Paul: His Life and Teaching

by John McRay

The apostle Paul and his significance for the New Testament and Christianity is a perennial topic of interest, but few evangelical surveys of his life offer a truly holistic picture of the man and his world. Now available in trade paper, John McRay's Paul explores the apostle's preconversion days, missionary travels, and theological contributions. A specialist in archaeology, the author draws on his more than forty years of teaching experience as well as knowledge gained from extensive travels to the places Paul visited. Paul is a comprehensive and readable presentation of Paul's ministry and theology that weaves together historical backgrounds, archaeological discoveries, and theological themes.

Genres: Christian, Theology

480 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2003

About the author

John Robert McRay was an archaeologist, and professor emeritus of New Testament at Wheaton College.

Reviews

[Joey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book took me a while, but it took me a while because I stopped and chewed on just about every page. This was my first book devoted to Paul and it was very enlightening. The world at the time of Paul leapt alive off the page and completely turned my long held impressions of Paul upside down.

There were a couple of places where I almost felt like McRay contradicted himself, but it didn't bother me enough to make me retrace my steps and run it to ground. Nonetheless, it would have easily been five stars, save two things that felt awkward. First was the black and white photos. I just wanted more out of them, they didn't add much for me. Second was that, I had hoped this book would help me explore or attempt to understand Paul's views on women. This topic was basically never mentioned.

[Hank Pharis · Rating 1 out of 5]

"When he's good he's very good, when he's bad ..." Great on historical and archeological background of Acts. Surprisingly poor on Paul's theology.
Majors on minor issues and ignores major issues. Out of all of Paul's epistles chooses only Ephesians to introduce and discuss. Very idiosyncratic regarding Paul's theology. Read a second time (3/15) and my evaluation is still the same. Great on history, weak on theology.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

McRay does an excellent job of covering Paul's life. This book is probably better used as a ref. book rather than a bedtime read... which is the way I read it (strait through). McRay does cover more on page than one could possibly remember which is why it is better used for reference.

[Mike Bigelow · Rating 4 out of 5]

A straightforward and thoughtful biography of the Apostle Paul. McKay is particularly good at placing Paul and his life into the archeological discoveries.