Case studies from Paul’s letters.

Case Studies from Paul’s Letters: Practicing Interpretation with Five Capstone Themes

Why case studies?

You have now traced Paul’s theology across history, genres, and cities. The exam will test not only what you know but what you can do with Paul’s letters—how you analyze a passage’s situation, follow its argument, integrate key themes, and propose wise pastoral action. Think of this module as your lab: we will practice reading ten concrete situations where Paul’s theology goes to work in real churches facing real pressures.

Each case below follows a simple but rigorous template:

1. Situation (What is happening on the ground?),

2. Text (What passages shape our understanding?),

3. Analysis (How do justification, Spirit, church, new creation, eschatology interlock here?),

4. Practices (What concrete steps does Paul commend?),

5. Pitfalls (Where do readers or leaders often go wrong?),

6. Exam notes (How to frame a tight, evidence-rich answer).

We will cover: Antioch’s table conflict; Corinth’s status games, sexual ethics, Lord’s Supper inequity, and charismatic disorder; the Jerusalem collection; Philippi’s conflict; Philemon’s reconciliation; Rome’s “disputable matters”; and Colossae’s ideology crisis. Throughout, we cite classic academic anchors to keep your work grounded (Dunn, 1998; Moo, 2018; Fee, 1995, 2014; Barclay, 2015; Wright, 2013; Gorman, 2009; Towner, 2006; Gaventa, 2016; Moo, 2008).

Case 1: Table Conflict in Antioch (Galatians 2:11–21)

Situation. At Antioch, Peter (Cephas) initially eats with Gentile believers, but withdraws when a strict party arrives from James. His retreat pressures others (even Barnabas) to segregate meals by ethnicity and Torah observance.

Text. Gal 2:11–21; echo with Gal 3:1–5; Acts 15 as historical backdrop.

Analysis.

• Justification. Paul’s core claim—a person is justified by faith(fulness) of Jesus Christ and not by works of the law—has social implications. If God declares Gentiles “in the right” apart from Torah identity markers, then the church table must mirror that verdict. To rebuild ethnic boundary walls is to “nullify the grace of God” (Gal 2:21) (Dunn, 1998; Wright, 2013).

• Spirit. Gentiles received the Spirit not by law but by hearing with faith (Gal 3:2–5), so the Spirit’s presence authenticates mixed-table fellowship (Barclay, 2015).

• Church. The congregation is not two peoples but one family; Peter’s behavior is hypocrisy because it denies the gospel he confesses.

• New Creation. “I have been crucified with Christ” (Gal 2:20): a new identity relativizes old boundary markers.

• Eschatology. The age to come has arrived; to retreat to pre-Messiah divisions is eschatological regression.

Practices. Maintain shared meals; clarify gospel basics; resist fear-based policies; establish table protocols that reflect justification by faith and Spirit-baptized unity.

Pitfalls. Treating justification as “private salvation,” ignoring its communal entailments; weaponizing “freedom” to trample consciences (see Case 9).

Exam notes. One paragraph formula: “In Gal 2:11–21, Paul argues that justification by faith and the gift of the Spirit require one table; to separate is to deny the cross and the new creation people God is forming (Dunn, 1998; Barclay, 2015; Wright, 2013).”

Case 2: Status Competition and the Theology of the Cross (1 Corinthians 1–4)

Situation. Factions in Corinth boast in favorite teachers (“I am of Paul… Apollos… Cephas”), importing elite rhetoric and status expectations from the city’s honor culture.

Text. 1 Cor 1:10–4:21.

Analysis.

• Justification. The gospel nullifies boasting (1:29); no leader becomes the basis of right standing (Fee, 2014).

• Spirit. True insight is the Spirit’s disclosure of God’s wisdom in the cross, not sophistic eloquence (2:1–5, 10–16).

• Church. The church is God’s field/building/temple; leaders are servants and co-workers, not patrons to whom one pledges factional allegiance.

• New Creation. The cross is God’s new wisdom, overturning the “present evil age’s” honor code.

• Eschatology. The day will test each builder’s work (3:10–15). Future judgment relativizes present bragging rights.

Practices. Preach Christ crucified without manipulation; measure ministries by edification, not spectacle; honor all workers; refuse personality cults.

Pitfalls. Confusing “excellent communication” with “saving power”; projecting business metrics onto church health.

Exam notes. Tie 1 Cor 1–4 to 1 Cor 11 and 12–14 for a whole-letter read: Corinthian problems are different faces of the same anti-cross logic (Fee, 2014).

Case 3: Sexual Ethics and Community Discipline (1 Corinthians 5–6)

Situation. A man has his father’s wife; the church is proud, perhaps flaunting a slogan of “freedom.” Lawsuits among believers also mar public witness.

Text. 1 Cor 5:1–13; 6:1–20.

Analysis.

• Justification. Grace is not permissiveness; the justified are bought with a price (6:20).

• Spirit. Believers are temple of the Holy Spirit; holiness is Spirit-habitation logic, not merely rule-keeping (6:19) (Fee, 2014).

• Church. The church must discipline for the offender’s salvation and the body’s integrity (“a little leaven…”).

• New Creation. Bodies matter in new creation; sexual union forms one flesh, so sexual ethics are ecclesial, not private.

• Eschatology. The saints will judge the world; live now as people destined for future adjudication.

Practices. Grieve, not boast; pursue restorative church discipline; cultivate sexual holiness; resolve disputes within the community when possible.

Pitfalls. Either harshness without restoration or tolerance that confuses grace with indulgence.

Exam notes. Show how Spirit-temple and bought-with-a-price converge to make sexual holiness a gospel issue (Fee, 2014; Gorman, 2009).

Case 4: Inequity at the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:17–34)

Situation. Wealthy members arrive early with private banquets; the poor go hungry. The Supper, meant to proclaim the Lord’s death, reenacts class division.

Text. 1 Cor 11:17–34.

Analysis.

• Justification. The meal must declare the cross that levels sinners; to “not discern the body” is to ignore the church as Christ’s body.

• Spirit. The same Spirit who gifts the body (ch. 12) must order our table practices.

• Church. Table equity is an ecclesial justice issue.

• New Creation. The eucharistic table is a new-creation rehearsal of the wedding feast; partiality contradicts this sign.

• Eschatology. “You proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes”—the Supper stretches between cross and parousia.

Practices. Restructure the meal so all eat; consider one shared table; catechize the church in body-discernment; link Supper with diaconal care.

Pitfalls. Reducing “unworthy manner” to private piety; ignoring structural inequities that the Supper exposes (Fee, 2014).

Exam notes. Connect 11:17–34 to 1:18–2:5 (the cross) and 12–14 (edification): one theological thread.

Case 5: Charismatic Disorder and the Primacy of Edification (1 Corinthians 12–14)

Situation. Tongues without interpretation, competitive prophecy, and chaotic gatherings confuse outsiders and exhaust insiders.

Text. 1 Cor 12–14.

Analysis.

• Justification. No gift confers status; all stand by grace.

• Spirit. The Spirit gives diverse gifts for the common good; love is the more excellent way (13). Intelligibility is a Spirit priority (14:6–19) (Fee, 2014).

• Church. Think “body”: many members, one life. Gatherings must aim at edification.

• New Creation. Prophecy strengthens and consoles the people living between the ages.

• Eschatology. Gifts are partial and temporary; love endures (13:8–13).

Practices. Two-or-three speak, others weigh; tongues require interpretation; pursue prophecy; design liturgy for outsider awareness (14:23–25).

Pitfalls. Either suppressing gifts (fear of mess) or valorizing spontaneity without discernment.

Exam notes. Cite Fee (2014) on edification as the controlling criterion; tie to 12:7 (“for the common good”).

Case 6: Grace Economics and the Jerusalem Collection (2 Corinthians 8–9; Romans 15:25–33)

Situation. Paul coordinates a multi-church collection for poor believers in Jerusalem—a fragile, cross-cultural project.

Text. 2 Cor 8–9; Rom 15:25–33.

Analysis.

• Justification. The gift nature of salvation births a people who give; boasting is excluded, generosity is unleashed (Barclay, 2015).

• Spirit. Willingness and cheer are Spirit-wrought (9:7); generosity becomes sowing in the Spirit’s economy (9:6–11).

• Church. The collection is ecclesial diplomacy uniting Gentile and Jewish believers.

• New Creation. New economics: abundance supplies lack so that there may be equality (8:13–15).

• Eschatology. Generosity accrues “fruit to your account”; praise to God by many (9:12–15) anticipates final thanksgiving.

Practices. Transparent administration; proportionate giving; narrate generosity as participation in grace and unity.

Pitfalls. Reducing stewardship to budgets; neglecting the symbolic power of shared funds in healing ethnic divides.

Exam notes. Use Barclay (2015) on incongruous gift to frame why the collection is gospel logic, not PR.

Case 7: Joyful Unity and Conflict Resolution (Philippians 4:2–9; 2:1–11)

Situation. Euodia and Syntyche—trusted coworkers—have fallen into conflict, threatening the church’s witness.

Text. Phil 4:2–9 with 2:1–11 as theological center.

Analysis.

• Justification. Co-workers in the Lord share a status received, not earned; therefore they can yield without losing worth.

• Spirit. “If there is any participation in the Spirit…” (2:1) → adopt the mind of Christ.

• Church. A named mediator (“true companion”) helps; conflict is handled in community.

• New Creation. The Christ hymn (2:6–11) models downward mobility—the new social imagination.

• Eschatology. “The Lord is near” (4:5): eschatological nearness grounds gentleness and freedom from anxiety.

Practices. Name the conflict; bring wise third-party help; practice rejoicing, gentleness, prayer, and meditation on the good (4:4–9).

Pitfalls. Treating reconciliation as optional; weaponizing “joy” to silence lament.

Exam notes. Fee (1995) for Philippians’ literary flow; show how 2:5–11 functions ethically for 4:2–9.

Case 8: Gospel Persuasion in a Slaveholding Household (Philemon)

Situation. Onesimus, Philemon’s slave, has become a believer through Paul. Paul sends him back, appealing to Philemon to receive him “no longer as a slave but more than a slave—a beloved brother.”

Text. Phlm 1–25; echo Col 3:11; 4:7–9.

Analysis.

• Justification. Both Philemon and Onesimus stand as graced sinners; equality at the table presses into the household (Moo, 2008; Wright, 2013).

• Spirit. Love and partnership (koinōnia) are Spirit-produced; Paul appeals “for love’s sake,” not coercion.

• Church. The letter is read to the whole house-church; reconciliation is communal witness.

• New Creation. The in-Christ identity (“brother”) relativizes the master/slave relation and sows the seeds for its abolition.

• Eschatology. Paul banks on Philemon’s eternal reward for doing what is right even at economic cost.

Practices. Restore relationship; consider manumission; compensate losses; center the Lord’s Supper as the social reset.

Pitfalls. Anachronism (reading modern forms directly back) or quietism (ignoring the text’s social pressure).

Exam notes. Argue that Philemon performs the social ethic implied by justification and new creation (Moo, 2008; Wright, 2013).

Case 9: Disputable Matters—Food, Days, and Conscience (Romans 14:1–15:13)

Situation. Mixed congregations in Rome clash over dietary scruples and sacred days—likely rooted in post-edict re-integration of Jewish believers.

Text. Rom 14:1–15:13.

Analysis.

• Justification. God has welcomed both; therefore “welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, to the glory of God.”

• Spirit. The kingdom is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (14:17). The Spirit makes love-limited liberty possible (Gaventa, 2016).

• Church. The strong bear the weak; motives (“to the Lord”) matter more than uniformity.

• New Creation. A single choir (15:9–12) of Jews and Gentiles anticipates the new-creation praise.

• Eschatology. Each will stand before God’s judgment seat; act now in light of then (14:10–12).

Practices. Don’t despise or judge; do not put a stumbling block; forego rights for the other’s edification; sing Scripture-stitched doxology together.

Pitfalls. Confusing disputables with gospel essentials; demanding uniformity as the price of unity.

Exam notes. Use Moo (2018) on Jew–Gentile dynamics; cite 14:17 and 15:7 as thesis sentences.

Case 10: Ideology, Asceticism, and the Sufficiency of Christ (Colossians 2)

Situation. Colossian believers face teaching that mixes ascetic practices, visionary experiences, and angel veneration—promising fullness through add-ons beyond Christ.

Text. Col 2:6–23 (with 1:15–20; 3:1–4).

Analysis.

• Justification. Full acceptance resides in Christ; circumcision without hands (2:11–12) replaces boundary-marking rituals.

• Spirit. The fullness of deity dwells bodily in Christ (2:9); the Spirit mediates his fullness to the church (Moo, 2008).

• Church. Growth happens by holding fast to the Head; the whole body is nourished and knit together (2:19).

• New Creation. Believers have died and been raised; therefore “seek the things above” (3:1–4).

• Eschatology. Your life is hidden with Christ in God; when he appears, you will appear with him in glory (3:4).

Practices. Refuse rule-based spirituality that devalues Christ’s sufficiency; cultivate put off/put on ethics (3:5–17); embed worship in Christ’s word (3:16).

Pitfalls. Over-spiritualizing (neglecting embodied obedience) or reducing spirituality to rule-keeping.

Exam notes. Anchor your argument in the Christ hymn (1:15–20) and 2:9–15; show how Christ’s cosmic supremacy answers local pressures (Moo, 2008).

Case 11 (Optional for further practice): Leadership, Public Reputation, and Good Works (1–2 Timothy; Titus)

Situation. Young churches amid false teaching, patron-client expectations, and suspicious neighbors need stable leadership and credible lives.

Text. 1 Tim 3; 2 Tim 1–2; Titus 2–3.

Analysis.

• Justification. “Christ Jesus came to save sinners” grounds humility in leaders (1 Tim 1:15).

• Spirit. “Guard the good deposit by the Holy Spirit” (2 Tim 1:14).

• Church. Offices exist to serve maturity; households are cared for with discernment (1 Tim 5).

• New Creation. Grace trains a people zealous for good works (Titus 2:11–14).

• Eschatology. Ministers endure suffering in light of the appearing and kingdom (2 Tim 4:1–8).

Practices. Vet leaders for character and teachability; insist on sound teaching that produces love; pursue public honorability.

Pitfalls. Turning qualifications into checkboxes or imagining “sound doctrine” as mere polemics (Towner, 2006; Marshall, 1999).

Exam notes. Frame the Pastorals as stabilization of Paul’s earlier church-forming work, not a retreat from grace.

A Reusable Case-Analysis Template

For your exam (and ministry), practice this five-move method on any passage:

1. Locate the concrete problem (social, theological, moral).

2. Trace Paul’s remedy across the five themes: What does this text declare (justification)? What does God supply (Spirit)? What people-patterns does it create (church)? What future shapes its ethics (eschatology)? How does it image new creation?

3. Map the letter’s macro-argument (e.g., 1 Cor 1–4 → 11 → 12–14).

4. Name practices that embody the logic (table, discipline, generosity, liturgy, leadership).

5. Guard against two predictable distortions (license vs. legalism; triumphalism vs. despair; uniformity vs. division).

If you can do these five moves in 8–12 sentences with two textual citations and one scholarly anchor, you will write excellent answers.

Cross-Case Synthesis: What Paul Does Over and Over

• He levels boasting (justification) and re-centers the cross—Antioch, Corinth, Rome.

• He credits the Spirit as the game-changer—ethics flow from indwelling, not mere willpower.

• He treats the church as the gospel’s public: tables, collections, gifts, conflicts.

• He frames ethics as participation in Christ’s death and life—new creation enacted now.

• He motivates with eschatology—future glory, judgment, and the Lord’s nearness give weight to present choices.

Memorize this: Verdict (justification) → Presence (Spirit) → People (church) → Practice (new creation ethics) → Horizon (eschatology). Every case above fits that flow.

Suggested Assignments (Week 10, Bullet 2)

1. Case-Portfolio (3,000–3,500 words).
   Choose three cases above (one from Corinth, one from a Prison Epistle, and Romans 14–15). For each, write: (a) 200-word situation brief; (b) 800-word exegesis integrating the five themes; (c) 200-word pastoral action plan. Engage two scholarly sources overall (e.g., Fee, 2014; Moo, 2018).

2. Table & Conscience Practicum (1,800–2,200 words).
   Design a congregational policy for the Lord’s Supper and disputable matters that synthesizes 1 Cor 11 and Rom 14–15. Include a leader script for offending behaviors, a diaconal plan to address inequity, and a teaching outline on “welcome as worship.” Cite Fee (2014) and Gaventa (2016).

3. Philemon Simulation (in-class + 1,200-word reflection).
   Role-play Paul, Philemon, Onesimus, and the house-church. Negotiate a reconciled outcome consistent with Philemon and Col 4:7–9. Reflect on how justification and new creation shape economic decisions. Use Moo (2008) and Wright (2013).

4. Charisms for Edification (project + 1,000 words).
   Audit your church’s gathered worship with 1 Cor 12–14. Produce a revised order of service implementing intelligibility, discerned prophecy, and outsider awareness. Justify choices from the text (Fee, 2014).

5. The Collection as Missional Diplomacy (1,800–2,200 words).
   Exegete 2 Cor 8–9 and design a cross-congregational generosity initiative that heals a real divide (e.g., class, ethnicity). Frame it with grace/gift theology (Barclay, 2015) and unity themes (Wright, 2013).

6. Eight-Sentence Exam Drills (hand-in).
   For five cases above, write one tight 8–12 sentence answer integrating: (a) one thesis verse, (b) one anchor theme, (c) one practice, (d) one scholarly citation. Bring to seminar for peer review.

References

Barclay, J. M. G. (2015). Paul and the gift. Eerdmans.
Dunn, J. D. G. (1998). The theology of Paul the Apostle. Eerdmans.
Fee, G. D. (1995). Paul’s letter to the Philippians (NICNT). Eerdmans.
Fee, G. D. (2014). The First Epistle to the Corinthians (Rev. ed., NICNT). Eerdmans.
Gaventa, B. R. (2016). When in Romans: An invitation to linger with the Gospel according to Paul. Baker Academic.
Gorman, M. J. (2009). Inhabiting the cruciform God: Kenosis, justification, and theosis in Paul’s narrative soteriology. Eerdmans.
Moo, D. J. (2008). The letters to the Colossians and to Philemon (PNTC). Eerdmans.
Moo, D. J. (2018). The letter to the Romans (2nd ed., NICNT). Eerdmans.
Towner, P. H. (2006). The letters to Timothy and Titus (NICNT). Eerdmans.
Wright, N. T. (2013). Paul and the faithfulness of God. Fortress Press.