The Pauline Doctrine of Adoption: Implications of the Trinitarian Accomplishment of Adoption for Christian Spiritual Formation
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Johannesburg South African Theological Seminary
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The aim of this research is to explore the ways in which the apostle Paul’s soteriological metaphor of adoption bears upon the enterprise of Christian spiritual formation. Western soteriology has long been dominated by an almost exclusively forensic paradigm. This, in turn, has allowed a truncated understanding of Christianity to take hold—one in which personal formation in Christlikeness features too little. By expounding the Pauline metaphor of υἱοθεσία (adoption) and explicating the entailments of the objective condition of adoptive sonship for the human self, this study demonstrates that Christian salvation is inherently transformative.
The project consists of four steps. In the first, an exegetical study of the metaphor of adoption in the Pauline corpus, five key doctrinal emphases are distilled. In the second, an analysis of the treatment of the doctrine of adoption through the history of the church finds that the best historical treatments of the doctrine preserved those same five emphases, with adoption often serving as a synonym for salvation in toto.
Step three formulates a fresh but biblically and historically faithful doctrine of adoption, styled so as to highlight the implications of the soteriological accomplishment of adoption for Christian spiritual formation. Finally, in step four, the entailments of the objective condition of adoptive sonship are mapped onto the six aspects of the human self to show that the accomplishment of adoption bears not only implications, but rather inescapable entailments, for Christian spiritual formation.
The study concludes that a biblically faithful soteriology is one that embraces more than just justification, and that the Pauline metaphor of adoption presents a soteriology in which formation in Christlikeness is inherent to the very nature of salvation. The implications of such a holistic soteriology are significant not only in the realm of theological scholarship but also for pastoral ministry and ordinary Christian experience.
The aim of this research is to explore the ways in which the apostle Paul’s soteriological metaphor of adoption bears upon the enterprise of Christian spiritual formation. Western soteriology has long been dominated by an almost exclusively forensic paradigm. This, in turn, has allowed a truncated understanding of Christianity to take hold—one in which personal formation in Christlikeness features too little. By expounding the Pauline metaphor of υἱοθεσία (adoption) and explicating the entailments of the objective condition of adoptive sonship for the human self, this study demonstrates that Christian salvation is inherently transformative. The project consists of four steps. In the first, an exegetical study of the metaphor of adoption in the Pauline corpus, five key doctrinal emphases are distilled. In the second, an analysis of the treatment of the doctrine of adoption through the history of the church finds that the best historical treatments of the doctrine preserved those same five emphases, with adoption often serving as a synonym for salvation in toto. Step three formulates a fresh but biblically and historically faithful doctrine of adoption, styled so as to highlight the implications of the soteriological accomplishment of adoption for Christian spiritual formation. Finally, in step four, the entailments of the objective condition of adoptive sonship are mapped onto the six aspects of the human self to show that the accomplishment of adoption bears not only implications, but rather inescapable entailments, for Christian spiritual formation. The study concludes that a biblically faithful soteriology is one that embraces more than just justification, and that the Pauline metaphor of adoption presents a soteriology in which formation in Christlikeness is inherent to the very nature of salvation. The implications of such a holistic soteriology are significant not only in the realm of theological scholarship but also for pastoral ministry and ordinary Christian experience.
The aim of this research is to explore the ways in which the apostle Paul’s soteriological metaphor of adoption bears upon the enterprise of Christian spiritual formation. Western soteriology has long been dominated by an almost exclusively forensic paradigm. This, in turn, has allowed a truncated understanding of Christianity to take hold—one in which personal formation in Christlikeness features too little. By expounding the Pauline metaphor of υἱοθεσία (adoption) and explicating the entailments of the objective condition of adoptive sonship for the human self, this study demonstrates that Christian salvation is inherently transformative. The project consists of four steps. In the first, an exegetical study of the metaphor of adoption in the Pauline corpus, five key doctrinal emphases are distilled. In the second, an analysis of the treatment of the doctrine of adoption through the history of the church finds that the best historical treatments of the doctrine preserved those same five emphases, with adoption often serving as a synonym for salvation in toto. Step three formulates a fresh but biblically and historically faithful doctrine of adoption, styled so as to highlight the implications of the soteriological accomplishment of adoption for Christian spiritual formation. Finally, in step four, the entailments of the objective condition of adoptive sonship are mapped onto the six aspects of the human self to show that the accomplishment of adoption bears not only implications, but rather inescapable entailments, for Christian spiritual formation. The study concludes that a biblically faithful soteriology is one that embraces more than just justification, and that the Pauline metaphor of adoption presents a soteriology in which formation in Christlikeness is inherent to the very nature of salvation. The implications of such a holistic soteriology are significant not only in the realm of theological scholarship but also for pastoral ministry and ordinary Christian experience.
Keywords
Pauline churches, Adoption (Theology), Bible.