Today I began reading through Dr. Thom Schreiner‘s book, Paul, Apostle of God’s Glory in Christ: A Pauline Theology (PAGGC). I recently purchased it to look through as I preach through the book of Romans. I had the privilege to sit under Dr. Schreiner’s tutelage for one day during a doctoral seminar at Southern Seminary and I have attended the church he pastors, on two occasions.
I plan to read about thirty minutes a day in PAGGC and as a means of capturing quotes and insight, I may post a bit from the book here at THE CAPRANICA.
Chapter One: The Centrality of God in Christ in Paul’s Theology.
The goal in writing a Pauline theology is to unearth Paul’s worldview and to present it to contemporaries. . . . to rightly estimate what is most important in his thinking and to set forth the inner connections between the various themes.
Dr. Schreiner seeks to unearth and expose the center of Paul’s thought, which he admits is a dangerous employment because it could leave someone with the idea that only one element is central and the remainder of a person’s contributions become less and less central as the emanate outwardly from that center. It may be better then to think of the center of Paul’s thought like the foundation of which a house is built.
“God is not only the foundation of the house; he and his Son, Jesus the Messiah, are the means by which the house is built. They are the architects, the contractors and the workers who build the house” (20).
Perhaps we can say that God in Christ is the foundation of Pauline theology (22).
“The gospel can be conceived of as the theme of the house, while the glory of God and Christ constitute its foundation” (22).
Dr. Schreiner details this supposition of Paul’s theme through the majority of his epistles.
A crucial thought on ethics: “We cold scarcely claim, therefore, that ethics can be sundered from the preeminence of Christ, for everything done by believers is to be done in the name of Jesus and for his honor. There is no conception here of doing what is right simply because it is the right thing to do, or of duty for duty’s sake” (28).
“God’s ultimate goal, according to Paul, is not redemption, righteousness or sanctification. He grants these saving gifts to his people so that they will exult in him and praise his name” (32).
“. . . redemption is penultimate and the praise of God is ultimate” (32).
“The passion of Paul’s life, the foundation and capstone of his vision, and the animating motive of his mission was the supremacy of God in and through the Lord Jesus Christ” (35).
