Search results for ""Author David J. Downs""

Money mattered to the apostle Paul. One economic endeavor of signal importance for Paul was the monetary fund that he organized among the largely Gentile congregations of his mission for the Jewish-Christian community in Jerusalem.David J. Downs investigates this offering from a variety of angles. He begins with an attempt to piece together a relative chronological account, based primarily on information from Paul's epistles, of the apostle's fundraising efforts on behalf of the Jerusalem church. After reconstructing this complex story, Downs examines the socio-cultural context of the collection, focusing on analogous forms of giving among ancient pagan and Jewish voluntary associations, including practices of benefaction, common funds, care for the poor, and translocal economic links among these associations.With this chronological and socio-cultural context in mind, the author then explores Paul's use of several cultic metaphors to frame the contribution as a religious offering consecrated to God. Drawing on recent work in the field of metaphor theory, Downs contends that Paul metaphorically frames his readers' responsive participation in the collection as an act of cultic worship, thus underscoring the point that the fulfillment of mutual obligations within the community of believers results in praise, not human benefactors, but to God, the one from whom all benefactions come. This rhetorical strategy suggests that even the very human action of raising money for those in material need originates in "the grace ( charis) of God" and will eventuate in "thanksgiving ( charis) to God" (2 Cor 9:14-15).

Read more less

The pistis Christou construction in Paul's letters has ignited heated debates among Pauline scholars and theologians. On the one side, some claim that the phrase denotes human faith placed in Christ. Others, however, contend that pistis Christou in Paul alludes to the faithfulness of Christ himself, with Christ's pistis chiefly demonstrated in his willingness to suffer and die upon the cross. Yet both sides of this debate overlook Paul's emphasis on the faithfulness and continuing work of the risen and exalted Christ.In The Faithfulness of the Risen Christ, David J. Downs and Benjamin J. Lappenga focus upon the resurrection and exaltation of Jesus in their discussion of pistis Christou. They claim that when Paul writes of Christ's pistis, he refers to the faithfulness of the risen and exalted Christ. Downs and Lappenga carefully survey Paul's use of pistis in Philippians, the Corinthian letters, Galatians, Romans, and Ephesians, revealing how pistis epitomizes the risen Christ's continuing faithfulness toward all those who participate in him by pistis. Downs and Lappenga effectively reframe any future consideration of the pistis Christou construction for both New Testament scholars and theologians by showing that the story of Jesus in the letters of Paul extends to the faithfulness of the exalted Christ Jesus, who will remain faithful to those justified through union with Christ.

Read more less