Paulus in gemeinschaft seiner Mitarbeiter: eine Untersuchung der Kollegialmission im Corpus Paulinum und in der Apostelgeschichte (Paul in the fellowship of his co-workers: a survey of Paul among his co-workers in the Corpus Paulinum and in Acts)

Abstract

This dissertation attempts to illuminate the significance of what has been called the "coworkers" for Paul's mission. At the same time it revises the traditional portrait of Paul as a "lone ranger", not properly understood and appreciated by others. Thus the focus is on the way in which Paul together with his co-workers as his missionary partners achieved the various tasks of early Chrisian mission, namely the proclamation of the gospel and the consolidation of churches. This phenomenon is best described with the German term Kollegialmission, i.e. a mission carried by a team of colleagues. A survey of research is followed by a detailed analysis of this phenomenon in the letters commonly recognised as written by Paul himself. In additon to explicit statements on the co-workers, attention is also given to implicit references, e.g. verb forms in the first person plural which appear in some letters and contribute to understanding this Kollegialmission. Then the same methodological procedure is applied to the disputed letters of Paul. A final chapter examines the portrait of Paul and his co-workers in the Book of Acts. This dissertation demonstrates that this understanding and practice of Kollegialmission was a central point in Paul's mission and self-understanding. His co-workers receive their commission and authority from God, to whom they are responsible. The gospel constitutes the foundation for this cooperation between Paul and his co-workers. Thus the co-workers perform the same duties as Paul himself, though his special apostolate remains in place. The picture of the Kollegialmission in the Deuteropauline letters differs only slightly from that of the letters generally recognised as Paul's own. As the author of Acts is mainly interested in the person of Paul, his co-workers appear increasingly on the backstage as the story unfolds. This examination closes with an application of some principles of Paul's Kollegialmission to present day congregational ministry and mission work.