pauline evangelism session 14: paul’s ecclesiology

19
Paul’s Ecclesiology: Exegeting Key Texts The Light Project Session 14 Clint Heacock St Paul’s Gate, Rhodes, Greece

Upload: clint-heacock

Post on 11-May-2015

1.009 views

Category:

Education


5 download

DESCRIPTION

This is the fourteenth session’s Power Point slide show from the ’Using Pauline Studies for Evangelism’ course taught at the Light Project, Chester.

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Pauline Evangelism Session 14: Paul’s Ecclesiology

Paul’s Ecclesiology: Exegeting Key TextsPaul’s Ecclesiology: Exegeting Key Texts

The Light ProjectSession 14

Clint Heacock

The Light ProjectSession 14

Clint Heacock

St Paul’s Gate, Rhodes, Greece

Page 2: Pauline Evangelism Session 14: Paul’s Ecclesiology

Learning Outcomes

1. To gain a better understanding of the NT concept of the church.

2. To explore Paul’s understanding of the relationship between the church and evangelism.

Page 3: Pauline Evangelism Session 14: Paul’s Ecclesiology

DefinitionsWhat does the term ‘ecclesiology’ refer to?

It can refer either to: a) the study of the doctrines of the church,

or b) the study of the nature, purpose and

mission of the church itself.

• The Concise Dictionary of Theology defines ‘ecclesiology’ as: “That branch of theology which systematically reflects on the origin, nature, distinguishing characteristics, and mission of the church” (Collins and Ferrugia, 71).

Page 4: Pauline Evangelism Session 14: Paul’s Ecclesiology

How would you define the word ‘church’?

• “The Greek word used by Paul and the early Christians for the messianic community of believers is ekklesia, a term used in both political and religious senses.”

(Pate, The End of the Age Has Come, 165).

Page 5: Pauline Evangelism Session 14: Paul’s Ecclesiology

• Politically: Refers to a group of people gathered to conduct the affairs of the state (Acts 19.32, 39). In classical Greek ekklesia refers to a gathering of the citizens of a polis (city).

• Religiously: The term is used both in the Septuagint (LXX), the Greek translation of the OT, and in Jewish intertestamental writings to translate the Hebrew word qahal.

• Qahal refers to ‘the occurrence of assembling’ and can have religious significance attached to it.

Page 6: Pauline Evangelism Session 14: Paul’s Ecclesiology

Can you name some of the main biblical images of the church used

in the NT? • The people of God (Heb.4.8-10; 1

Pet. 2.9-10)• The body of Christ (1 Cor. 12.27;

Eph. 4.11-12)• The spouse of Christ (Eph. 5.25-27) • The family and the household of

God (Eph. 2.19-22)• The temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor.

3.16; 6.19)

Page 7: Pauline Evangelism Session 14: Paul’s Ecclesiology

For Paul (and other NT writers), is each local church only a component part

of the overall church?

BaptistChurch

LutheranChurch

PentecostalChurch

MethodistChurch

AnglicanChurch

CatholicChurch

The Church

Page 8: Pauline Evangelism Session 14: Paul’s Ecclesiology

Each community of gathered believers in a particular location, no matter how small, represents the total

community: the church.

Page 9: Pauline Evangelism Session 14: Paul’s Ecclesiology

“We should note that the individual congregation, or group of believers in a specific place, is never regarded as only a part or component of the whole church. The church is not a sum or composite of the individual local groups. Instead, the whole is found in each place.”

Erickson, Christian Theology, 1043.

Page 10: Pauline Evangelism Session 14: Paul’s Ecclesiology

NT Conception of the Church

1. Churches in the NT clearly have a local sense—Gal. 1.2; 1 Thess. 1.1; Acts 13.1, 14.23, etc.

2. Churches met in people’s homes: Rom. 16.5; Col. 4.15

3. Sometimes a larger geographical sense is in view: 1 Cor. 16.19

4. Each local church represents the total community of the church: 1 Cor. 1.2, ‘the church of God in Corinth.’

Page 11: Pauline Evangelism Session 14: Paul’s Ecclesiology

Historically, what are known as the ‘4 Functions of the Church’?

1. Worship2. Edification3. Evangelism4. Social concern

Page 12: Pauline Evangelism Session 14: Paul’s Ecclesiology

Fellowship

Worship

Edification

Instruction

Focus upon: •God•Individual believer•Other Christians

Evangelism

Social Concern

Focus upon: •Non-believers

Page 13: Pauline Evangelism Session 14: Paul’s Ecclesiology

What is the relationship in Paul’s thought between the church and

evangelism?

Page 14: Pauline Evangelism Session 14: Paul’s Ecclesiology

• The claim being made is this: that for Paul, if the church truly functioned as it was intended to do so—as a functioning and healthy organism—then evangelism would more or less take care of itself.

• Put in other terms: if believers in the church were living, serving and ministering in terms of their gifts and passions, then church growth by conversion would become much more organic and natural.

Page 15: Pauline Evangelism Session 14: Paul’s Ecclesiology

What are some key Pauline passages that develop his notion of how the

church should function and its growth?

1. Eph. 1-2-32. Eph. 4.1-163. 1 Cor 124. 1 Cor 135. 1 Cor 14

Page 16: Pauline Evangelism Session 14: Paul’s Ecclesiology

In all of these passages, note the emphasis Paul places upon:

• Church unity (Eph. 4.1ff; 1 Cor. 12)• The variety of gifts given by the Spirit to the

church• One Spirit—and what is the purpose of giving the

gifts, both to those in leadership and in the congregation? Mutual edification (1 Cor. 12.7; Eph. 4)

• The various parts of the body. What is the point of creating, gifting and placing all the different gifts within the one body?

• Love and spiritual gifts? Why place I Cor. 13 between 2 passages on ‘spiritual gifts and their usage’? Why does Paul refer to this as ‘the more excellent way’?

• The use of spiritual gifts and the edification of the church (1 Cor. 14.12, 26)?

Page 17: Pauline Evangelism Session 14: Paul’s Ecclesiology

1 Cor. 12: The Message

Page 18: Pauline Evangelism Session 14: Paul’s Ecclesiology

Can anybody in the church say: “I’m better than YOU because my gifts are superior to yours….”

OR, “You’re better than ME because your gifts are superior to mine…”?

Page 19: Pauline Evangelism Session 14: Paul’s Ecclesiology

“For Paul the church, even in its universal dimension, was not an institution but a collection of redeemed sinners, called saints, and bound together as mutual recipients of the powerful grace of God. According to Paul the discernible evidence of God’s grace was the manifestation of the different gifts of the Spirit as different, but complementary, functions in the church.

The purpose of these gifts was not to provide a means for ranking or comparing one Christian to another; rather, the gifts were given in their different forms for the upbuilding of the church—local and universal.”

Soards, The Apostle Paul, 197-198.