Secular And Christian Leadership In Corinth

This volume traces the secular influences of first-century Roman Corinth on the local church leadership. It then shows how Paul modifies the Corinthian understanding of church leadership. Using 1 Corinthians 1-6 together with other first-century literary and non-literary sources, it is argued that one of Paul's major concerns with the church in Corinth is the extent to which significant members in the church were employing secular categories and perceptions of leadership in the Christian community. this updated edition also seeks to reflect on recent developments in 1 Corinthians scholarship.

This volume traces the influences of first century Corinthian secular leadership on local church leadership as reflected in 1 Corinthians 1-6. It then shows how Paul modifies the Corinthian understanding of church leadership. By comparing secular leadership in first century Corinthian society with leadership in the Corinthian church, it has been argued that one of Paul's major concerns with the church in Corinth is the extent to which significant members in the church were employing secular categories and perceptions of leadership in the Christian community. This volume has adopted the method of assessing the New Testament evidence in the light of its social and historical background. Both literary and non-literary sources, rather than modern sociological models, were employed in making the comparison.

As progressivism, identity politics, and moral relativism engulf our nation, Christians find themselves living in an increasingly hostile environment. This current state of affairs has many feeling disillusioned and helpless. Combined with escalating governmental intervention, a deepening racial divide, and a declining moral base, many are finding it more difficult to live by one's faith. Never before in our nation's history has Christianity faced such a hostile environment. In Leading in a Secular World, Richard A. Hardy defines biblical leadership principles to overcome the challenges of leading in this troublesome climate. Founded upon Jesus's last prayer before His crucifixion, these principles define the purpose and goal of biblical leadership. When paired with supporting biblical truths, these concepts will bring clarity to the social chaos we are now witnessing and healing to strained race relations. This book was written for any Christian interested in turning our nation back to God and making a difference in the communities in which they live. It is a practical guide to establish, reinvigorate, and transform your leadership. These concepts will support current leaders and empower a generation of future ones.

Hansen argues that unity formula employed in Gal 3.28, 1 Cor 12.13 and Col 3.11 offers equality between competing social groups.

Scholarly studies consider Paul's views on leadership tend to fall into one of three camps: 1) the historical development view, which in large measure identifies developments in church practice with developments in Pauline and deutero-Pauline ecclesiology; 2) the synchronic, historical reconstruction, typically making use of Graeco-Roman, social context sources, or social-scientific modelling, focusing on a single congregation, and sometimes distinguishing between the situation to which Paul was responding and the pattern he sought to impose; and 3) the theological/hermeneutical analysis, identifying Paul's particular approach to power and authority, often independently of any detailed reconstruction of the situations to which Paul was responding. Andrew Clarke has explored in an earlier work, Serve the Community of the Church (Eerdmans, 2000), the distinctive, local and historical situations in the various Pauline communities and concluded that there is no evidence that they organised themselves according to a common set of governmental structures which clearly developed with the passage of time. Rather each community was influenced by its own localized, social and cultural context. The present project builds on this, and necessarily focuses on leadership style rather than church order. It seeks to recover from Paul's critical responses, his generic ethos of church leadership, including the ideal qualities, characteristics and task of leaders and the nature of appropriate interaction and engagement with church members. In the light of current, theoretical discussions about power and gender, the study focuses particularly on Paul's attitude towards hierarchy, egalitarianism, authority, responsibility and privilege.

Understanding Christian Leadership offers an examination of a distinctly Christian understanding of leadership offering a critical appraisal of insights from secular theories of leadership, exploring biblical and other theological insights into the nature and practice of leadership. Whilst arguing for a form of leadership which is widely dispersed and collaborative, the book seeks to explain the distinctive role of leaders within such a leadership economy. It also seeks to establish a proper relationship between sacred and secular leadership thinking, tackling some of the common philosophical and theological reservations to do with leadership discourse, whilst offering a critical framework for discerning the suitability for the Church of different sources of leadership thinking. Designed as core reading for leadership modules currently taught by the author across a large number of training contexts in the UK, this book is an indispensable text for those taking undergraduate or postgraduate-level qualifications in Christian leadership as well as those in other less formal leadership training contexts. Foreword by Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury

This volume explores the nature of leadership in the Christian community, especially as it was variously taught by Paul and practiced in the congregations of the first century. Exploring valuable ancient source material as well as the New Testament texts, Andrew Clarke describes the theories and practices of organization and leadership in key areas of first-century society-the city, the colony, associations, Jewish synagogues, the family-and discusses the extent to which these models influenced the first-century Christians as they sought to define the parameters and distinctives of their own communities.

Amid the torrent of books on leadership that flood the marketplace of contemporary Christianity, UnCorinthian Leadership takes a fresh, challenging, and biblical approach. David Starling examines the teaching and leadership practices of Paul in 1 Corinthians, and finds both a sharp critique of the "Corinthianized" practices that are endemic in much modern Western Christianity and a positive, compelling theological vision for how leadership ought to function among the people of Christ. The account of Christian leadership that emerges is grounded in careful, contextual study of 1 Corinthians, and thoughtfully applied to the circumstances and cultural pressures of our own times. Paying close attention to the situation Paul addresses and the shape of his arguments, Starling highlights the vivid relevance and enduring power of the letter. Students of 1 Corinthians will find an illuminating guide to the contemporary application of the letter; Christian leaders and students of leadership will find a refreshingly biblical account of what makes Christian leadership Christian.