Emerging Leadership in the Pauline Mission: A Social Identity Perspective on Local Leadership Development in Corinth and Ephesus

by Jack Barentsen, Philip Francis Esler (Foreword by)

Overview

Where did Paul find leaders for his new churches? How did he instruct and develop them? What processes took place to stabilize the churches and institute their new leadership? This book carves a fresh trail in leadership studies by looking at leadership development from a group-dynamic, social identity perspective. Paul engages the cultural leadership patterns of his key local leaders, publicly affirming, correcting, and improving those patterns to conform to a Christlike pattern of sacrificial service. Paul's own life and ministry offer a motivational and authoritative model for his followers, because he embodies the leadership style he teaches. As a practical theologian avant la lettre, Paul contextualizes key theological themes to strengthen community and leadership formation, and equips his church leaders as entrepreneurs of Christian identity. A careful comparison of the Corinthian and Ephesian churches demonstrates a similar overall pattern of development. This study engages Pauline scholarship on church office in depth and offers alternative readings of five Pauline epistles, generating new insights to enrich dogmatic and practical theological reflection. In a society where many churches reflect on their missional calling, such input from the NT for contemporary Christian leadership formation is direly needed.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781630878139
Publisher:	Wipf & Stock Publishers
Publication date:	08/04/2011
Series:	Princeton Theological Monograph Series , #168
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	396
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Jack Barentsen was born and raised in the Netherlands, served as missionary church planter in his native country and now serves as Associate Professor and Chair of Practical Theology at the Evangelische Theologische Faculteit at Leuven, Belgium (www.etf.edu). He also serves as Senior Research Fellow of the Institute of Leadership and Ethics at ETF, speaking on leadership and offering consulting services to church leadership teams.
Professor Philip F. Esler, FRSE, DD (Oxon) is Portland Chair in New Testament Studies and Director of the International Centre for Biblical Interpretation at the University of Gloucestershire. He is the author of Conflict and Identity in Romans (2003) and New Testament Theology (2005), and he is the editor of Ancient Israel (2006).

Table of Contents

List of Tables and Figures x

Foreword Philip Esler xi

Preface xv

Abbreviations xvii

1 Introduction 1

Developing Patterns of Leadership

Pauline Correspondence to Corinth and Ephesus

The Social Identity Model of Leadership

Definitions

The Plan of the Book

2 The Ideological Challenge of Church Leadership Studies 16

Beginnings

Modern Historical Scholarship and Denominational Ideology

The Turn to the Social Sciences

Rethinking Leadership in Terms of the First Century

Authority and Ideology in a Group Context

The Challenge to Integrate Social and Ideological Factors

3 The Social Identity Model of Leadership 32

Foundations of the Social Identity Approach

Social Identification Processes

Leaders as (Competing) Managers of Social Identity

Developing Leadership Patterns

Conclusion: The Social Identity Model of Leadership

4 Realigning Emerging Leadership with Christian Social Identity in 1 Corinthians 75

Situating the Corinthian Correspondence in Paul's Ministry

Social Identification in the Corinthian Community in 55 C.E.

The Corinthian Leaders as Managers of Christian Social Identity

Paul's Leadership as Identity Management

The Development of Local Leadership Patterns at Corinth in 55 C.E.

Conclusions

5 Reescablishing Paul's Leadership as Model in 2 Corinthians 112

Situating 2 Corinthians in Paul's Ministry

Social Identification in the Corinthian Community in 56 C.E.

The Corinthian Leaders as Managers of Christian Social Identity

Paul's Leadership as Identity Management

The Development of Local Leadership Patterns at Corinth in 56 C.E.

Conclusions

6 Leadership Legitimation and Empowerment in Ephesians 141

Situating Ephesians in Paul's Ministry

Social Identification in the Ephesian Community in 61 C.E.

The Ephesian Leaders as Managers of Christian Social Identity

Paul's Leadership as Identity Management

The Development of Local Leadership Patterns at Ephesus in 61 C.E.

Conclusions

7 Structuring Leadership and Group Participation in Timothy 184

Excursus: The Authorship and Social Context of 1—2 Timothy

Situating 1 Timothy in Paul's Ministry

Social Identification in the Ephesian Community in 63 C.E.

The Ephesian Leaders as Managers of Christian Social Identity

Pauls Leadership as Identity Management

The Development of Local Leadership Patterns at Ephesus in 63 C.E.

Conclusions

8 Correcting Leadership Misconceptions and Establishing Succession in 2 Timothy 252

Situating 2 Timothy in Paul's Ministry

Social Identification in the Ephesian Community in 66 C.E.

The Ephesian Leaders as Managers of Christian Social Identity

Paul's Leadership as Identity Management

The Development of Local Leadership Patterns at Ephesus in 66 C.E.

Conclusions

9 Conclusions and Implications: Emerging Leadership in the Pauline Mission 290

Developing Leadership Patterns in Corinth and Ephesus

Comparison of Leadership Patterns in Corinth and Ephesus

Paul's Advocacy of Uniform Patterns of Leadership

Implications for Further Research

Paul: Social Strategist, Situational Theologian

Bibliography 327

Author Index 347

Subject Index 355

Scripture Index 369

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"In this highly readably text, Jack Barentsen rises to the challenging task of using the latest thinking on the psychology of leadership to provide a thoroughgoing, fresh, and highly convincing analysis of leadership in early Pauline communities. The result is not only an excellent theological monograph, but also a model of integrative scholarship that is much more than the sum of its theological and psychological parts. Indeed, as a forensic case study of leadership this is very hard to beat—and there is more to be learned from this volume than in the greater part of the vast managerial literature on this topic."
—Alexander Haslam
School of Psychology
University of Exeter

"This volume offers a thorough account of the history of Pauline scholarship of local church leadership, together with the most extensive and detailed investigation into the development of such leadership across two ancient cities associated with the Pauline mission: Corinth and Ephesus. It concludes by offering a consistent portrait of leadership development, together with some wide-ranging implications both for this very important historical field, but also for modern-day church leaders. This is a most welcome study."
—Andrew Clarke
Divinity and Religious Studies
University of Aberdeen

"Jack Barentsen's Emerging Leadership in the Pauline Mission fills a large gap in our current understanding of the organizational arrangements and leadership models utilized by the first followers of Jesus. This impressive monograph is well researched, erudite in formulation, and provocative in its conclusions. I believe that it will become a standard text for students of organizational leadership in the early Church."
—Corne J. Bekker
Professor of Biblical and Ecclesial Leadership
Regent University

Editorial Reviews

"In this highly readably text, Jack Barentsen rises to the challenging task of using the latest thinking on the psychology of leadership to provide a thoroughgoing, fresh, and highly convincing analysis of leadership in early Pauline communities. The result is not only an excellent theological monograph, but also a model of integrative scholarship that is much more than the sum of its theological and psychological parts. Indeed, as a forensic case study of leadership this is very hard to beat—and there is more to be learned from this volume than in the greater part of the vast managerial literature on this topic."
—Alexander Haslam
School of Psychology
University of Exeter

"This volume offers a thorough account of the history of Pauline scholarship of local church leadership, together with the most extensive and detailed investigation into the development of such leadership across two ancient cities associated with the Pauline mission: Corinth and Ephesus. It concludes by offering a consistent portrait of leadership development, together with some wide-ranging implications both for this very important historical field, but also for modern-day church leaders. This is a most welcome study."
—Andrew Clarke
Divinity and Religious Studies
University of Aberdeen

"Jack Barentsen's Emerging Leadership in the Pauline Mission fills a large gap in our current understanding of the organizational arrangements and leadership models utilized by the first followers of Jesus. This impressive monograph is well researched, erudite in formulation, and provocative in its conclusions. I believe that it will become a standard text for students of organizational leadership in the early Church."
—Corne J. Bekker
Professor of Biblical and Ecclesial Leadership
Regent University

From the Publisher