Paul

by E.P. Sanders

Missionary, theologian, and religious genius, Paul is the most powerful human personality in the history of the Church. His epistles laid the foundations on which later Christian theology was built. In his original introduction to the disciple’s life and thought, E. P. Sanders, whose research on Paul has significantly influenced recent scholarship, pays equal attention to analyze Paul’s gospel and to explore his fundamental—and sometimes contradictory—convictions.

 

Genres: Religion, History, Theology, Christianity

218 pages, Hardcover

First published October 6, 2009

About the author

Ed Parish Sanders is a New Testament scholar, and is one of the principal proponents of the New Perspective on Paul. He has been Arts and Sciences Professor of Religion at Duke University, North Carolina, since 1990. He retired in 2005

Reviews

[Amelia and John · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed Sanders's work. My NT prof lent me this book and it was very insightful (pun intended).

Topics are touched upon, like Paul's style of argumentation (taking a stance and then arguing backwards to justify that stance), Gentiles' relation to the Law, soteriology and christology.

Definitely recommend to any undergraduate students (maybe even lay Christian learners?) who are interested in Pauline studies.

[Ralphz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a quick overview of Paul, one of the main players in the establishment of Christianity, and his theology.

The problem is that, for a small book, it's very dense. It's much more acacemic than I was expecting, which made it difficult to read.

I'd love to find a more accessible book on Paul and his centrality to the growth of Christianity.

[Hunter Wheatcraft · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m particularly interested in Sander’s view of Paul’s evolving understanding of the law and his chapter on Paul’s view of Israel. I also appreciated his chapter on effort vs fruit.

[Steven Jacke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I made it this far in my life without reading a single EP Sanders book, and that is shameful and it was time to fix that.

But the problem with going this long without reading one of Sander's books is I've heard many of the ideas before from those who had read him.

This book is great for someone like me, overdue for the reading, but not looking to go crazy for it. This book is short, intentionally so. With only 200 pages, and 11 chapters with titles like, "Christology," or "The Life of Paul," there isn't a lot of room. So the ideas are presented, but not defended. There are endnotes, and suggestions for further reading, but no responses to critics, or expositions on where the idea came from.

I believe this is a reprinting, but a very well done one. The book is illustrated with classic paintings, and it sounds cheesy, but it works very well. It reminds us that Sanders loves and admires Paul, even though evangelicals may think he is bashing Paul.

[Fred Kohn · Rating 3 out of 5]

In many ways this is a delightful little book. The illustrations in themselves are worth at least an extra half-star. They are reproductions of great artistic masterpieces depicting (mostly) St. Paul and span hundreds of years. The author is quite frank about Paul's shortcomings as a systematic theologian and doesn't hesitate to point out inconsistencies in his thought. At the same time he brings to the forefront areas where modern theologians have totally misunderstood Paul.

Well, that's the good stuff. Unfortunately, the text was written in 1991 and apparently hasn't been updated. The author puts forth views that are clearly quite dated, such as the general historical reliability of Acts and the meaning of malakos and arsenokoites. So don't read this book if you are not familiar with modern scholarship. But if you are, have at it! Just watch for landmines.

[Rachael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall as a brief introduction to a scholarly approach to Paul I liked this. Obviously Sanders can't get fully in depth to all topics he introduces, but he does a nice job with the ones he picks and rightfully ends by emphasizing the complexity of attempting to interpret Paul, a thinker whose thought may not be entirely consistent even within the same letter, or even same chapter. I would have liked to see Sanders present other viewpoints other than his own to emphasize the contentious nature of many of his conclusions- these are hotly debated issues still. He did this a couple of times but considering the topic more is needed, though I understand the lack of space issue.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a fine read for what it is - an introduction to Paul. He addresses the major issues of debate in the academy with skill and accuracy. He's not afraid to treat the writings of Paul honestly, but he also makes no attempt to present Paul as coherent. Paul is intelligent, educated, and passionate but he is contradictory, at times incomprehensible, and his writings are highly circumstantial. Sanders is a voice which will not allow for any simple systematic presentation of the Apostle Paul. I gather this small work draws from his other writings, which no doubt have changed the game for much of New Testament studies.

[J.D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Obviously this is just a piecemeal sampling of his major works on Paul so we do not get the full thrust of his major arguments in his analysis of Paul but I am grateful to have head this primer to read first to warm me up. I have obviously heard much of his ideas in some of wrights books but it was nice to begin to get some of it from him. If anything this got me excited to eventually read Paul and Palestinian Judaism.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gave me insight into my recent reading of Paul's letters, but man, does this book suffer from some turgid prose. Rarely does two hundred pages feel so sluggish. I like the emphasis on Paul's theological contradictions, and the context was good, but this was much less of a "brief" read than I expected.