Paul Today: Challenging Readings of Acts and the Epistles (Essential Inquiries): 1

New
Paperback
2007
$15.63

Paul Today discusses and challenges popular interpretations of familiar Pauline texts in view of important controversies and debates. Who was Paul? Can his attitudes towards marriage and slavery be redeemed? And what of Paul's attitude to women and their ministry, and to homosexuality? Do we appropriately attribute to Paul ideas about justification and faith? Paul Today makes constructive, critical approaches to Paul available to a wider circle of interested readers.

Synopsis

Paul Today discusses and challenges popular interpretations of familiar Pauline texts in view of important controversies and debates. Who was Paul? Can his attitudes towards marriage and slavery be redeemed? And what of Paul's attitude to women and their ministry, and to homosexuality? Do we appropriately attribute to Paul ideas about justification and faith? Paul Today makes constructive, critical approaches to Paul available to a wider circle of interested readers.

$15.63

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10 in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 162
Publisher: Cowley Publications
Published: 28 Jun 2007
ISBN 10: 1561012963
ISBN 13: 9781561012961

Media Reviews

Well-informed overviews of important texts and critical issues initiate the reader painlessly into the complexities of interpreting the Pauline letters. -- Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, professor of New Testament, Ecole Biblique et Archeologique Francaise, Jerusalem
There is a freshness and clarity to Paul Today that both encourages and inspires the reader to grapple with thorny aspects of Pauline thought. Stephen Need is a gifted theologian-teacher-scholar and writes with great pastoral insight, guiding us sensitively through polemical issues and highlighting layers of historical confusion. Paul the pastor emerges, 'a thundering type of personality' who never left Judaism at all, but received a radical reorientation within it, so that Christ and not the Law became the source of justification. Whether he is discussing women, homosexuality or original sin, Stephen Need steers us gracefully through the misguiding lenses of later theological controversies to rediscover the authentic pastoral concerns of Paul himself. This is a book to be greatly welcomed and cherished by students and pastors who struggle, like Paul, to deepen faith in all its contextual complexities. -- Mary Grey, professor emerita of theology, University of Wales, Lampeter
Those who have a negative image of Paul's teaching, or who associate him with such doctrines as 'original sin' and 'justification by faith', will find this book enlightening. Focusing on some notoriously difficult passages, Stephen Need distils recent scholarly work on Paul and shows how many common beliefs about his theology are gross misinterpretations of his thought. Paul Today will help many who have previously dismissed Paul as a bigot and a bore to study his letters with renewed interest and respect. -- Morna D. Hooker, Lady Margaret's Professor Emerita, University of Cambridge
Need writes at an introductory level providing an overview of the issues for the student, the busy pastor, and the informed layman. He identifies the issues, shows why they are important and summarizes the various ways scholars have addressed the matter. The author's style is precise with an introduction of each issue, a clear statement of how he will approach the issue, his exploration of the subject and then a concise summary. . . . Need's studies could be useful to individuals seeking to understand the contours of contemporary New Testament scholarship. * The Christian Librarian, Fall 2009 *

Author Bio

Stephen W. Need is dean of St. George's College in Jerusalem, Israel.