Content

This unit will examine the call of the church to participate in the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus according to Paul’s letters. The students will study key passages in Romans, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians and other Pauline letters concerning the call of the church to be conformed to the crucified Christ. The unit will explore the concept of participation in Christ and its interrelationship with the mission of the first-century house churches in the Pauline corpus. It will specifically study the outworking of the corporate life of cruciform multicultural Christ-communities, which includes hospitality, economic justice, peace-making, faithful witness, and the embodiment of the justice of God in the context of the Roman Empire and the world today.

Unit code: BN9009W

Unit status: Approved (Major revision)

Points: 24.0

Unit level: Postgraduate Elective

Unit discipline: New Testament

Delivery Mode: Face to Face

Proposing College: Whitley College

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Learning outcomes

1.

Articulate Paul’s understanding of conformity with the crucified Christ and its relationship to the call and mission of the church.

2.

Critically analyse relevant texts in the Pauline corpus in their rhetorical and socio-historical context.

3.

Identify and articulate elements of Pauline thought and teaching that are interconnected with participation in Christ’s death and resurrection

4.

Critically evaluate the concept of “participation in Christ” in view of recent developments in Pauline scholarship

5.

Critically discuss the implications of the Pauline concept of conformity with the crucified Christ for the mission of the church today

Unit sequence

Foundation unit in New Testament (BN8001W or equivalent)

Pedagogy

Lectures and class discussion

Indicative Bibliography

  • Blackwell, Ben C. Christosis: Pauline Soteriology in Light of Deification in Irenaeus and Cyril of Alexandria. WUNT 2.314. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2011.
  • Campbell, Constantine R. Paul and Union with Christ: An Exegetical and Theological Study. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012.
  • Davey, Wesley Thomas. Suffering as Participation with Christ in the Pauline Corpus. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Academic, 2019.
  • Gorman, Michael J. Cruciformity: Paul’s Narrative Spirituality of the Cross. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001.
  • Gorman, Michael J. Becoming the Gospel: Paul, Participation, and Mission. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2015.
  • Gorman, Michael J. Participation in Christ. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2019.
  • Hooker, Morna D. From Adam to Christ: Essays on Paul. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990.
  • Hooker, Morna D., and Frances M. Young. Holiness and Mission: Learning from the Early Church About Mission in the City. London: SCM Press, 2010.
  • Macaskill, Grant. Union with Christ in the New Testament. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.
  • Wu, Siu Fung, ed. Suffering in Paul. Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2019.

Assessment

Type Description Word count Weight (%)

Variant 1

Exegetical Essay

Exegetical essay

3500 40.0
Tutorial Paper/Seminar Paper

Tutorial Paper/Seminar Paper

1000 20.0
Essay

Thematic essay

3500 40.0

Variant 2

Exegetical Essay

Exegetical essay

3500 40.0
Forum

Online Forum Posts

1000 20.0
Essay

Thematic Essay

3500 40.0
Approvals

Unit approved for the University of Divinity by Maggie Kappelhoff on 23 Sep, 2020

Unit record last updated: 2021-06-07 08:43:51 +1000