Theology on the Run: Apocalyptic Pastoral Theology in Paul's Thessalonian Letters
Writing a study in apocalyptic pastoral theology may sound like an exercise in "performative self-contradiction." But such an endeavor reminds us that the imminent expectation of the Lord’s return, a pervasive hope in the first generation of the Jesus movement, is not an embarrassing, superfluous doctrine of little value to ordinary Christian life. Against the assumptions of many in the guild of New Testament studies, it was not Paul but Jesus himself who first gave Christian theology its apocalyptic urgency. From its very beginnings, then, Christian theology was "theology on the run."

This was true for Paul, who penned his correspondence to Thessalonica while literally "on the run" from the city. Joining a long line of readers of these letters, Jamie Davies explores how Paul’s eschatological conviction, together with convictions about epistemology and cosmology, constituted his "apocalyptic DNA," shaping every aspect of his thinking and practice. Through study of these contours of Paul’s apocalyptic thought, Theology on the Run brings forward Paul in pastoral mode as he addresses the challenges of life in the "real world" of the fledgling Thessalonian church. A consideration of what Paul’s apocalyptic thought might mean for his work as a practical and pastoral theologian in first-century Macedonia, concerned with planting and sustaining faithful churches in tumultuous times, presents a compelling argument for how and why those engaged in the ministry of the church today, and those who teach them, need an appreciation of Paul’s apocalyptic pastoral theology in our own efforts to do "theology on the run."

Readers of Paul often cite Ernst Käsemann’s maxim that apocalyptic eschatology was the "mother of Christian theology." To this Davies adds another: "Christian ethics is lived-out eschatology." At the center of any account of ethics, of which pastoral theology is part, is the question of metaphysics—what is the "real world"? In the Thessalonian letters we see Paul bringing the apocalyptic reality of the new creation to bear on the pastoral situation in Thessalonica, facing challenges of grief, work, sex, truth, power, and oppression—enduring challenges for the church today. Paul meets these challenges by reframing them according to his apocalyptic gospel. As such, he demonstrates a pastoral theology that challenges us to think beyond Christian glosses on human philosophic traditions or social-psychological practices through the unbreakable relationship between this apocalyptic gospel and ministerial practice.

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Theology on the Run: Apocalyptic Pastoral Theology in Paul's Thessalonian Letters
Writing a study in apocalyptic pastoral theology may sound like an exercise in "performative self-contradiction." But such an endeavor reminds us that the imminent expectation of the Lord’s return, a pervasive hope in the first generation of the Jesus movement, is not an embarrassing, superfluous doctrine of little value to ordinary Christian life. Against the assumptions of many in the guild of New Testament studies, it was not Paul but Jesus himself who first gave Christian theology its apocalyptic urgency. From its very beginnings, then, Christian theology was "theology on the run."

This was true for Paul, who penned his correspondence to Thessalonica while literally "on the run" from the city. Joining a long line of readers of these letters, Jamie Davies explores how Paul’s eschatological conviction, together with convictions about epistemology and cosmology, constituted his "apocalyptic DNA," shaping every aspect of his thinking and practice. Through study of these contours of Paul’s apocalyptic thought, Theology on the Run brings forward Paul in pastoral mode as he addresses the challenges of life in the "real world" of the fledgling Thessalonian church. A consideration of what Paul’s apocalyptic thought might mean for his work as a practical and pastoral theologian in first-century Macedonia, concerned with planting and sustaining faithful churches in tumultuous times, presents a compelling argument for how and why those engaged in the ministry of the church today, and those who teach them, need an appreciation of Paul’s apocalyptic pastoral theology in our own efforts to do "theology on the run."

Readers of Paul often cite Ernst Käsemann’s maxim that apocalyptic eschatology was the "mother of Christian theology." To this Davies adds another: "Christian ethics is lived-out eschatology." At the center of any account of ethics, of which pastoral theology is part, is the question of metaphysics—what is the "real world"? In the Thessalonian letters we see Paul bringing the apocalyptic reality of the new creation to bear on the pastoral situation in Thessalonica, facing challenges of grief, work, sex, truth, power, and oppression—enduring challenges for the church today. Paul meets these challenges by reframing them according to his apocalyptic gospel. As such, he demonstrates a pastoral theology that challenges us to think beyond Christian glosses on human philosophic traditions or social-psychological practices through the unbreakable relationship between this apocalyptic gospel and ministerial practice.

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Theology on the Run: Apocalyptic Pastoral Theology in Paul's Thessalonian Letters

Theology on the Run: Apocalyptic Pastoral Theology in Paul's Thessalonian Letters

Theology on the Run: Apocalyptic Pastoral Theology in Paul's Thessalonian Letters

Theology on the Run: Apocalyptic Pastoral Theology in Paul's Thessalonian Letters

Overview

Writing a study in apocalyptic pastoral theology may sound like an exercise in "performative self-contradiction." But such an endeavor reminds us that the imminent expectation of the Lord’s return, a pervasive hope in the first generation of the Jesus movement, is not an embarrassing, superfluous doctrine of little value to ordinary Christian life. Against the assumptions of many in the guild of New Testament studies, it was not Paul but Jesus himself who first gave Christian theology its apocalyptic urgency. From its very beginnings, then, Christian theology was "theology on the run."

This was true for Paul, who penned his correspondence to Thessalonica while literally "on the run" from the city. Joining a long line of readers of these letters, Jamie Davies explores how Paul’s eschatological conviction, together with convictions about epistemology and cosmology, constituted his "apocalyptic DNA," shaping every aspect of his thinking and practice. Through study of these contours of Paul’s apocalyptic thought, Theology on the Run brings forward Paul in pastoral mode as he addresses the challenges of life in the "real world" of the fledgling Thessalonian church. A consideration of what Paul’s apocalyptic thought might mean for his work as a practical and pastoral theologian in first-century Macedonia, concerned with planting and sustaining faithful churches in tumultuous times, presents a compelling argument for how and why those engaged in the ministry of the church today, and those who teach them, need an appreciation of Paul’s apocalyptic pastoral theology in our own efforts to do "theology on the run."

Readers of Paul often cite Ernst Käsemann’s maxim that apocalyptic eschatology was the "mother of Christian theology." To this Davies adds another: "Christian ethics is lived-out eschatology." At the center of any account of ethics, of which pastoral theology is part, is the question of metaphysics—what is the "real world"? In the Thessalonian letters we see Paul bringing the apocalyptic reality of the new creation to bear on the pastoral situation in Thessalonica, facing challenges of grief, work, sex, truth, power, and oppression—enduring challenges for the church today. Paul meets these challenges by reframing them according to his apocalyptic gospel. As such, he demonstrates a pastoral theology that challenges us to think beyond Christian glosses on human philosophic traditions or social-psychological practices through the unbreakable relationship between this apocalyptic gospel and ministerial practice.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781481324502
Publisher: Baylor University Press
Publication date: 10/15/2025
Pages: 254
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Jamie Davies is Tutor in New Testament and Director of Postgraduate Research at Trinity College, Bristol.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Susan Grove Eastman
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Bridging the Apocalyptic and the Pastoral
Part 1 Paul as an Apocalyptic Pastoral Theologian
1 Paul as an Apocalyptic Theologian
2 Paul as a Pastoral Theologian
Part 2 Apocalyptic Pastoral Theology in the Thessalonian Letters
3 The Word of the Lord and Christian Formation: Paul’s Apocalyptic and Pastoral Epistemology
4 The Coming of the Lord and the Christian Life: Paul’s Apocalyptic and Pastoral Eschatology
5 The Triumph of the Lord and the Christian Struggle: Paul’s Apocalyptic and Pastoral Cosmology
Conclusion: Paul’s Apocalyptic Theology and Pastoral Ministry in the "‘Real World"’

What People are Saying About This

Chris Tilling

What has apocalyptic to do with pastoral theology, and with the Thessalonians letters, for that matter? As Davies compellingly shows, far more than we’ve imagined! This learned, elegantly written, and theologically incisive book is a word in season. Up-to-date and cutting-edge in its engagement, Theology on the Run is not a book you’ll want to miss; you should be running to read it.

John M.G. Barclay

Written with verve, and positioned at the intersection of exegesis, theology, and pastoral care, this much-needed exploration of the Thessalonian letters is a highly significant contribution to scholarship.  Fresh dimensions of the "apocalyptic" Paul emerge here with new conceptual clarity, equipped with a sharp critique of inadequate conceptions of pastoral theology.  This is a book to be warmly welcomed and deeply pondered.

Lisa Bowens

In this timely and stimulating monograph, Jamie Davies provides a provocative analysis of Paul’s apocalyptic pastoral theology in 1-2 Thessalonians. With exegetical skill, theological acumen, and pastoral sensitivity, Davies brings together areas not commonly linked—apocalyptic theology, pastoral theology, and scriptural interpretation, and in doing so demonstrates the "intersections of Paul’s apocalyptic gospel with real lives." This book is an important interdisciplinary contribution to the field of Pauline studies, offering noteworthy insights for the apocalyptic Paul conversation.

Philip G. Ziegler

Davies’ fine study offers a rich and insightful reading of the Thessalonian letters at whose heart is the question: what does Paul’s apocalyptic gospel have to do with ethical life? The compelling answers he offers are distilled from ancient texts made freshly audible for us today, texts which attest the ‘real world’ of the gospel in which ‘real human lives’ can and are lived out in faith. This is an important contribution to biblical studies, to the development of ‘apocalyptic theology’, as well as to properly evangelical reflection on the stuff of the Christian life.

L. Ann Jervis

With wisdom and sensitivity, Davies brings his exegetical excellence and sophisticated understanding of Paul’s apocalyptic theology into vital conversation with the life of the church today. A help for all of us.

Beverly Roberts Gaventa

"What good is Paul in the real world?" For Jamie Davies, it is Paul who sees the "real" world, the world as revealed in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Theology on the Run makes important contributions on several fronts, including Davies’s rich discussion of Paul’s "apocalyptic DNA," his probing readings of the often-sidelined Thessalonian correspondence, and his insistence that genuine pastoral theology begins with God’s disclosure of that "realer" world. While required reading for specialists, pastors will find much here that instructs and encourages.

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