Category Archives: Index

We’ve seen that both Thompson and Hauerwas find that mission is built not on the individual and not on benevolence or evangelism but on the ethics of the congregation. Thompson finds this in Paul’s epistles. Hauerwas finds it in the … Continue reading →

When I first started reading Thompson’s The Church according to Paul: Rediscovering the Community Conformed to Christ, I thought it was going to be a Neo-Anabaptist book. “Neo-Anabaptist” refers to a movement led by John Howard Yoder and Stanley Hauerwas, … Continue reading →

Thompson’s book, The Church according to Paul: Rediscovering the Community Conformed to Christ, is top-notch theology. The problem with the book is that it’s really nothing but top-notch theology. Thompson doesn’t offer anything in the way of examples or illustrations. Now, … Continue reading →

Christopher J. H. Wright lists as one of the church’s mission the teaching of new converts. This includes teaching, baptizing, and nurturing new believers. In the Churches of Christ, we have a strong tradition of teaching and baptizing. Nurturing, however, is … Continue reading →

Thompson reaches a conclusion very different from Christopher Wright’s — For Paul the missio Dei is the transformation of a people into the image of Christ. The church is the new humanity, which is now being transformed. Paul’s mission is … Continue reading →

Several years ago, “spiritual formation” was all the rage. The movement was built on — (Gal. 4:18-19 ESV) 18 It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and not only when I am present with … Continue reading →

At his Jesus Creed blog, Scot McKnight has posted a quick review of James W. Thompson’s The Church according to Paul. Thompson is right: we need to begin, if we want to understand Paul and the church, with this corporate … Continue reading →

Christopher Wright’s outline of mission is very sensible, and there’s much to support it in scripture. But there are problems, too. Thompson points out some difficult truths that force us to add a layer of nuance. And we American Christians … Continue reading →

We’ll return to Thompson’s book shortly. I want to digress just a hair to cover Wright’s understanding of mission so we can then reflect on the two differing perspectives. In a recent lecture, Wright broke mission down into five elements: … Continue reading →