Saint Paul the Pharisee: Jewish Apostle to All Nations

by Stephen De Young

The centuries after the Protestant Reformation brought about a radical reinterpretation of the epistles of St. Paul, disconnected from any historical reality. But Paul operated, during his entire life, as a faithful Pharisee within the Roman Jewish world. In Saint Paul the Jewish Apostle to All Nations, Fr. Stephen De Young surveys Paul’s life and writings, interpreting them within the Holy Tradition of the Orthodox Church. This survey is followed by De Young’s interpretive translation of St. Paul’s epistles, which deliberately avoids overly familiar terminology. By using words and ideas grounded in first-century Judaism, De Young hopes to unsettle commonly held notions and help the reader reassess St. Paul in his historical context.

Genres: Religion, Theology, Biography, History, Christianity, Christian, Scripture

344 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 26, 2024

Reviews

[Jeffery Guill · Rating 1 out of 5]

I knew I was in trouble from the very first page of Paul the Pharisee. Father Stephen De Young starts off like he’s writing a normal Bible commentary, and then—before you can even say “sola fide”—he’s dragging Paul through Second Temple literature, cosmic geography, and something called the Divine Council. I came here for Pauline theology, not a guided tour of the spiritual bureaucracy of heaven. The man reads one verse of Romans and suddenly we’re talking about Deuteronomy, the Watchers, and what sounds suspiciously like theosis. I’m sorry, but this isn’t exegesis; it’s patristic fan fiction.

Fr. De Young has the gall to suggest that Paul didn’t abandon the Law, that maybe, just maybe, he was still a faithful Israelite. Excuse me? Has he not read Galatians? It’s in the Bible—right after Second Corinthians, not in some dusty scroll in Qumran. Every chapter feels like he’s personally trying to deconstruct my Reformation heritage while whispering, “Actually, Luther was wrong about this too.” He quotes Irenaeus like it’s going to fix everything. I quote Calvin. Checkmate, Father.

And don’t think I didn’t notice the “Lord of Spirits” influence. This whole book reads like one long podcast episode that never ends. There’s a section on Paul’s "Pharisaical" worldview, then a side tangent on ancient cosmology, then suddenly we’re knee-deep in Mesopotamian demonology. I half-expected Fr. Andrew to pop up mid-sentence with a little jingle and an etymology lesson. Meanwhile, I’m just trying to find a single clear definition of justification that doesn’t involve the entire Old Testament and a map of the underworld.

The tone throughout is maddeningly confident—like a Bond villain, he explains obvious facts we all missed because we didn’t have access to a time machine or the Greek version of Deuteronomy. And his footnotes! If I wanted to read twelve sources in three dead languages just to understand one paragraph, I’d have stayed in seminary. No one warned me that reading this book would require a working knowledge of Leviticus, intertestamental Judaism, and the metaphysics of uncreated energies.

In conclusion, Paul the Pharisee is not a book. It’s an ambush. It takes your tidy Reformed categories, drags them through Babylonian exile, baptizes them in the Jordan, and leaves you staring blankly at an unused gate to the underworld, wondering if you’ve ever actually read the Bible. I cannot recommend it to anyone who values doctrinal clarity, systematic theology, or sleep. One stars out of five—4/5 for the production quality, and 1/5 for making me rethink my entire soteriology against my will.

[Kevin Godinho · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half of the book is a biography of Paul. The last half of the book is Paul's NT writings translated by Fr. Stephen.

I enjoyed learning about the context and background of Paul's upbringing. I also enjoyed learning more about the details of his missionary journeys.

Fr. Stephen translates certain words differently on purpose. For example, he translates "law" as "Torah" and "faith" as "faithfulness," which makes for some thought-provoking reading. He also incorporates some interpretation here and there. For example, in Hebrews 6, he expounds on the word "enlightened" to be referring to baptism and "tasting the heavenly gift" as the eucharist. I was familiar with "enlightened" referring to baptism before reading this, but I had never made the eucharistic connection before. These nuances are riddled throughout his translations, granting a fresh, dare I say patristic, perspective.

This is a great book if you are stuck in the Reformation's reading of St. Paul. If you've already been exposed to his historical reading, this book may not have a lot of new theological insight for you, aside from getting a bit of an introduction to the life of Paul and fresh perspectives via Fr. Stephen's translation of his writings.

[Alex Holguin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential reading to uncovering & understanding the true St. Paul.
The Western imagination of St. Paul is an oftentimes (and at best) superficial one that fails to account for how radical historical events (like the Protestant Reformation) affect the way we read, think, and what we presume to be “normal.” Those that have dedicated years to St. Paul’s letters in quiet time, bible studies, scholarly analysis, and pastoral lessons might even know some aspects of his life – but still be left with half the picture of his original ministry’s intent. Unable to square the teachings of the Old and New Testament (or sometimes even between the Gospels and St. Paul’s own writings) a temptation arises to remake Christianity in a Western image without asking how a Western background might be informing this confusion. The Very Rev. Dr. Stephen De Young addresses this dilemma in “Saint Paul the Pharisee: Jewish Apostle to All Nations” by offering a careful reading based on what is known of his life to establish necessary context, as well as an interpretation of the Pauline scriptures that accounts for how readers might (mis)interpret these letters. Profoundly, this book outlines how the role and importance of culture (in)formed what being an Orthodox Christian meant to St. Paul by contextualizing topics like his lifelong status as a Jewish Pharisee or how different Christians were called to keep the Torah within a clear and consistent tradition of Christianity that continues to this day. The Very Rev. Dr. Stephen De Young powerfully challenges modern (and oftentimes contradictory) assumptions that parasitically arose from decontextualized understandings of St. Paul to give readers a chance to meet him as he more fully is.
“Saint Paul the Pharisee” is arranged into arguably two major sections: a section that integrates surveys of St. Paul’s life and scriptures, and a section translating these Pauline texts. The first section situates the Orthodox Christian tradition’s memory of St. Paul into a historical chronology that ranges from his early life as Saul of Tarsus to his martyrdom (as well as some accounts about the apostle’s body from other ancient Christians of what occurred at/after his death). The book engages in a variety of sources to help narrate this context in as visually clear a way as possible, such as maps directing his four missionary journeys, historical and religious information regarding the various places of his travels, and insight into St. Paul’s interactions with other apostles/disciples. The Very Rev. Dr. De Young pauses with St. Paul during various points of this journey to address authorship questions, explain the conditions in both the apostle’s life and the respective communities addressed in each letter, and to identify how major themes in each scriptural text were connected across the Orthodox Christian tradition as a continuation of a set of Pharisaic Jewish religious practices. This attention to detail allows for the author to account for tone in a manner that is otherwise difficult to discern – offering readers an understanding of various scriptures presumed to be universal edicts or “laws” within more appropriately measured contexts.
Although the second section’s translations are designed to neither supplant devotional or liturgical use, they are nevertheless helpful aids to identify where modern assumptions may have colored projections onto our own readings – as well as to understand how the Eastern Orthodox memory of St. Paul maintains a tradition consistent with the various local contexts in which he was writing from/to. The Very Rev. Dr. De Young is clear about both how and why his translations resist certain words that trigger problematic associations for English-speaking and Westernized readers. The translations themselves are extremely accessible for readers of all levels, and also manages to capture the human spirit of communication that empowers its audiences to more fully imagine that St. Paul was writing as a real person, to real people, in real time. In an age where scholars have produced biblical translations to justify and import their own contemporary theological innovations, here we see the opposite: where a biblical translation targets the contemporary language that problematically encourages contemporary theological innovations to more easily encounter the ancient Christian tradition in the manner that (in this case) St. Paul intended.
Considering the distinction in content (biographical narrative and biblical translation) and being split into sections of approximately equal length, “Saint Paul the Pharisee” could easily be considered as two books for the price of one. I can imagine that many audiences might find the text engaging, albeit in different ways: any audience looking to better understand the life and writings of St. Paul, skeptics unsure how particular (and potentially controversial) Pauline-addressed topics were understood as an extension of Christ’s teachings, those unsure how to understand the Torah in a New Testament context, those unsure how to understand Orthodox Christianity in a Jewish context – this reading of St. Paul offers nuanced insight that casts an extremely wide net because it mirrors it’s subject. That said, my experience of the book felt it would especially thrive in the minds of two specific audiences: those that are newly introduced to the scriptures and those that have been long committed to discerning Christian truth. In the former scenario, I imagine reading historical overviews about how St. Paul came to write these texts along with his (likely) intentions for how they would operate collectively as a tradition could illuminate wisdom for new readers of the scriptures that steers clear of projecting one’s personal meanings onto the text. In the latter, the book’s structure organizes the lesser-known details (and sometimes unknown situational context) of St. Paul’s life to not only offer something new to learn, but to see how it was meant to be learned in a way that even more seasoned “Pauline scholars” might have overlooked.
Lastly, “Saint Paul the Pharisee” offers an important provocation to return and recognize how the apostle’s Jewish religio-cultural identity was not abandoned for Christianity but continued and preserved in a manner that is little discussed in the contemporary West. Additionally, other ancient church fathers (like St. Peter and St. Timothy) are also addressed in the context of preserving the Torah in a manner that they would have seen as fully consistent with Christ’s teachings about the “law.” What does it mean, then, to be a Jewish Orthodox Christian? If St. Paul was a Jewish apostle to all nations, then which Jewish practices does one incorporate as an Orthodox Christian from these other nations? Thankfully, the Very Rev. Dr. Stephen De Young helps remind us of St. Paul’s answers.
In the spirit of St. Paul, who did not know until the truth was revealed to him, this book empowers its readers to wipe the Western scales from their eyes: to come and see.

[Nick Stein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comprehensive history of Saul/Paul from his life as a Pharisee, his conversion, his ministry, and his death and impact on Christianity. Really enjoyed the context and details associated with WHY Paul may have included things in his Epistles.

[Jim Rickard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book

What I liked about this book was t
hat he showed Paul’s Jewishness . He wrote about keeping Torah and following Gods commands

[Monique Mathiesen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating perspective of Paul and the story of his life. This is helpful for understanding the context of his writings, especially for those raised with a Reformed background and a Western presupposition. A little dry at times, but overall a worthy read!

[Jake Litwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really helpful overview of the life of Paul. Although I was expecting more of an EO theological emphasis. From what I gathered, Protestant and RC, can benefit from this work without there being any major theological disagreement. Maybe that’s what the Appendix Interpretive Translation is for. I haven’t read this section but will have to get to it sometime.

[blaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fr. Stephen de Young does a commendable job of situating St Paul - and his epistles - within his historical context. The theological background of much of the Protestant movement, for instance, can be reduced to what is essentially a theology based on particular readings of St Paul's epistles. However, Fr. Stephen argues that St Paul wasn't writing abstract theological treatises; he was writing letters addressed to particular people and particular communities to deal with their particular concerns. Fr. Stephen also pushes back against the view in much modern (read: 19th century to 20th century) scholarship - which has somewhat entered popular culture - that St Paul pushed his own agenda forward in the name of Christ, or that he was the pragmatic organiser versus Christ the idealist preacaher, or that he heralded a significant disjuncture from the world of Second Temple Judaism by preaching the new religion of Christianity. St Paul was a Pharisaic Jew through and through, though raised and educated in a Greek city that was a regional centre of philosophical learning. His encounter with Christ changed the trajectory of his life (and perhaps even the world), but he still understood himself to be a Jew even as he preached Christ as the Messiah. I would have appreciated a deeper exploration of the social, historical, religious, and cultural context St Paul came from and lived in, though perhaps that's outside the scope of what it presented as a work for a popular audience.

Lastly, Fr. Stephen's translation of the epistles are fantastic. He renders them as letters, rather than treatises, removing the chapter and verse notations and finding novel translations for terms that are typically used in theological contexts (e.g. what's commonly translated as "law" is "Torah" here, which is apparently still an appropriate translation). Recommended for those who want a considered look at the Apostle to the Nations.

[Mimi Scaljon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Father Stephen De Young has written an excellent biography of Saint Paul in the context of the world Paul knew, as a Roman citizen and Pharisee. Paul's conversion was not an ending to his being a Pharisee, but a realization that the messianic prophecies he had spent his life studying had been fulfilled. In fact, during his ministry, Paul took a Nazarite vow. There are a lot of interesting facts that even the most well versed New Testament readers might learn for the first time reading this. Father De Young wants to emphasize that readers of Paul's epistles cannot take them out of context from Paul's education, culture, tradition, and Roman and Jewish culture. This is a fantastic read for those who are seeking out Christianity, history lovers, or just wanting to learn more about Saint Paul, his life and missions. Father De Young also includes his translations of Paul's Epistles, which is helpful to those seeking the most accurate and Orthodox translations.

[Kevin de Ataíde · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good review of the life of S. Paul, the great Christian Pharisee, earliest of the priests of the Church and founder and organiser of multiple local churches across the known world of the first century. I like the author's appreciation of Paul's Jewishness, which he doesn't attempt to discount in the least, and his clear description of the rights and duties of non-Jewish, Gentile Christians, who were dispensed by the Apostles (including Paul) from complete subjection to the Law of Moses. While Jewish Christians could choose to be subject to the Law, especially to avoid scandal and to preserve the peace in a mixed community. This book makes Paul's procedure and his spiritual direction much more clear, and is greatly helped by the translation of the entire Pauline corpus, which forms quite half of the content of the book. I recommend this book as a helpful antidote to much of the present (rather unhelpful) sceptical historical-critical study of the New Testament.

[Benjamin Linnabary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fr Stephen De Young did a wonderful job of narrating the life and work of one of the greatest saints of the Church in a way that is fresh. Not in the sense that he offers a particularly new viewpoint on St Paul, but rather that, by avoiding familiar language with St Paul's journeys, Fr De Young is able to provide a simpler, easier to understand narrative. Added to this, Fr De Young offers commentary on the culture surrounding St Paul. This is not done to add extraneous information or to appeal to ethos, but rather to help shape the world around the character of St Paul and give a better explanation for the Acts and epistles. I would highly recommend this book to give a simple, straightforward understanding of the works of St Paul and to help build a greater understanding of this pillar of the Church.

[Miguel Moll · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book provides a wonderful foundation for understanding an Orthodox Christian reading of Saint Paul the Apostle as he would have been understood in the early church by those 1st century Christians. The author provides a good background for the context in which Saint Paul was writing and expanding on the passages of Scripture that Saint Paul makes reference to. As someone who has listened to the Whole Counsel of God podcast, much of the material here is like a summary of the episodes on the Pauline Epistles.

[Joel Wiedrich · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clear, concise survey of the life and writings of St. Paul, this book brings together the scriptures and the historical context within which Paul is found. His life as a Jewish follower of the Jewish Messiah Jesus within a Roman world is well portrayed here. The author's own interpretive translations of Paul's Epistles in the back half of the book are helpful.

[David Mohler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly readable, and very engaging book. The author walks through the life of St. Paul from the perspective of Paul's pharisaical education and and commitment to the Torah, but as a believer in Jesus the Messiah. Orthodox and Protestant alike will find this treatment of Paul's life enriching and helpful.

[Jason Harper · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book comprised of a short biography of Saint Paul followed by a translation of his epistles in chronological order. The decision to translate and present the epistles as letters, without chapter and verse, and in the context of Saint Paul's relationship with his audiences, was wonderful.

[Ted · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strong

A very strong book on St. Paul and the way. Tremendous to read his journey and all the power he bought to the ultimate truth that Christianity is the truth faith of the universe

[Alec Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book. Fr. Stephen helps to reconcile seeming contradictions in the English translations of St. Paul that most of us have read in America. I truly believe that any Christian will benefit from reading this book.

[Athanasios M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome

I simply love the book. The way Fr. Young writes and tells the story of St. Paul was inspiring and I enjoyed every page

[Andrew Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tremendous!

[Lydia H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fr SDY always has engaging, refreshing content! It was nice to read St. Paul’s works in a way my pea brain could understand, without it being “The Message” translation. :)

[B+ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book it gives you much needed and fuller perspective on St Paul.

[Zecchaeus Jensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another one of my favorite books. This settles Stephen De Young as one of my favorite authors!!!

[Mikhael Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nothing to complain about here, just a thoughtful biography pulling from church tradition and new translations that felt refreshingly informal

[sch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dec 2025. After RELIGION OF THE APOSTLES and THE WHOLE COUNSEL OF GOD. Finished, compelling. Want a paper copy to review the translations more closely; it was hard to do that part as an audiobook.