Contextual views on Paul’s attitude towards labour and remuneration: Did we forget the poor?

Abstract

Abstract

One of the problems with applications of Pauline teachings to the current context is the way in which elite theologians assumed that first-century Mediterranean societies were similar in most crucial aspects to twentieth-century society. At close scrutiny it is clear that the explanation of self-support and the “free offering of the gospel” from the angle of Paul’s plight for the poor has been overlooked (or only referred to by implication) in commentaries, as well as discussions on “tentmakership” in Practical Theology and even in Missiology. This study is investigating the possible role that the context of the readers played in this oversight.