New Testament and Evangelism

1
New Testament and Evangelism

• Preliminary remarks
• The New Testament presupposes a very different
  world than ours.
• This is a world that values
• Connection
• Community
• Patronage relationships
• Extended family

2
New Testament and Evangelism

• Our world values
• Independence
• Originality
• Relationships are based on the needs of
  individuals, and the nuclear family
• We do not normally consider our extended
  relationships.

3
New Testament and Evangelism

• How modern thought can misinterpret an ancient
  concept Oikos
• In Church Growth literature, the term is meant to
  apply to the individual and ones extended
  relationships.
• Thus, when one becomes a Christian, the person is
  encouraged to witness to friends and family

4
New Testament and Evangelism

• Oikos in the New Testament
• Oikos in Greek does not mean the person and ones
  acquaintances.
• It is dealing with the household structure of the
  ancient world
• It refers to all those under the authority of the
  patriarchal leader, the oikonomos in Greek, or
  the Paterfamilias in Latin.

5
Evangelism in the New Testament

• Oikos in the New Testament
• Members of the oikos include
• Father
• Mother
• Children
• Extended family (married children and their sons
  and daughters)
• Slaves
• Freed slaves and those in business relationship.

6
New Testament and Evangelism

• Obligations within the oikos
• Oikonomoi, or Paterfamiiae are expected to
  provide for the well being of the members of the
  household.
• The members of the household are expected to
  accept the judgment and the authority of the
  oikonomos or paterfamilas

7
New Testament and Evangelism

• What does this mean for evangelism?
• What then is meant by Acts 1631-34?
• What tensions can be envisioned in 1 Pet 218-25
  313-22, where slaves suffer for their faith.
  What situation can we posit?
• What is presupposed in 1 Pet 31-4, where women
  are addressed to be both obedient to husbands and
  win them without a word?

8
New Testament and Evangelism

• Euangelizesthai to proclaim good news/
• Is the word from which we gain the word,
  evangelical, or in German Evangelische
• In secular language, it is a term with strong
  political meaning.
• The term is used for the proclamation of news of
  victory (G. Friedrich, Euangelizomai, ktl,
  TDNT 2710

9
Evangelism and the New Testament

• In the LXX, the participle is used for one who
  brings good news from a battlefield (ibid., 712).
  
• In Isa 526-7, the term refers to God, who is
  compared to one who gives good news (ibid., 713).
  
• The word is also combined in the LXX with
  soteria, salvation (see

10
New Testament and Evangelism

• Euangelizesthai occurs once in Mt. 10 or 11 times
  in Lik. 15, times in Acts, 21 times in Paul,
  twice in Hebrews, three times in 1 Peter, and 2
  times in Rev (ibid., 717).
• In Lk, the term is used in 210, where the angel
  proclaims Good News at the birth of Jesus.

11
New Testament and Evangelism

• The term is also used in Priene inscription in
  conjunction with the battle of Actium, where
  Octavian is announced as soter, who brings peace.
• How does this usage correspond to Lk. 210-14?
• Note also, that Vespasian was acclaimed emperor
  by his army in Palestine, and a hymnic response
  to accession of a new emperor was common in the
  emperor cult (see Lk 214).

12
New Testament and Evangelism

• What does use of Euangelizesthai in Lk 2 imply?
• All of Jesus life is summed up as good news,
  not simply his birth.
• What is meant here?

13
Evangelism and the New Testament

• In the context of Lk 2, Euangelisesthai is an
  imperial term.
• It is a term used in imperial cult to discuss the
  accession of a new emperor, as well as victory in
  battle.
• The use of the term in Lk. 2, along with the
  attendant acclamation by the heavenly host (i.e.,
  army), is intentional.
• It states there is a new power, to whom believers
  owe allegiance.

14
Evangelism in the New Testament

• What does this term tell us about the
  implications of proclaiming the good news in
  Lukes context?
• What are the implications to Lukes readers?
• What does this mean for us?

15
Evangelism in the New Testament.

• Lukes use of euangelizesthai to proclaim a new
  reign is further developed in Lk 418, 43 and
  1616.
• In 418, Jesus refers to Isa 611, and applies it
  to himself.
• In 1616, it is related to the Kingdom of God.
• Who initiates the kingdom?
• What does this proclamation mean?

16
Evangelism in the New Testament

• Lukes hearers could not help but understand
  euangelizesthai as a political term.
• Evangelism is not something safe.
• It has implications, especially to those on the
  outside.
• It is seen as disruptive, as breaking the social
  order that the empire is seeking so carefully to
  preserve.
• What would be the reaction to this message by the
  authorities?

17
Evangelism and the New Testament

• In light of the challenge of the gospel in Luke,
  it is amazing that in Acts, people in authority
  are well disposed to the gospel.
• Acts 131-12, Sergius Paulus, is well disposed to
  the Gospel.
• Acts 1814-22, Galio does not condemn Paul.
• See also Acts 2630-32, where Agrippa II give
  Paul a favorable verdict

18
Evangelism in the New Testament

• Does this mean that the authorities have nothing
  to fear from Christians?
• Or does it mean the Christians have nothing to
  fear from the authorities?
• See P.W. Walaskay, And So we Came to Rome (SNTSMS
  49 Cambridge, New York Cambridge Univ. Press,
  1983.

19
New Testament and Evangelism

• Euangelizesthai in Paul
• See Rom 1015,
• Here, two important words are combined, kerussein
  and eungelizesthai
• Kerussein means to proclaim as a herald, and we
  will discuss it shortly.
• In Rom 1015, we encounter a quotation of Isa
  527, in reference to those who proclaim the Good
  News, i.e. the messengers of the Gospel.

20
New Testament and Evangelism

• Note the context of Rom 1015.
• It is the fourth subsection of his argument about
  Israel (Fitzmyer Romans AB 33 New York
  Doubleday, 1992, 595)
• The argument is in form of a diatribe, How will
  they call on to him they have not believed? And
  how will they believe whom they have not heard?
  And how will they hear apart from a herald

21
New Testament and Evangelism

• The one proclaimed is Israels Messiah
• Those proclaiming are the those like Paul, those
  sent.
• Yet, in 1016, not all believed.
• Paul alludes to Isa. 531, Lord, who believed our
  report?
• IN 1018, he refers to Ps. 185 (LXX)
• In 1019, Deut 3221 (LXX) is cited
• In 1020-21, Isa 651-2.

22
New Testament and Evangelism

• What is Pauls message here?
• Using a series of quotations, or catena, Paul
  notes that although Christ is proclaimed, not all
  believe.
• This sets up his theology of remnant in Rom 11,
  for as Rom 111 states, God has not forsaken his
  people.

23
New Testament and Evangelism

• Pauls point in combing kerussein and
  euangelizesthai points to the act of proclaiming.
• Not all believe, in fact, only a remnant do.
• Yet, Paul and his compatriots are not relieved of
  obligation.
• Rather, Paul sees the proclamation of the gospel
  in the apostolic mission as one of sharing and
  completing that of the Messiah (see also on
  1520-21) (JDG Dunn, Romans 9-16 WBC 38b
  Dallas Word, 1988, 622).

24
New Testament and Evangelism

• If the apostolic proclamation is sharing in the
  mission of Christ, what are the ramifications?
• Evangelism is not simply telling people how to
  get to heaven.
• Rather, it is proclamation with full authority
  and power. Signs and wonders accompany the
  message. They belong together, for the Word is
  powerful and effective (Friedrich,
  Euangelizomai, 720).

25
New Testament and Evangelism

• In short, evangelism is a function of Gods
  eschatological program for introducing the new
  age of Gods reign.
• While Paul never uses the term Kingdom of God,
  certainly the concept is not far off.
• Yet, Israel does not believe.
• What is the apostle to do?
• He is to continue to evangelize the Gentiles, in
  hope that their salvation will lead to the
  salvation of Israel.

26
New Testament and Evangelism

• Pauls evangelistic program is revolutionary, for
  it brings two groups together, Jew and Gentile,
  in one community
• This is one of the central messages of Rom 9-11
  (see A. Segal, Paul the Convert), and is behind
  much of the thinking of Galatians

27
New Testament and Evangelism

• Thus, one is not saved simply from, but also
  into.
• One is saved out of the old age (see Rom 1-3)
• But at the same time, one is saved into a new
  humanity (see Rom 5-8).
• Evangelism constitutes the creation of a new
  eschatological community.

28
New Testament and Evangelism

• If the preacher in the Hellenistic world, acts
  like a herald, how does he function.
• Like Moses (Ex 410), Jer (16) and Jonah, the
  apostle acts by divine command. He tells what
  God has done for him, he becomes a missionary for
  his religion (G. Friedrich, Kerux, ktl, TDNT
  3698).

29
New Testament and Evangelism

• How does this proclamation work out in the NT?
• John proclaims baptism and remission of sins (Mk
  14)
• John also proclaims the one who follows him (Mk.
  17)
• In Mk 114, Jesus proclaims repentance for the
  kingdom of God has come upon the hearers.

30
New Testament and Evangelism

• In all three of these cases, the verb is
  kerussein
• The use of the verb is not accidental
• It is indication of the announcement by Gods
  agents of Gods intervention into human affairs.
• In the case of Jesus, He does not announce that
  something will happen. His proclamation is itself
  event. What he declares takes place in the moment
  of its declaration Its result is that the Word
  proclaimed becomes reality (ibid 706-07).

31
New Testament and Evangelism

• In the case of apostles and disciples, they
  proclaim the good news as the work of Christ in
  his crucifixion and resurrection (see 1 Cor
  118-31).
• As messengers, they act not in their own
  interest, but in Christs. People are not to
  become attached to them, but to Christ (1 Cor
  122 24, 927 2 Cor 45) (ibid., 710)

32
New Testament and Evangelism

• How does this imagery work out in the lives of
  Pauls audience.
• We must remember, that Paul is not the only
  preacher in his day, there are many philosophers,
  especially of the Cynic variety, who preach a
  wisdom while berating others (see A. Malherbe,
  Paul and the Popular Philosophers. W. Meeks, The
  First Urban Christians B Winter, Philo and Paul
  Among the Stoics).

33
New Testament and Evangelism

• First Paul differentiates himself from popular
  philosophers
• In 2 Cor 217, Paul notes that he and his
  companions are not peddlers of Gods word,
  unlike many others.
• While Paul is contrasting himself with opponents,
  he is also contrasting himself with the popular
  image of the itinerant philosopher, who would
  berate those who do not accept the philosophy
  spouted (see Lucian of Samosata, Philosophies for
  Sale)

34
New Testament and Evangelism

• In contrast to eloquent displays of philosophers,
  the word of preaching comes not with persuasive
  words, but in demonstration of spirit and power
  (1 Cor 24).
• It is the wisdom of God, previously hidden, which
  the spiritual powers of this world do not know
  (1 Cor 26-8).

35
New Testament and Evangelism

• In contrast to the philosopher, who is a slave
  to philosophy, but who proclaims human wisdom
• Paul notes that we proclaimed not ourselves, but
  Jesus Christ Lord, and ourselves your slaves on
  account of Jesus.

36
New Testament and Evangelism

• Likewise in 2 Cor 1010, Paul contrasts himself
  with opponents, who are schooled in rhetoric and
  philosophical training.
• They can make a wonderful public display.
• Pauls performance, is lacking.
• Yet, as we see in 1012-115, Paul does not
  consider himself inferior.

37
New Testament and Evangelism

• How does Pauls evangelism work
• In Acts 18, we note that Paul works at trade as a
  leatherworker until funds come from Thessalonica.
• This fact is confirmed in 2 Cor 118-11 and 1 Cor
  9, where Paul notes that he works to provide the
  Gospel free of charge.

38
New Testament and Evangelism

• On the one hand, Paul does make public
  declamations to persuade audiences, as is common
  in his society.
• Yet, he also conducts evangelism in the context
  of common business.
• In the sweat of the workshop, in daily contact
  with customers, he takes the opportunity to
  discuss with them the claims of Christ, and
  thereby wins believers (see 1 Thess 29, where
  Paul mentions how he and his companions labored
  and worked like an ox to not be a burden, but to
  herald the gospel)

39
New Testament and Evangelism

• Pauls experience is noticable
• Indeed, Pauls approach is very different from
  the Cynic, who makes a living by begging support,
  so as to live off of philosophy. (See A.
  Malherbe, Paul and the Popular Philosophers
  idem, Paul and the Thessalonians).

40
New Testament and Evangelism

• How does Pauls experience inform our
  evangelistic methods?
• Who are the most effective in outreach?
• How should we educate these individuals to be
  more effective?

41
New Testament and Evangelism

• What you are saved into, The Gospel accounts
• What is the meaning of the Great Commission of
  Mt 2819-20?
• How does this function in the context of
  Matthews Gospel.
• What does it inform us about how the NT writers
  envisage evangelism and the church?

42
New Testament and Evangelism

• How is Mt 2819-20 usually understood?
• Can you give examples of how the Great
  Commission is used in preaching or teaching?
• What is the message about evangelism that is
  given explicitly or implicitly

43
New Testament and Evangelism

• Mt. 2819-20 in the context of Matthew.
• Mt. 2819-20 is the last of the three with us
  or with you statements in the Gospel of
  Matthew.

44
New Testament and Evangelism

• The first is Mt 123, where the name Emmanuel
  is translated as God with us.
• Here, Joseph is told to take Mary for his wife,
  and name the son Jesus, For he shall save his
  people from their sins.
• Isa 714 is quoted, and the term Emmanuel is
  translated.

45
New Testament and Evangelism

• Who is God with?
• Is God with all people?
• Or, is God with Israel?

46
New Testament and Evangelism

• God is with Israel, as we see in 121, for he
  shall save his people from their sins.
• This theme is reiterated in 105, where the
  disciples are not to go into the way of the
  Gentiles (way can mean either road, or way of
  life, the term hodos translates the Hebrew notion
  of halak
• Yet, in the Great Commission, disciples are made
  of all nations

47
New Testament and Evangelism

• The second with statement is in 1820.
• Here, the phrase with you is in the context of
  church discipline and church order.
• In particular, in 1819-20, there is the
  exhortation that where there is agreement of two
  or three there am I in the midst of them.
• Jesus is not simply a historical figure.
• He is a present figure.
• He is found in the presence of the Matthean
  community, or the church.

48
New Testament and Evangelism

• Now we come to the Great Commission.
• Unlike 121 and 105, the disciples are now sent
  to the nations (panta ta ethne)
• The are not commanded to go, that is presupposed
  in the aorist participle, having gone.

49
New Testament and Evangelism

• They are commanded to make disciples.
• This is done through baptizing, and teaching.
• With the conclusion that I am with you always.

50
New Testament and Evangelism

• Why are the disciples, now apostles, sent to the
  whole world.
• We see here a reflection of Matthews theology of
  the rejection of Israel.
• This theology is seen in part in Mt. 23
• It is also found in Mt 2724-25, the strange hand
  washing scene, where the Gentile, Pilate, washes
  his hand in Jewish custom.

51
New Testament and Evangelism

• Why Jesus sends the disciples to the whole world
  in Mt. 28 (contd)
• In Mt. 2725, the people say that Jesus blood is
  upon them and their children
• For Matthew this refers to the destruction of
  Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 CE
• This phrase is not about eternal Jewish guilt
  (after all, Romans crucified Jesus).
• Unfortunately, that is how it has been used in
  church history.

52
New Testament and Evangelism

• If Israel is not rejects Jesus, to whom should
  the disciples go.
• They go to all the nations.
• This scene also reflects the reality of Matthews
  congregation, which is likely becoming more and
  more Gentile.
• But, what does the Great Commission say about
  evangelism?

53
New Testament and Evangelism

• Matthew is known as the churchs gospel for a
  reason.
• He has the strongest ecclesiology, as Mt 18 makes
  clear.
• He is the only evangelist who uses the term
  church.
• When Jesus is with people, he is with the
  people of God, either Israel (Mt 121) or the
  church (1820).

54
New Testament and Evangelism

• Evangelism, then, is not a crusade or personal
  witnessing
• Rather, it is in the context of baptism and
  church instruction, in the context of catechism
  and incorporation into the community.
• This image is also found in the Didache
• The Didache is a manual of church instruction
  from Syria, late 1st or early 2nd century, which
  gives instruction in the two ways, as well as
  instruction on how to tell true and false
  prophets, and church life.

55
New Testament and Evangelism

• The Great Commissions understanding of
  evangelism.
• In light of Israels rejection, the disciples are
  to widen the breadth of the preaching of the
  kingdom of God to all the nations.
• They are to make disciples through baptism and
  church instruction.
• They are to incorporate converts into the life of
  the church, where Jesus presence is found.

56
New Testament and Evangelism

• What is remarkable about this text for us.
• We live in a highly individualized age.
• We tend to think of evangelism as one on one,
  often divorced from the greater life of the
  church.
• In fact, in Mt 2819-20, it is intimately bound
  with incorporation into the community.

57
New Testament and Evangelism

• Christ is experienced in community, in the
  context of baptism and instruction.
• How does this image influence our understanding
  of evangelism?
• Note, evangelism becomes corporate, not
  individualistic.
• The imagery is certainly at odds with our
  post-Enlightenment expectations of the autonomy
  of the individual.
• This phenomenon is even clearer in Jn 1412-21.

58
New Testament and Evangelism

• See my article, John 1412-21 as a Paradigm for
  the Wesleyan Understanding of Mission.
• What do we notice as a Johannine understanding of
  community?
• This text gives us a paradigm for evangelism
  within the context of a relational community.

59
New Testament and Evangelism

• The Gospel of John is usually thought to have
  very little to say about evangelism.
• Yet, is this hypothesis consistent with a gospel
  that begins with the Logos hymn of 11-18, or
  Jesus prayer of Jn 17?
• Evangelism is there, but it is not found as we
  are conditioned to expect it.

60
New Testament and Evangelism

• Greater works Jn 1412-14
• Jesus promises greater works.
• Certainly, this can and does include works of
  power.
• Yet, where Jesus ministry is restricted in time
  and space, could not another greater work be
  reaching a vastly larger population with the Good
  News of Christ?

61
New Testament and Evangelism

• See in particular Jn 1413
• What is meant by whatever the disciples ask in
  Jesus name, they will receive?
• Is it prosperity gospel?

62
New Testament and Evangelism

• In Jn 1413
• When disciples receive whatever they ask in
  Jesus name, they receive because their will is
  so bound up with Gods.
• As those who continue Jesus work on earth, their
  will is his, which includes outreach.

63
New Testament and Evangelism

• Keeping the Commandments and the Paraclete
• If Mt. 2819-20 understands evangelism as
  incorporation through instruction and baptism,
  John expresses this communal aspect in a
  different manner.
• It is keeping the commandments, particularly the
  love command (Jn 1334-35).
• It is also manifested in the presence of the
  Paraclete, who continues to instruct the
  Johannine community

64
New Testament and Evangelism

• As Jesus presence is assured to the Matthean
  community by Jesus presence where two or more
  are gathered, so the teaching of the presence of
  the Paraclete in the Johannine community is an
  expression of the divine presence.

65
New Testament and Evangelism

• It is the Paraclete who teaches the disciples
  (1426), and bears witness of Jesus (Jn
  1526-27).
• Again, witness is born by community.
• The Paraclete assures the legitimacy of the
  message
• At the same time, disciples are led into all
  truth through the Paraclete, the active presence
  of God in the community.

66
New Testament and Evangelism

• The disciples are also not left orphans
  (1418-21)
• At the death of a philosopher, such as Socrates,
  the philosophers students could be said to be
  orphaned.
• The disciples are not.
• Because they have the active presence of the
  Paraclete in their midst, they are not orphaned,
  and are empowered to keep commandments of love,
  as well as greater works of outreach.

67
New Testament and Evangelism

• Conclusions
• Much of the paradigm of the NT for evangelism is
  foreign to us, yet also powerful.
• It presupposes the ancient world of patronage,
  where one patron (the world, darkness, etc.), is
  exchanged for another, God.

68
New Testament and Evangelism

• It is expressed in evocative language, that
  carries with it very specific baggage
• Everyone in the Greco Roman world knew what
  euangelizesthai and kerussein meant
• These are loaded terms.
• They carry with them political or imperial
  overtones

69
New Testament and Evangelism

• By proclaiming the euangelia the early church
  proclaims an alternate reality to that confronted
  every day in the empire and the imperial court.
• By being heralds, the early apostles and
  preachers are claiming they carry all the
  authority of their sponsor, in this case God. Do
  we dare make such claims?

70
New Testament and Evangelism

• At the same time, evangelism is carried on in
  daily life.
• Pauls example of working day and night,
  providing an alternative to some popular
  philosophers is instructive.
• By his integrity, as well as his discussion of
  his new philosophy in the context of the
  everyday, people are drawn to his message.

71
New Testament and evangelism

• Likewise, evangelism has a corporate element.
• This feature is made abundantly clear in both Mt
  2819-20 and Jn 1412-21.
• While we did not have time to look at the house
  churches of Pauls urban experience, certainly
  the apostles objections to factionalism in 1 Cor
  1, 4, as well as his horror at abuses of the
  Lords Supper (1 Cor 11) are tied into his
  understanding that the Body of Christ (1 Cor
  12-14) cannot be divided.

72
New Testament and Evangelism

• The challenge to us
• To proclaim the power of the Gospel, which is the
  inbreaking of Gods reign in humanity.
• To do so in ways that are both culturally
  relevant and true to the apostolic message.
• To do so in a way that both appeals to the
  individual, but retains the biblical commitment
  to the importance of the community of believers.