Apostle Paul’s Fundraising Economic Theory of Savings and Social Change

Iddrisu Shaibu Adam ORCID iD

Issue: Vol.6  No.6 September 2020 5th Anniversary Special Edition  Article 1 pp. 274-280
DOI : https://doi.org/10.38159/erats.2020091    |   Published online 4th September 2020.
© 2020 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Views: 1,953
965 Downloads

DOWNLOAD PDF
This article critically explores the idea of savings from the New Testament perspective, particularly, using the Pauline fundraising strategy. It argues that the direction given by Apostle Paul regarding the fundraising of the Gentile Christians constitute an informal economic theory of savings. Content analysis was used in reviewing relevant literature for the study. It was established that the directions Paul gave to the Gentile Christians regarding the fund raising constitute informal savings principles. Additionally, Pauline fundraising strategies was eschatological and relational in nature. The paper concludes that Paul’s fundraising was centered on three concepts namely, generosity, gratitude and mission. In this regard, Paul’s fundraising economic theory had the sole aim of bringing social change in the lives of the Jewish Christians.

Keywords: Fundraising, Economic, Theory, Judeo-Christian, Gentiles, Savings and Generosity

Barnett, Paul, Jesus & the rise of Early Christianity: A history of New Testament Times. Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1999.

Bruce, F Frederick. 1 & 2 Corinthians: New Century Bible (ed.) R.E. Clement & M. Black. London: Oliphants, 1971.

Chadwick, Henry, The Early Church, (3rd Edition). (Harmondsworth, Middlesex & New York: Penguin Books, 1967.

Chow, J. Kin-Man. Patronage and Power: A Study of the Social Networks in Corinth. Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1992.

Covolo, D. Enrico. The historical origin of indulgences (n. d). Accessed November 28, 2017
https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=1054.

Earle, Ralph. (Ed.). Adam Clark’s commentary on the Bible (7th Ed.). Michigan: Baker Book House, 1973.

Helen Rhee, Riches and Christianity (2011). Accessed July 15, 2016,
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9780470670606.wbecc1549

Hengel, Martin. Acts and the history of earliest Christianity. London: SCM Press, 1980.

Howard, C. Kee. & Franklin, W. Young. The living world of the New Testament. London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1957.

Justice, Ginny. ‘‘The Role of Indulgences in the Building of New Saint Peter’s Basilica’’. Master of Liberal Studies Theses. 7.
(2011) Accessed September 15, 20 17. https://scholarship.rollins.edu/mls/7/

Kelly S. Kathleen, Effective fund- raising management. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 1998.

Kunhiyop, Samuel W. African Christian ethics. Nairobi: Hippo Books, 2008.

Marvin, R. Vincent. Word students in the New Testament: The epistle of Paul. Vol. III. Gradn Rapids, MI: W. M. B. Eerdman, 1973.

Melick, R. Richard. Jr. The collection for the saints: 2 Corinthians 8-9. In Criswell Theological Review 4:1. (1989): 97-117.

Mohit, Malhotra. The principles of saving cash and how to apply them. (2014).Accessed December 10, 2016,
http://www.thenational.ae/business/personal-finance/the-principles-of-saving-cash-and-how-to-apply-them

Murphy- O‟Connor, Jerome. The theology of the second epistles to the Corinthians. London: Cambridge University Press,1991.

Robertson M. John, A short history of Christianity (Second edition) (London: Watts & Co. 1913).

Shaibu, Iddrissu A., ”Approaches to Church Fundraising and their implications for Christians in Ghana: Case studies of some selected churches in Cape Coast”. Unpublished PhD thesis submitted to the Dept. of Religion and Human Values, University of Cape Coast,(2017).

Tiede, David. Commentary on 2 Corinthians 8:7-15 (n.d). Accessed December 20, 2016.
https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=333. Accessed

Wilde, Robert, ‘‘Indulgences and their Role in the Reformation’’ (2016). Accessed November 28, 2017,
https://www.thoughtco.com/indulgences-their-role-in-the-reformation-1221776

Wilson, R. Kent. Stewards leadership: Characteristics of the steward leader in Christian non-profit organisations. Scotland: University of Aberdeen, 2010.

Interview
Rev. Timothy Annoh, (the then Minister in-charge of the Ebenezer Presbyterian Church,Pedu-Cape Coast) in discussion with the author, March 2016.

Iddrissu A. Shaibu (PhD), a lecturer with the Department of Religion and Human Values, College of Humanities and Legal Studies, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast- Ghana, received his MPhil and Ph.D. from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. He joined the department in 2005 as a teaching assistant and through a dint of hard work became a lecturer at the department in 2012 to date. He teaches in the area of Church and Society and his major research interest centers around Early Church history, Church and finance and New Religious Movements. E-mail: isadam@ucc.edu.gh

Shaibu, Iddrisu A., “Apostle Paul’s Fundraising Economic Theory of Savings and Social Change” E-Journal of Religious and Theological Studies – 5th Anniversary Special Edition 6, no.6 (2020): 274-280 https://doi.org/10.38159/erats.2020091

© 2020 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Publishers. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Articles in this Issue

About Journal