The Renewing of Your Minds": Psychological Trauma and Mental Health in the Pauline Epistles.

This project will evaluate the extent to which the Pauline Epistles display a concern for their audiences' psychological wellbeing and mental health. Few ancient texts exercise as much influence over their readership as the Bible. For this reason, it is imperative that we take seriously not only the theological and ethical, but also the profoundly psychological material contained in the New Testament. Four research questions - To what extent does the Apostle Paul offer, in his letters an awareness of and concern for the psychological wellbeing of his implied audiences? How did the author of the Pauline Epistles understand concepts such as the human mind and emotion in his Graeco-Roman context? In what ways does the author of the Pauline Epistles exhort readers to cope with trauma of a psychological nature? How do modern readers of the Pauline Epistles respond exhort readers to cope with trauma of a psychological nature? How do modern readers of the Pauline Epistles respond to the author's use of psychological language and exhortations to make conscious choices?

I will employ a relatively new methodological framework to illustrate that the author of Paul's letters displays concern for the psychological wellbeing of his audiences. David Garber proposed in 2015 that trauma theory provided a useful lens for biblical interpretation (Garbe 2015). Most approaches to the Bible in trauma perspective thus far are compiled in Elizabeth Boase and Christopher Frechette's Bible Through the Lens of Trauma (2016). Boase and Frechette suggest that a biblical text can function as a "trauma narrative", that is "a coherent narrative capable not only of processing past trauma but also of fostering resilience against further traumatisation" (Boase and Frechette 2016, 15). I will argue that many excerpts from the letters of Paul fulfil both of these functions of a trauma narrative: The author processes his own trauma by recalling traumatic events, and attempts to foster resilience in his audiences by offering coping mechanisms. In demonstrating this, I will address the wider question of the mechanisms via which the Apostle Paul encourages his readers to engage and cope with psychological trauma.

First, I will provide a focussed survey of the undisputed Pauline Epistles which identifies and emphasises texts in which Paul utilises his own experiences of psychological trauma to exhort his readers to cope with their own psychological problems. This approach will offer a new perspective on the Pauline corpus, and will offer a greater level of understanding of Paul's own context and the ways in which he would have understood the human mind and the concept of emotion.

Second, I will argue that Paul considered himself an example to be imitated not only in faith and ethics, but also in psychological practice (cf. 1 Corinthians 4:16). This will offer clarification on Paul's first-century understanding of the mind, emotion and trauma, and will begin to reconcile this ancient understanding with modern vernacular concerning mental health. Third, this project will initiate a dialogue between modern understandings of mental health and the Pauline Epistles. I will argue that concerns for psychological wellbeing were present in the first-century context of the Apostle Paul. Moreover, I will identify that Paul recommends several practical mechanisms for coping with psychological trauma to his audiences. For these reasons, Paul's letters will be able to contribute to discussions around mental health today. In my first year, I will conduct a survey of the undisputed Pauline corpus in order to identify texts which appear to offer psychological guidance to the readers. In my second year, I will offer re-readings of the selected Pauline texts in trauma perspective, and question the ways in which Paul's letters fulfil the first function of a trauma narrative. Lastly I will analyse the ways in which Pauls letters fulfil the second function of a trauma narrative.