Paul as Pastor
Published in 2012 BRF, ISBN 9780857460462
Biblical insights for pastoral ministry
When we think of the apostle Paul, ‘pastoral’ is not usually the first word that springs to mind. He may seem too intellectual, too tempestuous and fiery, even too determinedly pioneering, to fall into the ‘pastoral’ category.
This book demonstrates that, at heart, Paul was indeed too multi-faceted in both background and ministry to be defined by a single function. He was an apostle, prophet, evangelist and teacher – but he was also a pastor, as we can see from reading the epistles that record his teaching and care of the churches he planted or nurtured.
Author Patrick Whitworth makes the case that Paul’s extraordinary teaching – for which he is justifiably most celebrated – was a product of his pastoral care, which was itself a product of his pioneering and prophetic evangelism. Perhaps he was an unlikely pastor but he was, above all, passionate, and an inspiration to pastors everywhere, to be studied and emulated, fathomed and then followed.
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Routes that REFRESH
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“Most writers on Paul concentrate on his missiology, his church planting evangelism or his extensive teaching about the nature of the gospel: few look at Paul as pastor. What this book does is to make you think of Paul as a supreme pastor, but Paul is very much a man of the heart, driven by deep passion for people to become all that they might be in Christ. Patrick has given us a vision of pastoral care which arises not from any special therapeutic counselling skills but from Paul’s deep desire that people should find freedom and maturity.”
Rt Reverend Peter Price,
Bishop of Bath and Wells 2001–2013