Paul: An Outline of His Theology

by Herman N. Ridderbos

Now back in print in a beautiful new paperback edition, this study by one of Europe's foremost New Testament scholars provides a comprehensive exposition of the teaching of the apostle Paul. / Firmly grounded in a careful exegesis of the biblical text and crafted with constant reference to the wealth of scholarly study of Paul's writings, this volume is a standard for interpreters of Paul's thought and all students of the New Testament.

Genres: Theology, Biblical Studies, New Testament, Christian, Christianity, Nonfiction, Reference

587 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1975

Reviews

[Peyton Gunter]

Having me read at least 120 pages a week of this book is like having me watch Inception on 3.5 times speed. I’ll notice some cool things, but won’t know what’s going on most of the time.

[George Herndon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a sneaking suspicion that I spent more time reading this than he spent writing it.

[John Yelverton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a pretty extraordinary work about the Apostle Paul and his teachings, perspectives, and overall theology. My only complaint is that Herman Ridderbos uses an unnecessary, verbose vocabulary which will send the reader scrambling for a dictionary on more than one occasion.

[Colton Brewer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've taken multiple online IQ tests that have led me to believe I have a slightly above average intelligence. Until reading this book I assumed they must be at least in the ballpark, but this book me me feel I may actually have the an IQ of 60. His style of writing is rather hard to track with, though the few times I could, it was filled with golden nuggets (his discussion on the sacraments and intermediate state were of particular interest). If you are more intelligent than I, and it seems highly likely, this could be of great interest for you. It sincerely has lots of good info, but this book is a slog.

[Coleson White · Rating 4 out of 5]

“as [Paul] does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.” 2 Peter 3:16

I feel that on a new level.

@crossway plz update this book … please

[Timothy Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Requires a second read but I greatly enjoyed what I got out of this classic.

[Jacob Aitken · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was the godfather of soul in making the discipline of biblical theology both exciting and orthodox. Ridderbos correctly noted unifying themes in Paul and resisted the urge to comparmentlize Paul and treat him like a professor of Systematic Theology. Rather than offering a full review of each part of the book, I'll set forth some conclusions from the book:

1. When Christ came he inaugurated the new eschatological time of salvation, marking a new re-creation of the world via Christ's death and resurrection.

2. Christ is the Second Adam whose resurrection is new life for the world.

3. Being "in Christ" is the abiding reality for the whole Christian life. It points toward the future resurrection of the dead.

4. The Spirit appears repeatedly in redemptive-history in close relationship with the acting of God in history. It is the creating and re-creating power of God.

5. Prototokos : Christ is world-ruler and we see before us a Christological interpretation of Genesis 1.

Obviously, Ridderbos anticipated most of the themes that dominate biblical theology today. Several problems come up with too devoted a reading to Ridderbos:

a) When Ridderbos links baptism to union with Christ (kind of like when St Paul said we are baptized into his death and subsequently into his resurrection), how does that work for Reformed views on justification by legal imputation alone? In other words, why is it okay for Riddebos to say this but it isn't okay for Lusk and Leithart?

b) How was Ridderbos not excommunicated for his view on Romans 7?

c) Whither systematic theology? This isn't simply me bashing systematic theology as more boring and inferior to biblical theology (which it very well may be). I am really serious. Should we change the way we do systematic theology? Or maybe revert to an older, more Irenaeian model?

There are more serious problems here. A lot of people have drunk the heady wine of biblical theology and now think they can make every eschatological problem disappear by mumbling the magic words "Already not yet; age to come."

[Jamie]

Yikes...

[Adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t want to write a long review for this, because the book was too long itself.

Incredibly muddy. Should have had a better editor. The excuse that it was originally in another language is a poor excuse for the massive amounts of repetition and smaller type font in random sections. A peer said those were the “technical sections” but this entire work is technical. Furthermore, there are parts where it’s unclear what stance Ridderbos is taking. A good editor would place subheadings or margin notes for what Ridderbos was arguing for or against. This caused me, as the reader, to reread sections over and over again- not because of depth, but because of unclarity.

That said, Ridderbos does knock down some bad interpretations of Paul.

I was originally going to give this 3 stars, but I’m knocking it down to 2 for my lack of wanting to recommend this volume. Literally who could I recommend this to? There are better resources for Paul that are not as repetitious, better edited, and handle those bad interpretations clearly.

[Rylan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some sentences were indeed convoluted--a Eugene Peterson-esque telling it slant in an unhelpful way--but I think I appreciated most the way Ridderbos recognizes that Paul often has more than one way to say the same thing. He writes occasional letters not systematic theologies and so we shouldn't be surprised the way the same concepts can find, in Paul, diverse expressions.

[Thomas Fromke · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you only read one comprehensive book on the apostle Paul, this is the one to read! Pretty dense, but very enlightening. There are more unique observations on Paul and his theology here than in any other single book on his theology, I am going to be reading and re-reading this book for a LONG time!!

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Challenging, but very rewarding. A treasure trove of insights into the apostle Paul, especially focusing on the centrality of Christ in all of Paul‘s preaching and theology.

[Joshua Centanni · Rating 2 out of 5]

A slog to read straight through but highly recommended by all folks Reformed.

Will likely use in the future for delving into topical issues in Paul's epistles.

[Timothy Decker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very slow read, but thorough. Good balance of academic erudition and pastoral assistance.

[Grant Carter]

This was a lot. Only fantasy books should be this long

[Nathan Stine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started out quite slow, but got better as it went on. He writes in the laborious style of many continental theologians, but once you get used to it, there are some good gems in here.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tough reading but a gem. An outline of Paul's theology is nothing less than an outline of the gospel, and Ridderbos is a skilled analyst. The treasure is worth the digging.

[Ethan McCarter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I popped a few blood vessels in my eyes trying to read this book later into my evenings at home. This book is a slogfest trying to get through. Reading it from cover to cover is a Herculean task that rivals the trials of Jason and the Argonauts. All that being said, it really is a well-researched work that is an excellent source for Paul's theology. Ridderbos comes at Paul's theology from a decidedly redemptive-historical view which seeks to provide in-depth treatment of Paul's books while remaining rooted in orthodoxy. This is best used as a reference guide for studying through Paul's epistles rather than a straight through read. I'd also recommend this for more advanced students or those who are already pastors and scholars; trust me, it's a hard book to get through. There's a lot of gems in this work that show that Ridderbos truly is a masterful exegete and theologian. I'd read this book over again while keeping his "The Coming of the Kingdom" work on my shelf without a second thought. Highly recommended for a deep, deep treatment on Paul's theology!

[Al · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read while deployed. Extremely dense and a book I need to re-read. A very good overview of Paul, and it in no way limits the man, or his theological views. Christ created a new world through his death and resurrection, and Paul correctly identifies him as the second Adam who makes a propitiation for the Original Sin of the first Adam, and this is the bedrock of the Pauline writings. Additionally, we are called to be completely in Christ and live a dedicated life in Christ, ultimately being resurrected into a new life with Christ. A monumental work. Translation a bit stilted.

[Jeremy Hendon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This seminal work on Pauline theology is the toughest book I have read due to the translation from Dutch to English, the number of theologians Ridderbos engages, and simply the depth of the material he unpacks. I drudged through the first chapter, but once I arrived at Ridderbos’s framework for understanding Paul’s theology things began to click. The more I read the more I valued what an incredible treasure this book is - no matter how brutal it is to read through. :) I would commend it to anyone who desires to truly mine the riches of Pauline theology.

[Wade Luce · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was probably the most difficult book I read this year as it was written in the several decades ago and translated from a different language. That being said i found it really helpful in reading and understanding the history of Pauline interpretation

[Cal Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

* Only read for two chapters for a school assignment:
In these two chapters of Ridderbos, he first covers different historical views of how to read the theology of Paul, or how to understand the center point of Paul’s theology. Then he lays out his own view in chapter 2. Some of the historical views covered are Scheitzer’s eminent “eschatological interpretation”, the approach of Holtzmann’s and other liberal scholars who primarily see Paul as an ethical teacher centered on dualistic Greek thought, and the “history of religions” approach that seeks to understand Paul’s theology through the lens of the different cultic religions present in his day. In chapter two, he begins to lay out his own view. He argues that at the front of Paul’s mind was the idea, also prominent in Jesus’ teaching, that the fullness of time had come, and the kingdom of God was at hand. At the center of Paul’s preaching was the fact that the fullness of time had been inaugurated in Christ’s coming, death, and resurrection. He argues that we must keep the matters of first importance in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 in view while seeing the termination point of all of Paul’s preaching being the future expectation of Christ’s return.

Likes
I liked how Ridderbos gave a fair explanation of the different views on Paul that exist. He never sought to straw-man others’ views but rather gave a good-faith argument for positions that he would later push back against. This gave me confidence in the author and made me trust his conclusions more. I also appreciated that his view kept central what Paul seeks to keep central in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4. In finding what was central to Paul’s teaching, he does not neglect what Paul himself calls “first importance”. This was a refreshing grounding for me after having read the many different views of Paul in Chapter 1. I also liked that he sought to read Paul primarily through a redemptive historical lens rather than primarily through a 1st century contextual lens. I think Paul goes to great pains to show us that his own view of theology is primarily shaped through his understanding of the Old Testament. Ridderbos showed how this was the case. While understanding the different gnostic and Greek philosophies of Paul’s time can aid us in understanding Paul better, it is not necessary to understand the core of his theology. The core of his theology can be best understood by reading the Old Testament. At the same time, I also like how he sees the termination point of Paul’s preaching being the future expectation of the return of Christ. Reading 1 Thessalonians, for instance, with this idea in mind does help make sense of some of its harder passages. Living 2000 years after Christ, it can often be easy to forget that Christ will return soon. Paul felt Christ's return coming acutely, and so should we.

Dislikes
My main critique of these chapters is that Ridderbos was, at times, confusing and hard to follow. For instance, at the end of chapter 1, when he explores views of Paul present today and refers to the likes of Boltmann, I was never fully able to grasp what he was trying to argue. Also, in the 2nd chapter, he discusses how it is hard to come up with a systematic take on Paul’s “end times” view because his framework starts with the person of Jesus and not at the “end times” themselves. He argues that Paul focuses on the person of Jesus first and how Jesus is ushering in the end times now. This explanation, even as I try to describe it here, felt ambiguous to me and was not clearly articulated. It may be that Ridderbos is trying to reconcile past historical views of Paul that make much of the “end times” with his own conviction that Paul always starts with the person of Jesus and his death and resurrection. In possibly trying to bridge these two theological views, he, at times, seems to make both of them more blurry and harder to grasp.

Conclusion
Paul does speak of the end times and the return of Christ as if it is a quickly approaching reality more often than we moderns would like to concede. Ridderbos, from my understanding, seeks to reconcile a theocentric view of Pauline theology with an eschatological view of Pauline theology; however, as already noted, I admittedly struggled to follow his argument. I would recommend this reading to a scholar who wants to begin to wade into the waters of the different views of Pauline theology to discern if they want to wade even deeper into the waters of the academic debate concerning finding the center of Paul’s theology.

[Parker · Rating 2 out of 5]

I should make a note before giving my thoughts. This was assigned for a course, and I was required to read about 120 pages per week. For a book this dense, that's just too quick a pace. My feelings would likely be different if I were able to read more carefully.

1. Content

I have no doubt that the exegetical and theological content of this book is excellent. What I was able to pick up along the way was certainly very good. Moreover, the endorsements from Käsemann, Ladd, Bruce, and Lloyd-Jones are very weighty. If I don't see everything they see in this book, I readily acknowledge the problem lies at least in part with me.

2. Form

The organization of this book is terribly meandering. The reason one topic is picked up after another is not always entirely obvious. But worse than that, I frequently struggled to find any thesis statement in any of the book's 80 sections. I regularly got to the end of a section and wondered what the point of it was.

3. Style

I'm told a large part of this volume's problem is the translation. No doubt, the prose is simply difficult. Paragraph-length sentences run on with several dependant clauses, the relations between which are often hard to discern unless you read them over a few times. It seems like the translator might have been a little too literal. However, some chapters are better than others. I found chapters 1, 9, 10, 11, and 12 to be far more manageable.

4. Gripes

A pet peeve of mine is when more technical sections are printed in smaller font than the rest of the book. That happens all over the place in this book. If all the text were printed at the same size, I bet it would be 100 pages longer. If these fine-print sections are non-essential, why not put them down in the footnotes? If they are essential, why not keep the font size consistent?

5. Conclusion

I've been assigned a number of very dense and difficult books in seminary. Herman Bavinck's Philosophy of Revelation comes to mind. It was a rough go, but I benefitted immensely from it, and I think about the content quite frequently. This book was not like that. I slogged through, only to find my comprehension close to zero. I may return to this book in the future and read more slowly, and I may find that I like it then. As of right now, however, this book was simply frustrating.

[Kelle Craft · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5. A classic work! Ridderbos’ interactions with & critiques of the popular critical scholars like Bultmann, Schweitzer, Kasemann, et al. are very informed and the best volume on Paul’s theology available. Overall, he offers a robust defense of the historically Reformed understanding of Pauline theology. Although this was written before the New Perspective came into popular opinion, he does much to dispel the beginnings of this thinking in the air of his day.

On par with Vos’ Pauline Eschatology, Ridderbos offers insight into the redemptive historical focus of Paul’s thought, especially as it relates to the inaugurated end-time age brought into the current-age through Christ’s resurrection.

Ridderbos’ style is not the most fun nor the easiest to read (perhaps due to translation), and so is not likely a book many will end up reading. But to anyone who desires a deep and robust understanding of the many themes and structures of Paul’s thought which make up such an integral part of the NT, then venturing into this work will be very rewarding. I personally will likely read through this at a later date at a much slower pace so as to fruitfully digest all the wonderful content here.

One thing that makes this volume great is that it doesn’t have to be read all the way through, but each larger chapter is broken off into mini sections and sub themes only a few pages long, so it is very easy in that respect to make good use of this volume without getting bogged down in reading it from cover to cover.

Here might also be a good place to recommend the more contemporary volume by evangelical scholar Tom Schreiner, who’s work is in line with that of Ridderbos, although more broadly evangelical than Reformed, but may be more accessible, up to date in dealing with the New Perspective, etc. With that said, it is still no replacement to this volume by Ridderbos.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I probably should give this book 5 stars but there were some parts that were a chore to read, which was why I gave it 4. However, there are several parts I know I will refer back to for particular questions as they arise.
I think this book is the seminary equivalent of running a marathon. (But I have never run a marathon so I don't actually know!)
(It didn't actually take me years to read this book. I started it a few years ago for Acts/Romans class where we were required to read approximately half of it and this summer term I finished it for Pauline Epistles class.)

[Jim Gulley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Herman Ridderbos is generally recognized as the preeminent Reformed scholar of Pauline theology. This book is his magnum opus and a must-read, must-study for any New Testament scholar. That being said, this is the densest book I have ever read, and it has taken me three months to get through it.

Ridderbos’s primary argument is that Paul must be interpreted relative to the redemptive-historical framework of the Bible as a whole.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A comprehensive and thorough overview of Paul's theology from the Epistles. I loved his redemptive-historical approach to Paul instead of purely ordo salutis framework with which most people approach Paul, myself included. Definitely will be a standard reference on all things Paul. Most insightful chapters were 3-6,11,12.

[Ronnie Nichols · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It is a bit more diverse than G. Vos' Pauline Eschatology and gives detailed expositions of all of Paul's theology as expressed in his writings in a systematic fashion. Not a fan of his views on baptism (Ridderbos not Paul), but overall a sound and very useful commentary. I trust his work and plan to use it as reliable and helpful resource in the coming days (Lord willing).

[Jason Keel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to read this book for a class, and it was a slog. Dense theological language, in depth analysis, and very dry writing. Was this a translation issue or just a writing issue? I can't tell. That said, there were gold nuggets aplenty in this tome that may prove helpful in pastoral ministry.

[Mark Seeley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book since 1980 has been a constant companion. I had the privilege to have both the author and translator sign my book. I refer back to it again and again. It is well underlined and highlighted.