and painful criticisms from within and without the local congregation. In the midst of these perplexing events, how did Paul maintain his divinely appointed authority, assert his leadership as an apostle, deal with the problems which brought the rebellious church into repentance, and in what possible ways such approaches be significant to our local evangelical churches today are discussed in this paper.
Yes, it is true that nothing in this world is permanent. Everything changes including church leadership. In the New Testament, as time and circumstances changed, leadership in the church changed too. Leadership patterns develop according to the need. They do not remain static.
Likewise, the context of Paul's leadership in the Corinthian church had changed. Forexample,women are required by Paul to cover their heads inside the church (I Corinthians 11:5,6). The issue is cultural rather than spiritual. Paul's advice applied directly to the cultural situation in Corinth, where unruly women were disrupting the worship services.
However, in the Philippine setting it is no longer applicable because our culture does not require a woman to wear a veil or that she should always have long hair. It is our common belief that morality does not depend (on the veil or on the length of the hair. A woman may have short hair and does not cover her head yet, she is morally and spiritually upright. God does not look at the outward appearance but at the heart.
Even though the context of Paul's leadership had changed but the essentials are the same and can still be best applied to our local evangelical churches today. Therefore, this study intends to point out those essentials so that our churches will be strengthened and edified for the glory of God....
Resurrection through the lens of Paul
(2016)
The resurrection, a word which has developed and solely attributed to the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth also known as Christ, has always been felt to be vital in connection with Christianity. Christian faith emphasizes, as depicted from the very early preaching in Jerusalem recorded in Acts 1:22; 2:24,32; 3:15, that resurrection revolves around the belief that Jesus rose from the dead after He died on the cross. This faith confession is found also in the Nicean Creed and in the Christian doctrines today. It is safe to assume that from the earliest time until now Christian Churches were built on the belief in the Resurrection. One of the vital propagators of resurrection faith is no other than Paul.
For Paul, without it [resurrection] Christian preaching and faith were in vain and empty as reflected in his letter to the Corinthian church “And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith” (1 Cor 15:14). Paul realized that understanding what resurrection really is, its spiritual implications as well as its faith value, is a vital importance in the propagation of Christian faith.
It should always be taken in consideration that resurrection as the raising of an individual from death is not a unique idea in the Christian faith. In Egyptian, Greek, Roman and Celtic faith traditions resurrection plays a vital role though it has a different spiritual implication and faith value compared in Christianity. In Philippine culture, especially in Iloilo, resurrection stories are also common tales in folklore and epics. For instance, the story of Maranhig that talks about dead people resurrecting from their graves and roaming the villages stealing corpses for their consumption is a widely circulated story in the rural areas of Iloilo. It is even said that the tradition people keeping watch in the wake of their loved ones originated in the fear that the Maranhig would steal the corpse of their loved ones and replace it with a banana trunk. With this knowledge in hand, it is inadequate to preach and teach resurrection to Filipino congregation with the assumption that they would readily understand resurrection as Paul understood it in his encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus.
Paul was born in a different region with a different culture, different society and different beliefs. This paper would like to narrow this contextual gap between Paul and the Filipinos by viewing resurrection through the lens of Paul in order to better understand the spiritual implications and the faith value of resurrection. In order to do so the researcher utilized biographical, historical, and exegetical studies in the entire course of the research work.
Statement of the Problem
What is the Pauline theology of resurrection? How did the Pauline theology develop? What are the lenses that contributed to the biases of Pauline theology of resurrection?
Objectives of the Study
The General Objective of the the Study is to view Resurrection in the lens of Paul.
The Specific objectives are the following:
1. To determine Paul’s concept of Resurrection in his letter to the Corinthians (I Corinthians 15).
2. To determine the educational influences that contribute to Paul’s theology of resurrection.
3. To determine the cultural influences that contribute to Paul’s theology of resurrection.
4. To determine the personal experiences that contribute to Paul’s theology of resurrection.
5. To view resurrection in the line of Paul’s educational, cultural and personal background....