Galatians and James Mission and Identity in Early Christianity (BN9209T)

Content

This unit provides an in-depth exegetical study of the NT epistles known as Galatians and James, with a particular focus on the themes of mission and identity. The study of these letters will begin with an examination of the social setting from which they emerged, examining them as literary arguments for a particular theological understanding of emerging Christian identity and early Christian mission. This unit will also consider how these letters continue to offer a model for the contemporary church and modern understandings of mission and identity.

Learning outcomes

Unit sequence

30 points of NT study

Pedagogy

6 fortnightly sessions online. Each session consists of the teacher's multi-media lessons augmented by the set texts, online forums and tasks.

Indicative Bibliography

• Allen, Roland. Missionary Methods: St Paul’s or Ours? 2 ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1962.
• Betz, Hans Dieter. Galatians (Hermeneia). Philadelphia: Fortress, 1979.
• Boer, Martinus de. Galatians: A Commentary. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011.
• Campbell, D. A. “Galatians 5.11: Evidence of an early law-observant mission by Paul?”, New Testament Studies, 57/3 (2011), 325-347.
• Davids, Peter H. “The Test of Wealth” in Bruce Chilton & Craig Evans (eds), The Missions of James, Peter, and Paul: Tensions in Early Christianity (Supplements to Novum Testamentum 115. Leiden: Brill, 2005), 355-84.
• Davids, Peter H. The Epistle of James: A Commentary on the Greek Text. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982.
• Dibelius, Martin. James: A Commentary on the Epistle of James. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1976.
• Dowd, Sharon. “Faith that Works: James 2:14-26”, Review and Expositor 97 (2000), 195-205.
• Joubert, Stephan, “Homo Reciprocus No More: The ‘Missional’ Nature of Faith in James” in Kok, Jacobus et al. Sensitivity Towards Outsiders: Exploring the Dynamic Relationship Between Mission and Ethics in the New Testament and Early Christianity WUNT 2/36 (Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2014), 382-400.
• Kamell, Mariam. “James 1:27 and the Church’s Call to Mission and Morals”, CRUX 46/4 (2010), 15-22.
• King, Fergus J. “Mission-Shaped or Paul-Shaped? Apostolic Challenges to the Mission-Shaped Church. Journal of Anglican Studies* 9/2 (2011), 223-46.
• Martyn, J. Louis. Galatians: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. New York: Doubleday, 1997.
• Maxwell, David R. “Justified by Works and not by Faith Alone: Reconciling Paul and James”, Concordia Journal 33/4 (2007), 375-78.
• Moo, Yarbrough and Stein. Galatians. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2013.
• Nissen, Johannes. New Testament and Mission: Historical and Hermeneutical Perspectives. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang International Academic Publishers, 2006.
• O'Neill. John C., "Paul’s Missionary Strategy," Irish Biblical Studies 19.4 (Oct. 1997), 174-190.
• Oakes, Peter, Galatians (Paideia Commentaries on the New Testament). Grand Rapids: Baker, 2012. (recommended for purchase)
• Painter, John, and DeSilva, David A., James and Jude (Paideia Commentaries on the New Testament). Grand Rapids: Baker, 2012. (recommended for purchase)
• Plummer, Robert L. & Terry, John Mark (eds), Paul’s Missionary Methods in His Time and Ours. Nottingham: IVP, 2012.
• Schnabel, Eckhard J. Paul the Missionary: Realities, Strategies and Methods. Nottingham: Apollos, 2008.
• Stendahl, Krister. “The Apostle Paul and the Introspective Conscience of the West.” The Harvard Theological Review, vol. 56/3 (1963), 199–215.
• Thang, Khaw, “The Significance of James’ ‘Works’ and Paul’s ‘Faith’ for Evangelical and Non-Evangelical Christians in Myanmar: An Exegetical Study of James 2:14-26 and Romans 3:21-28”, AJPS 18:2 (2015), 23-51.
• Wright, N.T. “Paul and Missional Hermeneutics” in Scot McKnight & Joseph B. Modica (eds), The Apostle Paul and the Christian Life: Ethical and Missional Implications of the New Perspective. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2016. 179-92.

Assessment