40 Questions About the Apostle Paul

40 Questions

by Miguel G. Echevarría, Benjamin P. Laird (Contributor)

What can we know about the apostle Paul, and what difference does it make?


Paul of Tarsus was an undeniably forceful presence in the early Christian church, instructing fledgling congregations of believers throughout the Mediterranean in person and by letter and authoring about half of the New Testament in the process. But who was this powerful personality? And how can students most benefit from the extensive studies on Paul available today?


New Testament scholars Miguel Echevarria and Benjamin Laird provide an invaluable foundation for students beginning their investigations into the apostle Paul, Paul's theology, and Pauline studies, addressing orienting questions such as
• What do we know about Paul's family?
• How did Paul's companions assist in the composition and distribution of his letters?
• Did Paul think his letters were authoritative Scripture?
• Is there a center to Paul's theology?
• What is Paul's Christology?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of the New Perspective on Paul?
• Does Paul address slavery and racial division?


Through its question-and-answer format, 40 Questions about the Apostle Paul provides a succinct introduction and entryway to more advanced study of Paul and the Pauline letter corpus.

427 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 10, 2023

Reviews

[Thomas Smyly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book! Echevarría and Laird introduce their readers well to the historical Paul and his theology. They faithfully represent different peoples’ views on various heated topics. I dock the book one star because of inconsistent argumentation on one occurrence. The authors argue that most cessationists can be found in the Western world as opposed to areas like Africa and Latin America. The inference is that Africans and Latin Americans are less impacted by the Enlightenment, therefore they are more open to Spiritual gifts like tongues, prophecy, etc. While this argument has merit, it does not account for many pre-moderns who were cessationists. These figures include Chrysostom, Augustine, Luther, and Calvin. Other than this nit picky comment, the book is fantastic and worth your time!

[Ryan Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is wonderful and this volume only adds to the richness of the 40 Questions series. This book on Paul addresses not only his life, his conversion, his theology, as well as difficult passages and topics, and brings all of it together in very succinct, yet thorough way. I appreciate this series for the ability to quickly go back and reference a particular point on the subject and have a solid way to teach and dialogue through a topic such as the life and ministry of Paul! The authors have done a tremendous job to condense volumes of content on Paul into this single volume.

[Leah Ginion]

I read enough of this and wrote enough about it that I’m going to count it

[Steve Stanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars