Paul the Missionary - by Eckhard J Schnabel (Paperback)

About the Book

Drawing on his monumental scholarly study Early Christian Mission, Volume 2, Schnabel gives us an overview of Paul's missionary practices, strategies and methods, and then weighs contemporary evangelical missiology and practice in light of Paul. This is a manageable study for students of Paul as well as students and practitioners of Christian mission today.

Book Synopsis

Drawing on his monumental scholarly study Early Christian Mission, Volume 2, Schnabel gives us an overview of Paul's missionary practices, strategies and methods, and then weighs contemporary evangelical missiology and practice in light of Paul. This is a manageable study for students of Paul as well as students and practitioners of Christian mission today.

Review Quotes

"A reliable guide to students of Paul. A fresh study of Paul's mission work with the stated aim of undesrtanding the goals that the apostle had and the methods he used."

"Although Paul the Missionary is not a quick read, it is a rewarding one. New Testament scholars, missiologists and missionaries, and local pastors like me will profit from Schnabel's focused attention on Scripture. And ministers of the gospel will profit through extended reflection on the theology and praxis of Paul, whose example is well worth imitating."

"In this magisterial work Schnabel carefully and thoroughly plumbs the New Testament data to develop a comprehensive picture of Paul's approach to mission. His understanding of Paul as a missionary together with his application to selected issues in contemporary missiology provides an invaluable foundation for evaluating our contemporary approaches to mission ranging from the influence of cultural values (such as effectiveness and efficiency) to the lastest fads (from church growth to people group thinking to communication theory to short-term missions). Missionaries and missiologists alike owe Schnabel our thanks for this penetrating work which will play a significant role in missions studies for years to come."

"Invaluable to pastors, teachers, students, missionaries, and missiologists that see their work as closely related to that of Paul."

"Paul the Missionary is a joy: rigorous in its scholarship, clearly written, and relevant. It is a welcome antidote, first to those studies of Paul that focus exclusively on his theology while totally ignoring the fact that he was a missionary and, second, to all missiological methodology that is rooted in pragmatics rather than in theology and Scripture. Twenty-first century missionaries, students, New Testament scholars, pastors, and all thinking Christians would profit from this book."

"The reader will find much solid information in this substantial work."

"This information-filled book draws richly on the author's exhaustive (nearly 2,000-page!) prior study of early Christian missions. Writing as a mature biblical scholar and former OMF missionary in the Philippines, Schnabel honestly acknowledges the complexity of the hermeneutical and pragmatic task facing the contemporary practitioner. Perhaps that is why his concluding chapter contains so many judicious and valuable insights."

"While Professor Schnabel modestly claims merely to bring some of the benefits of the last one hundred years of New Testament and Greco-Roman sociological insights to Roland Allen's work, he does so much more. Here is the new textbook for mission methodology. While technically limited to Paul, Schnabel covers the vital topics: goals, message, methods. The missions classroom has long needed this resource. Current and aspiring missionaries will benefit from what this scholar/missionary/teacher has to say."

"Schnabel invites the reader to a biblical feast that is both academic and spiritually refreshing. Should prove to be influential in ongoing Pauline and mission studies."

"Schnabel succeeds admirably. Paul the Missionary is an excellent resource that I will be recommending for years to come. I know of no other book that provides such a comprehensive, biblically faithful, and nuanced understanding of Paul and his missionary work."

About the Author

Eckhard J. Schnabel is professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and author of Early Christian Mission (2 volumes), Der erste Brief des Paulus an die Korinther and numerous articles.