This is my first session's Power Point slide show from the 'Using Pauline Studies for Evangelism' course taught at the Light Project, Chester.

1. Using Pauline Studies for Evangelism
Clint Heacock

2. Introduction to Module
• Introductions
• We will meet for 8 sessions plus some additional
seminars (dates to be determined)
• Dates and Times
• Mon 6th Feb 1-4
• Wed 8th Feb 9-12
• Thur 9th Feb 9-4pm
• Mon 26th March and
• Wed 28th March 9am-4pm
• Guests: Aliss Cresswell and Gary Serra di Migni

3. Module Content
In this module, students can expect to cover a range
of topics including:
• Historical and theological background to Pauline
texts
• Developing skills of exegesis & hermeneutics
• Exploring selected texts from Pauline letters
• Paul's applied theology
• Pauline ethics, Christology and ecclesiology
• Critical approaches to the impact of Pauline texts in
contemporary Christian contexts
• Designing a Bible Study Pack.

4. Course Aims
• Enable students to develop an understanding and
appreciation of Paul’s contextual and applied
theology;
• Develop an awareness of key theological
concepts in Pauline theology, and their
application in contemporary mission and
evangelism;
• To develop a critical understanding of mission and
evangelism through critical biblical study skills;
• Further develop skill of communication, with
particular reference to the equipping and
teaching of others through Bible study/Study
Packs.

5. Critical Skills (Exegesis, Historical, Theology and Biblical Studies)
Practical Skills (Ministry and Mission)

6. Establishing A Context for
Contemporary Evangelism
1. In terms of religious behaviour, what are
the common threads or shared legacies
that bind all European societies together
(regardless of language and
denominations?)
A. Historical—European life is comprised of a
mixture of Judeo-Christian monotheism, Greek
rationalism and Roman organization
B. Religious—the relationships between
political and religious power that have
dominated much of European history. Some
form of constitutional connection between
church and state (i.e., Constantine)
Adapted from Davie, Europe: The Exceptional Case

8. 2. How would you describe the ‘state of
faith’ in Europe (which includes
Britain)?
• Church attendance is steadily declining
• The authority of institutional churches (and
the creeds that underpin them) is
systematically decreasing
• What is emerging to replace these social
and cultural forms?
• “The Church has indeed lost its role as the
keystone in the arch of European culture,
but no identifiable institution is emerging to
take its place” (Davie 4).

9. 3. What is meant by the terms
‘believing without belonging’ or
‘unattached religion’?
“…many Europeans have ceased to
connect with their religious institutions
in any active sense, but they have not
abandoned, so far, their deep-seated
religious aspirations or (in many
cases) a latent sense of belonging”
(Davie 8, parenthesis hers).

10. “For in reality believing without belonging
represents a consciously selected personal
package. It reflects instead the fall-back
position acquired by British people when
they simply do nothing; an ordinary God
indeed. It becomes, in other words, not so
much a choice, but the backdrop against
which other decisions are made. Hence the
notion…that it represents the residue of the
past (what is left of pre-modern religion after
the toll taken by both industrial and post-
industrial developments), rather than the
emergence of a post-modern future.”
(Davie, Religion in Britain 199, parenthesis hers).

11. 4. How can we account for the presence
of ‘new religious movements’ within
many European societies?
• Many religious populations (Islam, Hindu,
Sikh) can be accounted for by colonial
connections (former colonies of European
superpowers)
5. What are some of the issues these
minority populations provoke?
• Alternative religions challenge Western
European assumptions of rationality
• For the traditionally religious they offer a
disconcerting alternative to Christian
teaching

12. 6. What are some major results of
the constitutional connections
between Church and state in
European countries?
• It has helped to form both a national
and religious identity
• Indicators of religious activities are
low, but there is little evidence of
hostility between the population and
the state church

13. 7. What is ‘the secularization thesis’?
• With the advent of the modern
Enlightenment era, with its emphasis on
objective human reason, religion would
gradually fade in importance and ultimately
cease to be of any significance (except
possibly in the private realm).
• In other words, since the Renaissance and
Reformation the forces of modernization and
secularization would gradually—and
inevitably– displace ‘the sacred’ in Western
societies.
Pippa and Norris, Sacred and Secular, 1.

14. ‘Secularization Thesis’
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15. 8. What have sociologists of
religion discovered about the
classic ‘secularization thesis’?
• The world remains as ‘furiously
religious’ as ever
• Secularization is more likely to develop
in some situations than in others
• There is nothing inevitable about the
secularization process—it may or may
not take place, at different speeds,
ways and with different effects
(Davie, Europe: the Exceptional Case 16).

16. 9. What is meant by the term
‘vicarious religion’?
• Large numbers of Europeans are
content to let both churches and
churchgoers enact a ‘religious
memory’ on their behalf
• Churches only feature as significant at
certain times (weddings, funerals,
christenings, national crises)
• Churches continue to hold to a ‘come
to us’ model of church growth

17. 10. In terms of levels of religious
activities, what are some of the major
differences between the USA and
Europe?
• 90% of Americans claim to believe in God
• 40% of Americans claim to attend church on
a weekly basis
• 2 issues however: a) over-reporting and b)
varied levels of attendance in various
regions of America (i.e., the ‘Bible Belt’)
• Still: there is a marked difference in religious
activity and levels of attendance as
compared to most European countries

18. The ‘Religious Right’ = churches publicly
involved in political influence

19. Televangelism and its constituent
audience—uniquely American

20. Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson on
‘The 700 Club’

21. Many Americans exhibit levels of
hostility to churches for a variety of
reasons (i.e., Dan Kimball, They Like
Jesus but not the Church)

22. Religion is formally excluded from
church and state
And yet: many churches are involved
in both public and political spheres

23. • Social order is maintained by a pervasive
civil religion
• That ‘civil religion’ builds upon a Puritan,
Calvinistic and covenantal theology view:
‘God Bless America!”

24. • Voluntarism vs. a State Church
• Churches exist in many ways as
capitalistic ‘businesses’ competing
with other churches for members (and
finances)

25. Conclusion
• In terms of the contemporary context,
what are the major similarities and
differences between Britain and North
America?
• What impact might these observations
have on our evangelistic efforts?
• Early days: how do you think Paul
would act were he alive today?