Provision for the poor and the mission of the church: Ancient appeals and contemporary viability

HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies

Christopher M. Hays¹ 

[1] Faculty of Theology, University of Oxford;

关键词: Mission;    ethics;    Paul;    wealth ethics;   

DOI  :  10.4102/hts.v68i1.1218

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Composed for the 2011 Prestige FOCUS Conference on Mission and Ethics at the University ofPretoria, this essay addressed the interrelationship between the New Testament conception ofmission and one of the most significant moral topics in Scripture: the provision for the needy.In keeping with the investigative focus of the conference, the article began with an exegeticalanalysis of Matthew, Luke, the Pauline Epistles, James, and 1 John, demonstrating thatgenerosity to the poor is an integral feature of these authors’ understanding of mission. Thesecond half of the article investigated the rhetorical and theological strategies utilised by theaforementioned New Testament authors in motivating their readership to charitable action.Without aiming to be exhaustive, the article identified ten different strategies utilised by theNew Testament texts in question: the authority of Jesus, the imitation of Christ, the theologyof the cross, the imitation of the saints, equality, eschatological punishment, eschatologicalreward, earthly blessings, observing the Law, and love. The author not only described theways in which these appeals functioned, but evaluated to what degrees and in which 21stcentury global Christian contexts these various appeals might be effective in motivatingcontemporary expressions of provision for the needy.

【 授权许可】

Unknown