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Explanatory or editorial notes that are not contained in the original are indicated in green.

Part I - The Theological Context of the Christian Imperative:
        an enquiry into the Church’s self-understanding as the theological context of Paul’s paraklêsis

• Chapter 1: The self-understanding of the communities as reflected in the prescripts of Romans, 1 Thessalonians and 1 Corinthians
  
  1. The prescript of Romans
  2. The prescript of 1 Thessalonians
  3. The prescript of 1 Corinthians
• Chapter 2: The self-understanding of the communities reflected in Paul's paraklêsis
  
  1. Associations of the People theme
  2. The 'holy People' theme in 1 Thess 4:1-12
  3. The 'holy People' theme in the paraklêsis of 1 Corinthians ✳
• Chapter 3: The novelty of the Church's self-understanding
  
  1. The New Covenant
  2. The implications of Paul's sources
  3. The _proprium_ of the Church's self-understanding: her relationship with Jesus Christ
• Chapter 4: The New Covenant: the _'Mitte'_ of pauline theology ✳

PART II - The Ground and Formal Content of the New Covenant Imperative

• Chapter 1: The ground of the imperative
  
  1. The ground of the imperative in 1 Thess 4:1-12
  2. The ground of the imperative in Phil 2:12f ✳
  3. The ground of the imperative in Rom 8:1-14 ✳
  4. Concluding reflections: confirmation from Gal 5:22ff ✳
  5. The distinctive character of Paul's perspective
• Chapter 2: The formal content of the imperative
  
  1. The content of the imperative in 1 Thess 4:1-12
  2. Paul's insistence on sexual morality; its theological motive
  3. The novelty of Paul's perspective on sexual morality
  4. Consecration and agapê: transformation of the 'holy People' theme and its associated motifs
  5. Brotherly love and consecration in the new People of God

Part III - Agapê in the New Covenant Perspective

• Chapter 1: The ‘subject’ of Christian love: preliminary discussion and exposition of two modern positions
  
  1. God’s love and the Christian’s in the interpretation of Anders Nygren
  2. God’s love and the Christian’s in the interpretation of Karl Barth
• Chapter 2: The ‘subject’ of christian love: Paul’s position in relation to the interpretations of A. Nygren and K. Barth
  
  1. Evidence that points to Nygren’s position
  2. Considerations in favour of Barth
  3. Towards a critique and synthesis of Nygren and Barth in the light of Paul’s position
  4. The New Covenant as the theological context of Paul’s understanding of agapê
• Chapter 3: The object and principal traits of christian love
  
  1. The object of Christian love
  2. The object of Christian love in the light of the New Covenant (A)
  3. The object of Christian love in the light of the New Covenant (B)
  4. Distinctive traits of agapê

Part IV - Love and Law in New Covenant Morality ✳

• Chapter 1: The existence and ground of particular precepts; their relation to the imperative of love
  
  1. The ethical demands of the Mosaic Law
  2. ‘Conscience’
  3. The ‘law’ of Rm. 2,15
  4. The words of Jesus
  5. Paul’s ‘directives’
  6. The imperative of love and particular precepts
• Chapter 2: The status of external law in New Covenant morality
  
  1. ‘Liberation from external law’—the ‘Mitte’ of New Covenant morality?
  2. Rm. 8,2 in context and the ‘Mitte’ of New Covenant morality
  3. The gramma-pneuma antithesis
  4. Implications for the status of external law in New Covenant morality: the meaning of liberation in Paul
  5. Gospel and paraklêsis: the theological context of external law in the Christian economy
  6. The ecclesiological and christological context of external law in the Christian economy
• Chapter 3: Love and law in the living out of New Covenant morality
• Some Conclusions

Appendices

• Appendix A: The literary unity of 1 Thess 4:1ff
• Appendix B: The indicative-imperative relationship
• Appendix C: The content of the paraklêsis in 1 Thess 4:3-7
• Appendix D: God’s love and the Christian’s in theological tradition
• Appendix E: Liberation from the ‘slavery of external law’?
• BIBLIOGRAPHY
• INDICES
• INDEX OF AUTHORS
• SCRIPTURAL INDEX
• INDEX TO EXTRA-BIBLICAL REFERENCES
• INDEX TO GREEK WORDS AND PHRASES (SELECTION)

Updated 2010-01-10 (build:68) by Andrew Fountain