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Navigating Paul: An Introduction to Key Theological Concepts
Jouette Bassler, one of the foremost experts on Pauline theology, offers her wisdom and insight into the core of Paul's thought in this brief and accessible book. She focuses on major themes in Paul, such as grace, law, faith, righteousness, Israel, resurrection, and what it means to be "in Christ." Through each of these themes, she explores the wealth of Paul's various writings, lifting up the most important and basic of Paul's ideas and explaining them within the context of the ancient Greco-Roman world.
- GenresTheology
152 pages, Paperback
First published December 18, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 17, 2025
När jag läser boken slängs jag mellan frustration och aha-upplevelser!
March 24, 2023
A good look at different parts of Paul's theology
February 26, 2009
I have to admit that I read this book for a class, but it was such a good book that I had to include it here. It's a bit academic but still accessible in a close reading.
In this book, Jouette Bassler successfully introduces the reader to important theological ideas in the Apostle Paul's letters. Though she could have covered a variety of topics, she focuses on grace, the Jewish law, faith, the phrase "in Christ" (most repeated phrase in Paul's letters), the righteousness of God, the future of Israel, and the resurrection of the dead.
Bassler’s chapters on faith and grace were particularly compelling to me as a Christian. The idea of quantifying faith has always been troubling to me though I did not know how to articulate that idea exactly. Bassler’s explanation regarding the faithfulness of Christ for salvation was enlightening to me personally as it takes some of the responsibility off of my own faith. I also think that in the future this is an important teaching point for Christian leaders as we should not instruct people to make faith into a kind of work but rather to trust on the saving work of Christ. I realize this is an interpretation of the way Paul talks about faith, but her arguments on its behalf were rather convincing to me. Another concept that really challenged the way I view and think about my faith is grace, particularly the grace of suffering on behalf of Christ. The fact that Judaism was not strictly a religion of legalistic rules is an important teaching for the church since that view has led to a gross misunderstanding of what Paul is referencing when he speaks about “works of the law.” I think it is profoundly important to know that Paul wants his readers to understand that Christ brought in “a new principle of salvation” and we must recognize that, in a sense, the rules have changed. His objective was full inclusion of Gentiles; that is the grace he understood. I realize that to modern ears this fact means nothing, but we ought to be struck by the radical grace of Gentile inclusion as there are so many parallels in our society. Finally, I appreciated Bassler’s statement in the preface that Paul had no outlined systematic theology because I think that on some level I have functioned under the assumption that he did and that his theology was static. Her book clarified for me the fact that Paul was like me in the sense that as he grew in his relationship with God he changed his way of thinking and believing.
In this book, Jouette Bassler successfully introduces the reader to important theological ideas in the Apostle Paul's letters. Though she could have covered a variety of topics, she focuses on grace, the Jewish law, faith, the phrase "in Christ" (most repeated phrase in Paul's letters), the righteousness of God, the future of Israel, and the resurrection of the dead.
Bassler’s chapters on faith and grace were particularly compelling to me as a Christian. The idea of quantifying faith has always been troubling to me though I did not know how to articulate that idea exactly. Bassler’s explanation regarding the faithfulness of Christ for salvation was enlightening to me personally as it takes some of the responsibility off of my own faith. I also think that in the future this is an important teaching point for Christian leaders as we should not instruct people to make faith into a kind of work but rather to trust on the saving work of Christ. I realize this is an interpretation of the way Paul talks about faith, but her arguments on its behalf were rather convincing to me. Another concept that really challenged the way I view and think about my faith is grace, particularly the grace of suffering on behalf of Christ. The fact that Judaism was not strictly a religion of legalistic rules is an important teaching for the church since that view has led to a gross misunderstanding of what Paul is referencing when he speaks about “works of the law.” I think it is profoundly important to know that Paul wants his readers to understand that Christ brought in “a new principle of salvation” and we must recognize that, in a sense, the rules have changed. His objective was full inclusion of Gentiles; that is the grace he understood. I realize that to modern ears this fact means nothing, but we ought to be struck by the radical grace of Gentile inclusion as there are so many parallels in our society. Finally, I appreciated Bassler’s statement in the preface that Paul had no outlined systematic theology because I think that on some level I have functioned under the assumption that he did and that his theology was static. Her book clarified for me the fact that Paul was like me in the sense that as he grew in his relationship with God he changed his way of thinking and believing.
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February 3, 2011Amazing, challenging and deep book about Paul's theology of grace, faith, end times, etc.
May 5, 2012
Must read for any would-be Pauline scholars.
July 17, 2012
Excellent review of the philosophy behind the letters of Paul
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews