Thursday, June 21, 2007

Packer on Pauline Contextualization

Packer again:
[Paul] set not limit to what he would do, however unconventionally, to ensure that he did not by personal insensitiveness or cultural inertia set barriers and stumbling-blocks in the way of men coming to Christ. . . . His loving, imaginative adaptability in the service of truth and people is a shining example to all who engage in evangelistic communication, and cannot be pondered too often or too seriously.

From a 1979 essay, "The Gospel--Its Content and Communication: A Theological Perspective." Republished in Serving the People of God: Collected Shorter Writings of J. I. Packer, vol. 2, pp. 230, 231.