Being Conformed to Christ in Community: A Study of Maturity, Maturation and the Local Church in the Undisputed Pauline Epistles

by James G. Samra

Overview

This work explores Paul's conception of maturity, paying special attention to the maturation process and the role of the local church in facilitating this process. Although central to Paul's theology, maturity is often overlooked in Pauline studies. An exegetical-theological study of the seven generally accepted epistles, this work makes heuristic use of three studies for the purpose of illuminating Paul's thoughts regarding maturity: a survey of modern psychology, and analyses of the communities of Qumran and of the Therapeutae.




Samra argues that Paul understood his apostolic commission to involve delivering mature believers on the day of Christ. Samra suggests that the central motif of Pauline maturity is conformity of believers to the image of Christ and that believers' attitudes and actions become aligned with those exhibited by Christ, who provides the defining standard of maturity for Paul.




For Paul there are five means used by the Spirit to conform believers to the image of Christ, which Samra presents and analyzes as components of the maturation process, namely: identifying with Christ, enduring suffering, experiencing the presence of God, receiving and living out wisdom from God, and imitating a godly example.



Samra concludes by arguing that Paul expected the local church to facilitate maturation so that believers' participation in a local assembly would result in their being conformed to Christ. The church does this by facilitating the five components of the maturation process.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780567043542
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	08/25/2006
Series:	The Library of New Testament Studies , #320
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.69(d)

About the Author

Rev. Dr. James G. Samra is Senior Minister at Calvary Church in Grand Rapids, USA. He earned a doctor of philosophy in New Testament from Oxford University and a masters of theology from Dallas Theological Seminary.

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1INTRODUCTION1 1.2CHOICE AND CLARIFICATION OF TERMINOLOGY 1.3THE NEED FOR THIS STUDY 1.4SCOPE AND TYPE OF STUDY 1.5THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE GROUP IN PAUL: AN INTRODUCTORY ISSUE 1.6OVERVIEW AND ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS CHAPTER 2: HEURISTIC STUDIES: MODERN PSYCHOLOGY, QUMRAN AND THE THERAPEUTAE48 2.1 INTRODUCTION 2.2 MODERN PSYCHOLOGY 2.3 THE QUMRAN COMMUNITY 2.4 THE THERAPEUTAE CHAPTER 3: THE MATURATIONAL ASPECT OF PAUL'S APOSTOLIC COMMISSION 3.1INTRODUCTION 3.2CENTRAL PASSAGES FOR PAUL'S UNDERSTANDING OF HIS MISSION 3.3FURTHER PASSAGES 3.4MOSES AS A MODEL FOR PAUL 3.5CHURCH AND THE MATURATIONAL ASPECT OF PAUL'S COMMISSION 3.6CONCLUSION CHAPTER 4: GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING MATURITY AND MATURATION 4.1 INTRODUCTION 4.2MARKS OF MATURITY 4.3CHRIST AS THE STANDARD OF MATURITY 4.4MATURING AS A PROCESS 4.5 CONCLUSION CHAPTER 5: THE CENTRAL MOTIF OF MATURITY: CONFORMITY TO THE IMAGE OF CHRIST 5.1INTRODUCTION 5.2EXEGESIS OF TEXTS 5.3ANALYSIS OF THE MOTIF OF CONFORMITY TO THE IMAGE OF CHRIST 5.4CONFORMITY TO CHRIST AS CENTRAL TO PAUL'S THEOLOGY AND THE CENTRAL MOTIF OF MATURITY 5.5CONCLUSION CHAPTER 6: COMPONENTS OF THE MATURATION PROCESS 6.1 INTRODUCTION 6.2IDENTIFYING WITH CHRIST 6.3 ENDURING SUFFERING 6.4EXPERIENCING THE PRESENCE OF GOD 6.5RECEIVING AND LIVING OUT WISDOM FROM GOD 6.6IMITATING A GODLY EXAMPLE 6.7 CONCLUSION CHAPTER 7: THE ROLE OF THE LOCAL COMMUNITY IN THE MATURATION PROCESS 7.1INTRODUCTION 7.2PAUL'S THEOLOGICAL CONCEPTION OF CHURCH 7.3 PAUL'S EXPECTATION FOR THE LOCAL COMMUNITY: AN EXAMINATION OF 1 CORINTHIANS 7.4THE LOCAL CHURCH AND THE COMPONENTS OF THE MATURATION PROCESS 7.5CONCLUSION CHAPTER 8: CONCLUSIONS

Editorial Reviews

mention- The Chronicle of Higher Education/ October 13, 2006

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