Moral Formation according to Paul: The Context and Coherence of Pauline Ethics
Overview
This fresh treatment of Paul’s ethics addresses this question: How, according to Paul, can Christian communities know how God wants them to live? Leading biblical scholar James Thompson explains that Paul offers a coherent moral vision based not only on Christ’s story but also on the norms of the law. Paul did not live with a sharp dichotomy of law and gospel, and he recognized the continuing importance of the law. Thompson makes a distinctive contribution by locating the roots of Paul’s concrete ethical thought in Hellenistic Judaism rather than Hellenistic moral philosophy. Students of New Testament ethics and Pauline theology will value this work.
The Logos Bible Software edition of this volume is designed to encourage and stimulate your study and understanding of Scripture. Biblical passages link directly to your English translations and original-language texts, and important theological concepts link to dictionaries, encyclopedias, and a wealth of other resources in your digital library. In addition, you can perform powerful searches by topic and find what other authors, scholars, and theologians have to say about the Word of God.
- Examines the ethics and moral vision of Paul
- Focuses on Paul’s work regarding spiritual and moral transformation
- Discusses Paul’s ethics in relation to law and social context
- Paul’s Moral Teaching in Context: Living Worthily of the Gospel
- Ethics in Hellenistic Judaism: Maintaining Jewish Identity in the Diaspora
- Shaping an Identity: Moral Instruction and Community Formation
- From Catechesis to Correspondence: Ethos and Ethics in 1 Thessalonians
- Pauline Catechesis and the Lists of Vices and Virtues
- Paul, the Law, and Moral Instruction
- Paul, the Passions, and the Law
- Putting Love into Practice
- Ethics and the Disputed Letters of Paul
- The Coherence of Paul’s Moral Teaching
Top Highlights
“Although the Spirit plays a decisive role in Paul’s ethics, Paul never indicates that the Spirit guides believers in the ethical decisions of daily living, or even that the Spirit provides special insight into the issues facing Paul’s communities.60 The Spirit is the divine power that equips believers to keep the commands rather than a guide to consult in making decisions.” (Page 13)
“Although Paul insisted that gentiles are not subject to the established boundary markers (circumcision, Sabbath, and food laws), his ethical instructions are consistent with the moral instruction of the Torah.” (Page 15)
“If the transformation of believers is the ultimate goal of Paul’s work, it is also the focal point of his theology,3 as his letters indicate.” (Page 2)
“Second, Paul insists that believers conduct themselves ‘worthily of the gospel’ (Phil. 1:27), but he gives no comprehensive ethical theory to guide their conduct.” (Page 5)
“I am convinced that Paul’s address to minority communities in a pre-Christian world has continuing relevance for Christian communities in a post-Christian world.” (Page ix)
Books on the moral life according to Paul are relatively scarce. We can be grateful to Thompson for his lucid and readable survey of moral transformation in Paul. Comparing and contrasting Paul’s moral vision with both Greco-Roman and Hellenistic writers provides an illuminating social context in which to interpret Paul.
—Thomas R. Schreiner, James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament Interpretation, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
This important study locates moral formation squarely at the heart of Paul’s letters—not by replacing ‘theology’ with ‘ethics’ but by demonstrating that Paul’s agenda was in fact the moral transformation of his communities. Thompson traces the roots of Paul’s moral teaching in the Old Testament and the story of Christ and exposes his indebtedness more to Hellenistic Judaism than to Greco-Roman moral philosophy. Crucially, he positions Paul’s writings in another ‘context,’ in communities of people who have begun new life in Christ, who await the final day, and for whom the present is about metamorphosis into a moral counterculture. Thompson does not try to answer all of our present-day questions; instead, he marks well the path for anyone wanting to explore the contours and coherence of Paul’s moral vision.
—Joel B. Green, professor of New Testament interpretation, Fuller Theological Seminary
This is an exceptionally well-thought-through and useful study of Pauline ethics.
—The Bible Today
Thompson’s work has many commendable features. He successfully makes the case that Paul’s ethic is a fundamentally coherent one. He further demonstrates continuity in Paul with the Old Testament’s summons to Israel to live in light of a distinctive identity grounded in their redemption by God. He also provides much exegetical support for what theologians have termed ‘the third use of the law’ in Paul’s ethical reflections. . . . Thompson has produced a helpful and engaging discussion of Pauline ethics. In its concern to set those ethics in their context, to demonstrate leading themes and commonalities within Paul’s ethical instructions, and to stress the fundamental coherence of Paul’s ethical reflection, Moral Formation according to Paul is a valuable resource for scholar and student alike.
—Themelios
Thompson has written a vitally important book, which shows beyond any doubt that Paul’s ethics are not some epilogue or uninteresting backwater in his epistles, but are a central and integral part of his total theological outlook. The book is clearly and concisely written, and one can follow the logic of the argument with great clarity. Moreover, Thompson demonstrates an able command of Pauline texts that takes his readers into a deeper understanding of many issues relating to Pauline moral instruction. . . . This book must be read by all New Testament scholars working in Pauline studies.
—Expository Times
- Title: Moral Formation according to Paul: The Context and Coherence of Pauline Ethics
- Author: James W. Thompson
- Publisher: Baker Academic
- Publication Date: 2011
- Pages: 272