Pauline Theology

  Sponsors: Nijay Gupta and John Goodrich

Questions about the sources, bases, ends, and outworkings of Pauline ethics continue to fuel much discussion in twenty-first century biblical scholarship. Although many now concur that there was some degree of contingency to the moral instruction Paul offered to his fledgling churches, there is nonetheless a widely shared conviction that there exists significant coherence to Paul’s ethical teaching. Even so, the modern proliferation of competing perspectives on Paul’s theology has led contemporary research to at least as many different conclusions about how to wed the apostle’s theology and ethics. For Paul, what is the relationship between law, gospel, and moral reasoning? How, and how much, did the Jewish Scriptures inform Paul’s ethics? What religious and philosophical contexts best illuminate Paul’s moral instruction? And how do Paul’s individual writings bear out his moral reasoning in both similar and discrete ways? In 2026, the IBR Pauline Theology Research Group will continue its multi-year study of the theo-logic of Pauline ethics. Featuring invited papers presented by leaders in the field, the study will address and explain how, why, and to what ends the apostle’s Christ-confessing communities were to undergo moral transformation. For questions, please email Nijay Gupta ([email protected]) and John Goodrich ([email protected]).

Friday, November 20

3:30–5:30 PM

Presiding: Nijay Gupta (Northern Seminary) and John Goodrich (Talbot School of Theology, Biola University)

Brian Rosner (Ridley College): “Romans and the Gospel Shape of Pauline Ethics” (30 minutes)

Jamie Davies (University of Aberdeen): “1 Corinthians and the Eschatological Shape of Pauline Ethics” (30 minutes)

Break (5 minutes)

Sydney Tooth (Westminster Theological Centre & Inter-Varsity Press): “Waiting, Watching, Wondering: Eschatology and Ethics in the Thessalonian Correspondence” (30 minutes)

Panel Discussion and Audience Q&A (25 minutes)