Paul the Apostle of Jesus Christ: His Life and Works, His Epistles and Teachings

by Ferdinand Christian Baur

"One hundred and sixty years ago F. C. Baur posed, in inescapably sharp form, a question which has haunted Christianity throughout its is Christianity simply a form of Judaism, development from Judaism, or was it, as Baur argued, from the beginning something quite distinct, a religious spirit or consciousness which could not be or become itself until it broke through the limits and restrictions of its historical origins? Baur's radical answer set the agenda for the rest of the nineteenth century, and though neglected for most of the twentieth century, the question has reemerged with renewed force in a post Holocaust world."James D. G. Dunn, Emeritus Lightfoot Professor of Divinity, University of Durham"It will be extremely helpful to New Testament critics to have F. C. Baur's influential work on Paul long out of print and often no longer even available on most theological library shelves conveniently at hand. Baur's application of Hegel's dialectical theories to the writings of Paul profoundly shaped the discourse of his mid-nineteenth century German contemporaries, including that of those who sought to challenge certain aspects of his interpretation. They did not escape the powerful force of his conceptualization of the world, including a deeply negative evaluation of the Oriental spirit (i.e., Judaism and Jewishness), which was central to his project. The legacy of these developments the so called Tübingen school has deeply influenced N.T. studies (and arguably world history) ever since, and continues to assert its influence on the interpretation of Paul's voice to this day, although often now in unrecognized ways. With the availability of this edition, that is about to change."Mark D. Nanos, author of The Galatians Debate, The Irony of Galatians, and The Mystery of Romans"Perhaps the most influential book of nineteenth century New Testament scholarship, Paul the Apostle of Je

Genres: New Testament

742 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2003

About the author

Ferdinand Christian Baur was a German Protestant theologian and founder and leader of the (new) Tübingen School of theology (named for the University of Tübingen where Baur studied and taught). Following Hegel's theory of dialectic, Baur argued that second century Christianity represented the synthesis of two opposing theses: Jewish Christianity (Petrine Christianity) and Gentile Christianity (Pauline Christianity). This and the rest of Baur's work had a profound impact upon higher criticism of biblical and related texts.

Reviews

[Justin Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

How unfortunate that F.C. Baur's work has largely been forgotten. I think his acceptance of four of the Pauline epistles as being authentic misses the mark, but the critiques of the Acts of the Apostles in volume one clearly laid the foundation for the criticism that later came in the 20th century.

This is recommended reading for those who are interested in learning where the beginnings of higher criticism came from, but the read can be difficult at times. The translation from German to English in this edition is rather crude at times and doesn't exactly come out to be an easy read.

[Ben Montoya · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horribly wrong on so many topics, but important to read for understanding Pauline studies.