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Paul the Convert: The Apostolate and Apostasy of Saul the Pharisee
Although Paul’s writings have been intensively studied by Christian theologians, they have been dismissed by Jewish scholars as the meditations of an antagonistic apostate who broke completely with his Jewish past. In this revisionist account of Paul’s work, Alan Segal argues that Paul’s life can be better understood by taking his Jewishness seriously, and that Jewish history can be illuminated greatly by examining Paul’s writings. By reading Paul from the viewpoint of the religion he left behind, Segal sheds new light on the man who played a critical role in both Judaism and Christianity. "Segal’s new book challenges Jewish and Christian scholars alike to take a fresh look at this well-educated man."― The Washington Post Book World
"Segal has written a blockbuster of a book about Paul that blazes a new trail. It not only gives new insights into Paul and his thought, but it establishes the writings of Paul as significant primary source material for the study of first-century Judaism.."―Hayim Goren Perelmuter, New Theology Review
"A brilliantly argued book. . . . Paul is neither hero nor villain for Segal but a fascinating historical and religious character, from whom we can learn much about both Judaism and Christianity. . . . I found myself thoroughly sympathetic to Segal’s portrayal of Paul. More than that, I found myself convinced."―J. Christian Wilson, The Christian Century
" Paul the Convert is a stunning achievement. Segal brilliantly weaves together Jewish studies, New Testament scholarship, and contemporary social scientific theories of conversion into a richly textured and provocative book."―Lewis R. Rambo, Professor of Psychology and Religion, San Francisco Theological Seminary "This is by far the best book about Paul I have ever it revolutionizes Pauline studies. . . . Segal has made Paul, and early Christianity, more understandable and therefore deserves the heartfelt thanks of all believers and unbelievers."―Giles Quispel, Vigiliae Christianae
"Segal has written a blockbuster of a book about Paul that blazes a new trail. It not only gives new insights into Paul and his thought, but it establishes the writings of Paul as significant primary source material for the study of first-century Judaism.."―Hayim Goren Perelmuter, New Theology Review
"A brilliantly argued book. . . . Paul is neither hero nor villain for Segal but a fascinating historical and religious character, from whom we can learn much about both Judaism and Christianity. . . . I found myself thoroughly sympathetic to Segal’s portrayal of Paul. More than that, I found myself convinced."―J. Christian Wilson, The Christian Century
" Paul the Convert is a stunning achievement. Segal brilliantly weaves together Jewish studies, New Testament scholarship, and contemporary social scientific theories of conversion into a richly textured and provocative book."―Lewis R. Rambo, Professor of Psychology and Religion, San Francisco Theological Seminary "This is by far the best book about Paul I have ever it revolutionizes Pauline studies. . . . Segal has made Paul, and early Christianity, more understandable and therefore deserves the heartfelt thanks of all believers and unbelievers."―Giles Quispel, Vigiliae Christianae
385 pages, Paperback
First published May 9, 1990
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About the author
Alan F. Segal
16 books15 followersAlan Franklin Segal
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_F....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_F....
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 5, 2019
This is a fascinating, engaging, and well-argued study of the Apostle Paul -- born Saul of Tarsus and instantly converted to belief in Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah on the road to Damascus -- written by Alan F. Segal. Segal, who, sad to say, died in 2011, was a Jewish religious scholar who studied, taught, and wrote on the historic connections between Judaism and the emerging Christian religion in the ancient world.
Unlike most Jewish scholars at the time this book was published (1990), Segal did not regard Paul as a Jewish apostate who rejected Judaism in favor of Christianity. Segal argues that this view is blindered in many ways. For one thing, Christianity was not a separate religion in the first century, when Paul lived. The word Christianity didn't even exist then -- it was a sect within Judaism, and almost all Christ believers were Jewish, and observed Jewish rituals and ceremonial law as Jews always had. The problem was that Paul felt himself to be an apostle to the gentiles, who were pagan mostly, and neither Jewish nor Christian. In proselytizing to gentiles all over the Mediterranean and Near East region, however, a conflict emerged between Jewish Christians who wanted to retain Jewish law, and Paul, who wanted one united Christian community. It was not that Paul objected to the ceremonial law per se, but he insisted that Jewish Christians could not continue to believe that the law was the way to salvation, rather than faith. Tensions grew, also, around the issue of circumcision for uncircumcised gentiles, because under Roman rule it was potentially dangerous to be seen as Jewish if you weren't already. Would-be Christians had to be Jewish because, hard as it is to imagine this now, there WAS no separate Christian religion. Being a Christ-follower meant being Jewish. Eventually, this unresolvable dilemma tore Judaism and Christianity apart from each other, but it took a century or more after Paul's death for this process to reveal itself as a fait accompli. The dilemma was unresolvable because Paul could not let it go -- he wanted one Christian community. But that didn't mean he was trying to make a separate religion -- in his mind, he wanted a Christian community where all Christ-believers could live as one. Whether some still considered themselves Jewish and observed Jewish law was of no interest to him, as long as it was done for tradition's sake, but not seen as the path to salvation.
I amaze myself by writing of this at such length, but this book really energized me intellectually. So yeah, you should read it if you're interested in religion.
Unlike most Jewish scholars at the time this book was published (1990), Segal did not regard Paul as a Jewish apostate who rejected Judaism in favor of Christianity. Segal argues that this view is blindered in many ways. For one thing, Christianity was not a separate religion in the first century, when Paul lived. The word Christianity didn't even exist then -- it was a sect within Judaism, and almost all Christ believers were Jewish, and observed Jewish rituals and ceremonial law as Jews always had. The problem was that Paul felt himself to be an apostle to the gentiles, who were pagan mostly, and neither Jewish nor Christian. In proselytizing to gentiles all over the Mediterranean and Near East region, however, a conflict emerged between Jewish Christians who wanted to retain Jewish law, and Paul, who wanted one united Christian community. It was not that Paul objected to the ceremonial law per se, but he insisted that Jewish Christians could not continue to believe that the law was the way to salvation, rather than faith. Tensions grew, also, around the issue of circumcision for uncircumcised gentiles, because under Roman rule it was potentially dangerous to be seen as Jewish if you weren't already. Would-be Christians had to be Jewish because, hard as it is to imagine this now, there WAS no separate Christian religion. Being a Christ-follower meant being Jewish. Eventually, this unresolvable dilemma tore Judaism and Christianity apart from each other, but it took a century or more after Paul's death for this process to reveal itself as a fait accompli. The dilemma was unresolvable because Paul could not let it go -- he wanted one Christian community. But that didn't mean he was trying to make a separate religion -- in his mind, he wanted a Christian community where all Christ-believers could live as one. Whether some still considered themselves Jewish and observed Jewish law was of no interest to him, as long as it was done for tradition's sake, but not seen as the path to salvation.
I amaze myself by writing of this at such length, but this book really energized me intellectually. So yeah, you should read it if you're interested in religion.
July 12, 2021
Dense book about Paul the Apostle. Feels like his whole ministry should be interpreted through the lens of his conversion experience on the road to Damascus. One sub theme is that his letters are attempts to keep Christianity from diving into a Jewish component and a gentile component, so that some statements in his letters should be interpreted more from that viewpoint than a statement of his actual beliefs.
April 16, 2019
The documentation of the life of Paul is used as evidence of what Jews and Jewish society were like in the first century CE. There are some reflections on what Christians later made of the story, but these are not the point of the book.
own-to-read
March 24, 2016June 5: Most interesting bit in the latest reading being one of three stories which exist in Judaeic information regarding converts to Judaism -- demonstrating the two extremes of requirements for conversion -- the lesser being credited to Hillel is stated thus:"'What you do not like to have done to you, do not do to your fellow. This is the whole of the Torah; the rest is expanation of it. Go learn it.'"
I found this very encouraging given my take on the divisions between sets and denominations of various organized religions. This book is definitely a difficult read, dense and footnoted and with many references offering furthur exploration. Onward.
I found this very encouraging given my take on the divisions between sets and denominations of various organized religions. This book is definitely a difficult read, dense and footnoted and with many references offering furthur exploration. Onward.
February 15, 2016
An excellent book on Paul, in other words: the best book on Paul I have read so far. Segal's depth of thought is unparallelled in the field of early Christianity. I don't believe I have a single other book with that much ++++-es in the margin.
Understandably Segal doesn't solve the Jesus-Paul problem as he accepts the traditional chronology of the origins of Christianity.
Understandably Segal doesn't solve the Jesus-Paul problem as he accepts the traditional chronology of the origins of Christianity.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews