摘要
对保罗书信的研究已经越来越多地吸收了社会科学研究的成果，特别是人类学和社会学，因而提出了各种新观点。社会科学的研究方法是严谨地把文本与语境密切地联系起来，这种方式近年来已被学者普遍采用。学者们关注的问题和重心不再只是传统的保罗及其神学，也是有关保罗和早期基督徒生活的文化、政治和社会领域；保罗和早期基督徒与当时希腊—罗马社会的关系；早期基督徒的社会结构；及其如何对待权柄和祭礼等问题。这些方法将有助于当今读者对早期基督徒居住的日常生活世界获得更深入的了解，可以更有把握地将其神学思想放在比较具体的社会背景中。
並列摘要
More and more variety of social science approaches and methods have been adopted in Pauline studies in recent decades, especially anthropology and sociology. Pauline scholars have accordingly proposed a wide range of new perspectives and ideas. They have attempted to link context and text more closely together. The questions and for-us that now scholars concerned are less about the traditional Paul and his theology, hut more on the cultural, political and social world in which Paul and the early Christians lived; about the relationship between Paul and the early Christians and the Greco-Roman society at the time as well as its social structure and ethos, including the issues of power, authorities and rituals. These new approaches in Pauline studies aim at helping readers today for a more informed understanding of the life situation of the early Christians and the theology arising from it.