Paul's Missionary Methods - by Robert L Plummer & John Mark Terry (Paperback)

About the Book

Robert L. Plummer and John Mark Terry edit this collection of entry points into the missionary methods of the apostle Paul. Conducting a major reappraisal of Roland Allen's Missionary Methods: St. Paul's or Ours? Michael Bird, Eckhard Schnabel and others reconsider the relevance of Paul's missionary activities for the church today.

Book Synopsis

What does Paul's missions strategy mean for today?A century ago Roland Allen published Missionary Methods: Saint Paul's or Ours?, a missiological classic which tackled many important issues, including what biblically rooted missions lookslike in light of the apostle Paul's evangelistic efforts. Although Allen's work is still valuable, new understandings have been gained regarding Paul's milieu and missionary activity, and how his practices ought to inform missions in our ever-changing world.Using the centennial anniversary of Allen's work as a springboard for celebration and reflection, the contributors to Paul's Missionary Methods have revisited Paul's first-century missionary methods and their applicability today. This book examines Paul's missionary efforts in two parts. First Paul is examined in his first-century context: what was his environment, missions strategy and teaching on particular issues? The second part addresses the implications of Paul's examplefor missions today: is Paul's model still relevant, and if so, what would it look like in modern contexts?Experts in New Testament studies and missiology contribute fresh, key insights from their fields, analyzing Paul's missionary methods in his time and pointing the way forward in ours.Contributors include

• Michael F. Bird
• Eckhard J. Schnabel
• Benjamin L. Merkle
• Christoph W. Stenschke
• Don N. Howell Jr.
• Craig Keener
• David J. Hesselgrave
• Michael Pocock
• Ed Stetzer
• M. David Sills
• Chuck Lawless
• J. D. Payne

Review Quotes

"It is recommended for scholars, pastors, students, and the untrained who are interested in this area and who desire a current scholarly, yet readable and understandable, approach that emphasizes demonstrating the gospel in every situation."

--James M. Howard, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, December 2013

"Overall, this is a very helpful book. As I have recommended Missionary Methods to hundreds of aspiring missionaries and mission leaders, I will now also recommend Paul's Missionary Methods as a companion volume."

--Don Dent, Themelios, Vol. 38, Issue 2, August 2013

"The editors of this book have combined biblical and missiological scholarship that further enhances the relevance of Roland Allen's piece Missionary Methods: St. Paul's or Ours?, while also moving us beyond it to the challenges of a new century. Perhaps the most salient insight rendered is the reminder that each generation should avoid simple replication of the methods Allen assessed but should resubmit to the call to ascertain whether or how our missionary actions reflect biblicalpatterns and then take corrective measures where needed. Correction entails constructive self-study, which is always an emotive challenge. Missionaries, globally engaged pastors, students and mission administrators should read this, mark it up, think through its implications, and do the hard work of analysis for our time."

--Dr. Keith Eitel, dean of the Fish School of Evangelism and Missions at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas

"This book makes a significant contribution to the literature both as a marker to Allen's visionary work and as a model to evaluate current strategic concerns."

--Jon E. Smith, Review and Expositor, August 2015

"This text . . . is well worth reading from a general interest in mission and in Biblical studies and is likely to be one of the key contemporary books on Paul for the next number of years."

--Stephen Skuce, METConnection, Autumn 2013

About the Author

Robert L. Plummer, Ph.D., is associate professor of New Testament interpretation at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. Plummer is the editor of Journeys of Faith (Zondervan, 2012). He has also authored 40 Questions About Interpreting the Bible (Kregel, 2010), Paul's Understanding of the Church's Mission (Paternoster, 2006), and many other articles and essays. Plummer has served on mission assignments in China, Malaysia, Ghana, Israel, Turkey, India, and Trinidad. He and his wife Chandi have three daughters.

John Mark Terry (Ph.D., Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) is professor of missions at Mid-America Baptist Seminary in Cordova, Tennnessee. He has served as a missionary in the Philippines and Malaysia and as vice president of the Evangelical Missions Society.