Yi-Sang Patrick Chan, review of Siu Fung Wu, ed., Suffering in Paul: Perspectives and Implications, Review of Biblical Literature [http://www.bookreviews.org] (2023). (original) (raw)

Suffering In The Authentic Letters Of Paul

When reading Paul’s letters, it seems that suffering was a big part of his ministry and that it has been a significant part of his personal experience. Among thirteen letters ascribed to Paul, this paper’s attempt to understand Paul’s meaning of suffering will only focus on seven of his letters. These are letters that are believed by many biblical scholars to be authentically written by him whereas the other three are probably from him and the rest are not certainly from him. The main points that will be addressed are the nature of suffering that Paul speaks of in his authentic letters, its significance to his ministry and to him as an individual, and what Paul’s notion of suffering means to contemporary Christians.

Suffering as Defense of Paul’s Apostolic Authority in Galatians and 2 Corinthians 11

Svensk exegetisk årsbok, 2009

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Truly God is Good: Suffering in Old Testament Perspective

This article discusses the concept of suffering in the Old Testament. It first looks at passages in the Pentateuch that describe life before the fall, which paints a picture of human existence before suffering. It then examines what the Pentateuch and Proverbs teach about avoiding suffering through living a life of faithful obedience. Next, it examines suffering in the books of Job and Ecclesiastes, which tackle head-on the issue of the suffering of the righteous. It then moves to the New Testament to examine how suffering differs on this side of the cross and how modern-day Christians must live in light of the reality of suffering. The article concludes with few proposals for how to apply the biblical theology of suffering.

Paul's View on Christian Suffering. Honor Discourse as a Lens

Article in Journal for the Study of Paul and His Letters 10.2 (2020): 121-137. The work of John H. Elliott and David A. deSilva has demonstrated the value of reading Paul's positive utterances on the topic of Christian suffering (e.g. Phil 1:29) as embedded in an honor discourse. In his letters, Paul uses the rhetoric of "divine reversal," in which the shame of Christians-their suffering as discriminated against-is transformed into the opposite: honor. Continuing in this direction, in this article I examine Paul's honor discourse in Rom 8:12-39, where much of the suffering does not seem to occur "for Christ's sake." I argue that experiences of suffering in Romans 8 are linked to notions of mortality and sin and therefore not characterized as honorable. Comparing Romans 8 to Paul's honor discourse in Philippians leads me to conclude that Paul's positive evaluation of the harsh reality of suffering does not apply to all kinds of suffering. Moreover, I argue that we need to find more nuanced ways to speak about Paul's positive stance on Christian suffering.

Suffering and Spiritual Formation in 1 Thessalonians

Journal of Asia Evangelical Theology, 2004

Suffering is a significant topic in Pauline studies. Throughout his letters, the apostle Paul addresses the issue of suffering. From his external persecution at the hands of the Jews to the inner conflict he experiences due to the needs of the church, Paul is very open and candid about the subject. It was not something to be avoided but something that was part of being a follower of Christ and to experience the Christian walk. Paul reflects a positive attitude towards suffering and writes about it often in his letters. 1 There have been many comprehensive books and articles written on Paul and suffering and his Theology of suffering so there will not be thorough discussion here but a brief overview of Paul's view of suffering from a few scholars works on Paul and suffering before focusing specifically on Paul and suffering and spiritual formation in 1 Thessalonians. 2 To gain this brief overview, we will look at a few ideas of different scholars who have discussed Paul and suffering. 3 C.G. Kruse 1 For this section the term suffering along with affliction and crisis will have a synonymous meaning. 2 The survey is brief and not comprehensive of the scholars but narrowing in on one or two works by the scholar. 3 To get into the Theology of Paul and Suffering one must do a thorough study and analysis of 2 Corinthians but our purpose hear is just to get a brief overview of Paul and Suffering and not to write a complete treatise on the subject.