This dissertation attempts to illuminate the significance of what has been called the "coworkers"
for Paul's mission. At the same time it revises the traditional portrait of Paul as a
"lone ranger", not properly understood and appreciated by others. Thus the focus is on the
way in which Paul together with his co-workers as his missionary partners achieved the
various tasks of early Chrisian mission, namely the proclamation of the gospel and the
consolidation of churches. This phenomenon is best described with the German term
Kollegialmission, i.e. a mission carried by a team of colleagues.
A survey of research is followed by a detailed analysis of this phenomenon in the letters
commonly recognised as written by Paul himself. In additon to explicit statements on the
co-workers, attention is also given to implicit references, e.g. verb forms in the first person
plural which appear in some letters and contribute to understanding this Kollegialmission.
Then the same methodological procedure is applied to the disputed letters of Paul. A final
chapter examines the portrait of Paul and his co-workers in the Book of Acts.
This dissertation demonstrates that this understanding and practice of Kollegialmission
was a central point in Paul's mission and self-understanding. His co-workers receive their
commission and authority from God, to whom they are responsible. The gospel constitutes
the foundation for this cooperation between Paul and his co-workers. Thus the co-workers
perform the same duties as Paul himself, though his special apostolate remains in place.
The picture of the Kollegialmission in the Deuteropauline letters differs only slightly from
that of the letters generally recognised as Paul's own. As the author of Acts is mainly
interested in the person of Paul, his co-workers appear increasingly on the backstage as the
story unfolds. This examination closes with an application of some principles of Paul's
Kollegialmission to present day congregational ministry and mission work. / Theology / M.Th.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/1848 |
| Date | 30 April 2006 |
| Creators | Drews, Alexander |
| Contributors | Craffert, Pieter F., Stenschke, Christoph |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
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