Overview

""For me, Paul has always been the most difficult and therefore also most delightful advocate and interpreter of the Lord Jesus Christ and of the human experience of God's transforming power through Christ. In Paul's letters above all I have found the quality of mind and the depth of conviction that could arouse in me both excitement and passion. And it is Paul's letters, above all, that show how important and difficult is life together in the church."" -- from the preface With the contextual framework in place from volume one of The Canonical Paul, Luke Timothy Johnson now probes each of the thirteen biblical letters traditionally attributed to the apostle Paul in a way that balances respect for historical integrity with attention to present-day realities. In doing so, Johnson reforges the connection between biblical studies and the life of the church, seeking to establish once again the foundational and generative role that the thirteen letters of Paul have had among Christians for centuries. Far from being a ""definitive theology"" of Paul, or an oversimplified synthesis, Interpreting Paul provides glimpses into various moments of Paul's thinking and teaching that we find in Scripture, modeling how one might read his letters closely for fresh, creative interpretations now and into the future. Approached in this way, both in minute detail and as a whole canon, Paul's letters yield rich insights, and his voice becomes accessible to all readers of the Bible.

Full Product Details

9780802824660

Table of Contents

Reviews

Praise for the first volume of The Canonical Paul: A landmark study of Paul brimming with sparkling exegetical insights and written in lyrical prose, clear and compelling. Contrarian in the best sense, Constructing Paul offers a way to read Paul that challenges long-held consensus positions by offering fresh, constructive proposals that advance rather than obstruct debate. Vintage Johnson. -- Carl R. Holladay Candler School of Theology, Emory University This first volume of a magisterial study of the apostle Paul and his theology bears the trademarks of its distinguished author's many important contributions to New Testament study: confident scholarship, rhetorical verve, and thoughtful positions that buck the trends. Rather than approach the Pauline literature to argue for a particular historical or theological viewpoint or with assumptions about which letters are 'undisputed' or lined with interpolations, Luke Timothy Johnson embraces the canonical Pauline corpus of thirteen letters and searches there for the multifaceted and liberating message of the apostle. In his own words, he unapologetically intends to study 'the canonical Paul as the apostle of the church.' Good news for those of us who study and teach Paul for the sake of the community of faith. -- Donald Senior Catholic Theological Union, Chicago

All great scholars have a clear and distinctive view about the people, texts, and topics about which they write. This is indisputably true for Luke Timothy Johnson, who rightly insists on the importance of religious experience in understanding who Paul was, what he cared about most deeply, and how that reverberates throughout all of his letters. Few will agree with all that Johnson says here, but all will learn from him and his insights into the life, letters, and legacy of Paul. -- John T. Fitzgerald University of Notre Dame Interpreting Paul usefully brings together all the major essays (some reprints, some new) Luke Timothy Johnson has written on Paul. The thoughtful and often delightfully independent take on current issues in Paul for which Johnson is known is fully on display in these essays. While not a 'Pauline theology' in the usual sense of that phrase, the volume provides a breathtakingly broad scope of comment on many of the key issues in the apostle's theology. -- Douglas J. Moo Wheaton College

Author Information

Luke Timothy Johnson is the Robert W. Woodruff Professor Emeritus of New Testament and Christian Origins at Candler School of Theology, Emory University. He won the 2011 Grawemeyer Award in Religion for his Among the Gentiles: Greco-Roman Religion and Christianity. Johnson's many other books include The Revelatory Body; Brother of Jesus, Friend of God; and The Writings of the New Testament.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available