DESCRIPTION:

This course considers different understandings of "Pauline theology" by taking seriously (a) the lived experience of the historical Paul; and (b) our current problems. While the course is based squarely on an exegetical foundation of the Pauline letters, it also seeks to construct a theological and pastoral framework through which we can pursue a living dialogue with Paul.

If pastoral ministry includes a hermeneutical element, it behooves all to maintain a dialogical immediacy with all biblical writers--not the least of whom is Paul, whose mission work and theological battles have exemplified for us a model of engaged pastoral ministry. From his writings, not only do we reap the fruits of his theological reflections, but we are continually urged to carry out our ministry as faithful servants in thought, word, and deed.

The class meets daily for two weeks for four-hour sessions of lecture and class discussion.

Donaldson, T. Paul and the Gentiles. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1997.

Murphy-O'Connor, J. Paul: A Critical Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.

Wan, Sze-kar. Power in Weakness. Valley Forge, PA: Trinity Press International, 2000.

Wright, N. T. What Saint Paul Really Said. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997.

Course Reader, which includes the following:

Achtemeier, P. "Unsearchable Judgment and Inscrutable Ways," in E. Johnson & D. Hay, Pauline Theology 4 (Atlanta, 1997), 3-21.

Dunn, J. D. G. "The Formal and Theological Coherence of Romans," in K. Donfried, The Romans Debate (Peabody, 1991), 245-50.

Dunn, J. D. G. "In Quest of Paul's Theology," in Pauline Theology 4, 95-115.

Dunn, J. D. G. "The New Perspective on Paul," in The Romans Debate, 299-308.

Dunn, J. D. G. The Theology of Paul the Apostle. (Grand Rapids, 1998), 1-26.

Wan, Sze-kar. "Collection for the Saints as Anticolonial Act," in R. Horsley, Paul and Politics (Harrisburg, 2000), 191-215.

Dunn, J. D. G. The Theology of Paul the Apostle. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998.

Ridderbos, H. Paul: An Outline of His Theology. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975.

Sanders, E. P. Paul, the Law and the Jewish People. Philadelphia, 1984.

Westerholm, S. Israel's Law and the Church's Faith: Paul and His Recent Interpreters. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988.

1. Daily assigned readings and detailed studies of Pauline passages (20 %)

2. A paper (6-8 pp.) on the method of Pauline theology (30%) Due date: Friday, 16 July 2004.

3. A paper (10-12 pp.) on a theological topic involving 2-3 major texts (50%)
   Due date: Friday, 30 July 2004.

Schedule of daily reading assignments and guidelines for papers can be found in the longer syllabus. Reading assignments for 6/21: Dunn, "In Quest"; Donaldson, 29-78; Murphy-O'Connor, 1-31, 102-29.

Meets M. Div. core requirement in New Testament Theology (NTT).