Download or read book Paul and Power written by Bengt Holmberg and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2004-09-27 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The study of the evolution of church structure and order has been subject to considerable research and debate, often with theological presuppositions determining the direction taken. In this highly original work, Bengt Holmberg separates historical groundwork from theological analysis by reviewing the issues from a sociological point of view. What emerges is an unusually lucid study of the network of power relationships which can be traced in the decades of St. Paul's ministry. The principal actors and situations in the Pauline Epistles suggest what the organizational and leadership realities of the times were like and how Paul, his co-workers, and his churches related to one another. In Part One, Holmberg provides a historical description of the distribution of power at three levels in the primitive church: that between the church in Jerusalem and the apostle Paul; at the regional level where Paul operates in local churches personally, through co-workers and by letters; and at the local intrachurch level. In Part Two, Holmberg develops a sociological analysis of the shape and location of authority in the church. He examines the New Testament literature for evidence and then interprets it in terms of categories derived from modern theoretical sociology, and in particular from Max Weber's sociology of authority. Holmberg describes the nature of authority in the early church and concludes that a charismatic authority was continuously reinstitutionalized through interaction of persons, institutions, and social forces within the church. This persuasive and provocative study combines serious New Testament interpretation with sociological analysis of a crucial issue in earliest Christianity. It advances the case of sociological exegesis by offering a model for further investigations of the entire structure of church leadership and authority in emergent Christianity.

Download or read book Paul and the Power of Grace written by John M. G. Barclay and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2020-11-10 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Paul and the Gift transformed the landscape of Pauline studies upon its publication in 2015. In it, John Barclay led readers through a recontextualized analysis of grace and interrogated Paul’s original meaning in declaring it a “free gift” from God, revealing grace as a multifaceted concept that is socially radical and unconditioned—even if not unconditional. Paul and the Power of Grace offers all of the most significant contributions from Paul and the Gift in a package several hundred pages shorter and more accessible. Additionally, Barclay adds further analysis of the theme of gift and grace in Paul’s other letters—besides just Romans and Galatians—and explores contemporary implications for this new view of grace.

Download or read book Powers of Darkness written by Clinton E. Arnold and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2009-09-20 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Satan worship. Witches. New Age channelers. The last two decades have witnessed a vast upsurge in occult activity. Scores of popular books have warned Christians of the dangers and urged them to do battle against these spiritual forces. Few books, however, have developed a careful biblical theology on demons, principalities and powers. Clinton Arnold seeks to fill this gap, providing an in-depth look at Paul's letters and what they teach on the subject. For perspective, he examines first-century Greek, Roman and Jewish beliefs as well as Jesus' teaching about magic, sorcery and divination. Arguing against many recent interpretations that have seen principalities and powers as impersonal social, economic and political structures, Arnold contends that the New Testament view is that such forces are organized, personal beings which Jesus defeated at the cross and will bring into full subjection at his return. In his concluding section Arnold suggests practical ways in which Christians today can contend with the forces of evil. A thoughtful, biblical look at an urgent challenge facing the church.

Download or read book The Power of Images in Paul written by Raymond F. Collins and published by Liturgical Press. This book was released on 2016-03-24 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In his letters to the early Christian communities, the apostle Paul left for Christians of all time an array of powerful images: from the pain of a thorn in the flesh to the tenderness of a nursing mother for her children, from the competition on an athletic field to the growth of an agricultural field. In The Power of Images in Paul, Raymond Collins explores how Paul uses the ordinary to describe what is extraordinary, how Paul skillfully uses a wide range of metaphors as a means of both persuasion and clarification. But this book is more than an analysis of Paul’s images themselves. Collins also examines how Paul deliberately draws from secular as well as religious and biblical themes in order to draw a culturally diverse audience into relationship with Christ. Entering Paul’s world with Collins, readers will better appreciate Paul’s use of metaphor and, more important, be persuaded as was Paul’s original audience of God’s unfailing love in Christ.

Download or read book Paul and Empire written by Richard A. Horsley and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 1997-11-01 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the centuries, Paul has been understood as the prototypical convert from Judaism to Christianity. At the time of Pauls conversion, however, Christianity did not yet exist. Moreover, Paul says nothing to indicate that he was abandoning Judaism or Israel. He, in fact, understood his mission as the fulfillment of the promises to Israel and of Israels own destiny. In brief, Pauls gospel and mission were set over against the Roman Empire, not Judaism.

Download or read book Paul and the Anatomy of Apostolic Authority written by John Howard Schutz and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 2007-04-19 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John Howard Schutz's milestone analysis of Paul's authority shaped a generation of thought about Paul. This insightful work continues to be relevant to Pauline scholarship. The New Testament Library offers authoritative commentary on every book and major aspect of the New Testament, as well as classic volumes of scholarship. The commentaries in this series provide fresh translations based on the best available ancient manuscripts, offer critical portrayals of the historical world in which the books were created, pay careful attention to their literary design, and present a theologically perceptive exposition of the text.

Download or read book Power Switch written by Paul O'Brien and published by John Hunt Publishing. This book was released on 2020-11-27 with total page 107 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Is it actually possible? …that we might emerge from this pandemic with a peaceful global power switch from those who have too much to those who don't have enough? With billionaires able to decide the fate of nations, private corporations more powerful and less accountable than ever, and political autocrats around the world shaking our confidence in democratic institutions, power resides in all the wrong places. And so our world is in crisis. In such moments, activists find opportunities. Not to restore the pre-crises order, but to transform it. Paul O’Brien argues that progressive activists may never have a better opportunity to rewrite economic rules, systems and outcomes in favor of those who don't have enough. His book offers practical action steps for activists who want to drive a power switch that overcomes extreme inequalities in our world.

Download or read book Paul and the Gift written by John M. G. Barclay and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2017-09-11 with total page 672 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John Barclay explores Pauline theology anew from the perspective of grace. Arguing that Paul's theology of grace is best approached in light of ancient notions of "gift," Barclay describes Paul's relationship to Judaism in a fresh way. Barclay focuses on divine gift-giving, which for Paul, he says, is focused and fulfilled in the gift of Christ. He both offers a new appraisal of Paul's theology of the Christ-event as gift as it comes to expression in Galatians and Romans and presents a nuanced and detailed consideration of the history of reception of Paul, including Augustine, Luther, Calvin, and Barth.

Download or read book Paul and the Dynamics of Power written by Kathy Ehrensperger and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2007-09-01 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this illuminating study Kathy Ehrensperger looks at the question of Paul's use of power and authority as an apostle who understands himself as called to proclaim the Gospel among the gentiles. Ehrensperger examines the broad range of perspectives on how this use of power should be evaluated. These range from the traditional interpretation of unquestioned, taken for granted for a church leader, to a feminist interpretation. She examines whether or not Paul's use of power presents an open or hidden re-inscription of hierarchical structures in what was previously a discipleship of equals. Paul and the Dynamics of Power questions whether such hierarchical tendencies are rightly identified within Paul's discourse of power. Furthermore it considers whether these are inherently and necessarily expressions of domination and control and are thus in opposition to a 'discipleship of equals'? In her careful analysis Ehrensperger draws on such wide-ranging figures as Derrida, Michel Foucault and James Scott. This enables fresh insights into Paul's use of authority and power in its first century context.

Download or read book The Book Tree written by Paul Czajak and published by Barefoot Books. This book was released on 2019-02-01 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When young Arlo accidentally drops a book on the Mayor’s head, the Mayor decides books are dangerous and destroys all the books in town! But thanks to Arlo’s imagination and perseverance, the Mayor finds that suppressing stories cannot stop them from blossoming more beautifully than ever. This timely allegorical tale will be a useful tool for starting conversations with children about the power of activism and the written word.

Download or read book St Paul on the Power of the Cross written by Mitch Pacwa and published by Our Sunday Visitor. This book was released on 2008 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God."" -- St. Paul, 1 Corinthians 1: 18"St. Paul returned to the theme of the Cross over and over again as he taught Christians about salvation and exhorted them to worship. As Bible scholar and popular EWTN host Fr. Mitch Pacwa unveils St. Paul's words, you'll discover just how profoundly the Cross affected this apostle, equipping him for evangelization and helping him overcome strife.With the help of Fr. Pacwa's focus and modern applications, you'll learn how Jesus Christ crucified is the wisdom of God, how the Cross itself reflects the power of God, and what this means for you: What is your cross, and how can you use it to better follow Jesus?How can you follow St. Paul's example in offering up sufferings to be united with Christ's Cross?How can the centrality of Jesus dying on the Cross help overcome divisions in the Christian Church today?Whether used for small-group study, interactive journaling, or personal spiritual growth, the easy-to-follow format of this study guide will inspire and enlighten you.

Download or read book Power in Weakness written by Timothy G. Gombis and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2021-02-02 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Envisioning cruciform community built on resurrection hope After Paul’s encounter with the risen Christ on the road to Damascus, he turned from coercion and violence to a ministry centered on the hope of Christ’s resurrection. In earthly terms, Paul had traded power for weakness. But—as he explained in his subsequent letters—this “weakness” was actually the key to flourishing community that is able to experience God’s transformation, restoration, and healing. What would it mean for pastors today to take seriously Paul’s exhortation in 1 Corinthians 11:1 to “imitate me as I imitate Christ” and lead their congregations in this way? Instead of drawing leadership principles and practices from the worlds of business, education, and politics—which tend to orient churches around institutional power and image maintenance—Timothy Gombis follows Paul in resisting the influence of the “present evil age” by making cruciformity the operating principle of the church. Gombis guides the reader through practices and patterns that can lead a congregation past a focus on individual salvation, toward becoming instead a site of resurrection power on earth.

Download or read book The Gospel s Power and Message written by Paul Washer and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the greatest crimes of this generation of Christians is our neglect of the gospel, and it is from this neglect that all our other maladies spring forth. Absent from too many pulpits are the essential themes that make up the very core of the gospel-the justice of God, the radical depravity of man, and the blood atonement. In The Gospel's Power and Message, Paul Washer addresses these essential elements of Christ's good news and provides a guide to help us rediscover the gospel in all its beauty, scandal, and saving power. May such a rediscovery transform your life, strengthen your proclamation, and bring the greatest glory to God. Book jacket.

Download or read book Space and Power written by Paul Hirst and published by Polity. This book was released on 2005-06-24 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This scholarly account of the various ways in which space is configured by power, and in which space becomes a resource for power, combines insights from social theory, politics, history and geography.

Download or read book The Emergence of Sin written by Matthew Croasmun and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We can have a sense that when we try to do right by one another, we aren't merely striving against ourselves. The feeling is that we are struggling against something--someone-else. As if there's a force-a person- that wishes us ill. In his letter to the Romans, the apostle Paul describes just such a person: Sin, a cosmic tyrant who constrains our moral freedom, confuses our moral judgment, and condemns us to slavery and to death. Commentators have long argued about whether Paul literally means to say Sin is a person or is simply indulging in literary personification, but regardless of Paul's intentions, for modern readers it would seem clear enough: there is no such thing as a cosmic tyrant. Surely it is more reasonable to suppose "Sin" is merely a colorful way of describing individual misdeeds or, at most, a way of evoking the intractability of our social ills. In The Emergence of Sin, Matthew Croasmun suggests we take another look. The vision of Sin he offers is at once scientific and theological, social and individual, corporeal and mythological. He argues both that the cosmic power Sin is nothing more than an emergent feature of a vast human network of transgression and that this power is nevertheless real, personal, and one whom we had better be ready to resist. Ultimately, what is on offer here is an account of the world re-mythologized at the hands of chemists, evolutionary biologists, sociologists, and entomologists. In this world, Paul's text is not a relic of a forgotten mythical past, but a field manual for modern living.

Download or read book Robbing Peter to Pay Paul written by Samuel Evan Milner and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2021-01-01 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Concentrated market power and the weakened sway of corporate stakeholders over management have emerged as leading concerns of American political economy. Samuel Milner provides a historical context for contemporary efforts to resolve these anxieties by examining the contest to control the distribution of corporate income during the mid-twentieth century. During this "Golden Age of American Capitalism," apprehension about the debilitating consequences of industrial concentration fueled efforts to ensure that management would share the fruits of progress with workers, consumers, and society as a whole. Focusing on wage and price determination in steel, automobiles, and electrical equipment, Milner reveals how the management of concentrated industries understood its ability to distribute income to its stakeholders as well as why economists, courts, and public policymakers struggled to curtail the exercise of that market power at its source.

Download or read book Places of Power written by Paul Devereux and published by Blandford Press. This book was released on 1999 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Delve into ancient cultures and rituals to see how "places of power" -- standing stones, earth lights, monuments, holy hills and mountains -- became associated with healing, visions, omens of natural disaster, altered states of consciousness, and as doorways to other worlds. Find out what role such phenomena as background radioactivity and natural magnetism play in explaining the magic assigned to various locations, and discover the many mysteries that still remain to be solved. An extraordinary study, based on years of research.