Paul and Palestinian Judaism: 40th Anniversary Edition

Professors panned this book (even though none of them read but I have read it twice and must commend Sanders for his research and very thoughtful analysis. Whether you agree or not, it will make you think and it will educate you on Jewish thought at the time of Paul.

This is one of the cornerstones of the new perspective on Paul. It is not an easy read,but his meticulous examination of second temple Judaism is necessary to appreciate the originality of Pauline thought.

I appreciate Sanders branching out from traditional thought on Paul even if I do not agree with all of his arguments. I agree that Paul's belief was one of participationist eschatology (Paul also believed the end was near): the only way to become one of the People of God was through faith in Christ ("dying to Christ") and the old covenant was no longer sufficient. I agree that Paul had a connection to Judaism but, I do not agree with Sanders keeping with the ideal that Paul was a Pharisee just because Paul says so (he doesn't provide support for this). I found his `covenantal nomism' interesting but, I would like to do some more research on the subject.Sanders' does touch on Paul's break from the Jewish religion and his Hellenistic ideals which was helpful in the quest to understanding Paul.

A detailed and fresh look at the Judaism of Paul's day and its relationship to Paul's thought on Christianity. The book is very scholastic though and the author spends many chapters critiquing hundreds of past New Testament scholars and finds fault with a majority of them, so be forewarned.

Excellent research, fine writing, and easy to follow the premise and minor premises! I highly recommend this work. It is a terrific research tool.

A must classic for those people who want to understand the background of the people who wrote about Jesus of the Bible. A lot of meat to chew but well worth the effort.

As with all sequels, I was highly skeptical it would live up to the first movie. I assure you it does.

Probably the best book on Paul, a very complex character, otherwise just read his letters.

Certamente uma obra que lançou novo paradigma quanto ao contexto judaico em que o apóstolo Paulo e outros missionários atuaram para difundir a fé em Jesus como Messias. Passado 4 décadas ainda vale a pena ler e refletir sobre esta obra. A partir deste livro se percebeu que a compreensão anterior do Judaísmo na época de Paulo era deficiente e, desta feita surgiram novas propostas que continuam sendo debatidas.

This book is one of the great scholarly classics on Paul in English. Among many other things, Sanders brilliantly clarifies the notion of "participation in the Spirit of Christ". For students of Paul this work is indispensable.

Excellent. Thank you

Here is an ambitious and thorough refutation of mainstream Protestant scholarly opinion on 1st century Judaism, Bultmann in particular, and two influential predecessors Bousset and Weber. He punctures their sloppy and careless treatment of Pharisaic thought as characterised by an insistence on works-righteousness, with detailed and repeated citations. It is slow, thorough and dense material. However Sanders' analysis is flawed largely in the opinion of Sanders' own rabbinic mentor by his partial grasp of the source material.His reconstruction of Paul's thought and theology is the weakest and most controversial part of the volume, and is spoiled by his unbelief. One classic example of his assiduous scholarship is his description of Colossians as obviously too Pauline to be Paul's own work!Paul's primary use of and reference to the Law does not so much quote the Rabbis' own teaching but expose the unseen implications of Sinai unveiled for their 'covenant nomism' (to use EPS' phrase) when faith in the full and free atonement that lies at the very heart of Torah is denied.Sanders' may have laudably desired to remove the sting of anti-Semitism from Protestant theology (in fact he seems to disclaim this), but the product of his work is a confused and diluted theology of the covenants, the Law and of Paul that satisfies noone.