Work and Community in the Thessalonian Correspondence: An African Communal Reading of Paul’s Work Exhortations

In this important study, Dr. Gift Mtukwa investigates the relationship between work and community in Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians. Utilizing an African biblical hermeneutic, he provides a theology of work that takes seriously the communal nature of Paul’s context and its parallels with a traditional African worldview.

He combines cultural and historical insight with biblical analysis to demonstrate that work has a critical role to play in community formation. It is neither a burden nor an individual pursuit but a purposeful communal activity done to benefit self and neighbour.

This fresh look at Paul’s work exhortations from a contextualized African perspective offers a powerful reminder that work – like all human endeavors – should have the glory of God and love of others as its goal.