Paul: The Theology of the Apostle in the Light of Jewish Religious History

by Hans-Joachim Schoeps

1961. First Published in Great Britain. 303 pages. No dust jacket. Beige cloth. Light foxing and tanning to pages. More prominent to text block edges, pastedowns and free endpapers; mild water stains to front free endpaper also. Pencil inscription to title page. Binding remains firm. Book is slightly bowed and forward leaning with visible water staining, tanning and scuffing overall. Spine has heavier tanning with soft crushing to ends.

Genres: Christianity

303 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1979

Reviews

[Fred Kohn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned of the author from several essays in the book Paul and the Philosophers. One that especially caught my attention was Inverse versus Dialectical Theology, by Hent de Vries. Apparently Schoeps is pretty influential among the philosophers of Paul. I had never heard of him before, despite making a habit of reading biblical scholarship. Maybe that’s because most biblical scholars are Christians and they tend to favor the opinions of other Christian scholars.

Although Schoeps acknowledges Paul's brilliance, he thinks Paul is responsible for a lot of misunderstanding of the Jewish religion and has led Christianity down a very dark path. If you are a Christian who is likely to be upset by these types of criticisms, you may want to skip this book. That would be a shame, though, because Schoeps' towering scholarship is very informative, even if somewhat dated. Not only is he learned in the N.T., but his Jewish background makes him perfect for understanding Paul in the light of Jewish opinion in the 1st century.

It is an open question whether I will read anything more by Schoeps. There is just so much to read!