What Saint Paul Really Said: Was Paul of Tarsus the Real Founder of Christianity?

I have a friend who is really into N.T. Wright. I decided I needed to get caught up and set him straight on a few things, so I printed out the bibliography from  The Future of Justification  and decided to start with one of the most referenced (and shorter) books, What Saint Paul Really Said. I had my nit-picking glasses on, and a pen in hand.I didn't get past the preface before making a note that Wright is, "quite engaging and very enjoyable to read." All the more need to be careful. Chapter one is a history of the last 100 years of Pauline scholarship, covering  Schweitzer , Bultmann , Davies , Kasemann , and of course  Sanders . At the end of this chapter, I felt like I was "all caught up" on the theological situation, had a sense of a Wright's "big picture" theological strategy, and was enjoying his writing style more and more.The next 8 chapters are Wright's brief attempt to show Paul in light of his 1st century Jewish context. He covers Paul's own Pharisaic background, his encounter on the Damascus road, what realizing Jesus is the Messiah would have done to Paul's whole theological framework, what that means for pagans. Jews, justification, the future and The Gospel. The final chapter is a review of A.N. Wilson's  Paul: The Mind of the Apostle . In the back is an excellent annotated bibliography, including all of the classic works on Paul, the New Perspective (at the time), and those who disagree (i.e.  Westerholm .My final analysis? I took the red pill. I find Wright to be incredibly stimulating, and I find the 1st century context to be shedding so much fresh light on how I read the Bible and think about theology. There are depths to the message of Christ that are incredible, and in order to dig deeper, we must understand its actual context, and not read our own (or our favorite theologian's) back onto it. Wright helps us see the incredible forest, not just our favorite trees.That said, I think Wright's portrayal of the forest leaves a few bare patches, justification and imputation being a couple. I'm not ready to go all the way with him here, though I have been stimulated to think deeply again about these issues. I realize this is a brief treatment, but I just couldn't follow his reasoning all the way through with him.Wright's work can be divided into two categories, I think: His massive scholarly work, and his popularizations. This fits into the latter. I highly recommend reading the popular and getting a sense of his general themes before diving in over your head. There is enough in the short books to revolutionize your thinking. I would personally recommend  The Challenge of Jesus  first, then What Saint Paul Really Said, and then dig into his larger works from there. After reading Wright, I am getting more fresh light from the Bible than I have in a long time. I am excited to read the Bible like I haven't always been. I am seeing depths of Who Jesus the Messiah Is that I've never seen before.Don't just read the reviews, critical or otherwise; read Wright, and see for yourself.

"What Saint Paul Really Said" is fairly short (only 192 pages), but it explains, in an accessible way, some fairly complex theology. Scholars over the centuries have debated what Paul meant and I found the book very helpful. Wright has been both an Anglican bishop and a New Testament scholar. He is an expert on Paul and wrote his PhD thesis on Romans. Wright is one of my favorite Christian writers and according to "Christianity Today" is one of the top five theologians in the world.Wright believes it is important to remember that Paul was a first century Jew. He suggests that much of what Paul believed before he became a Christian is compatible with the theology he outlined in the New Testament. Paul was a rabbi who believed that Jesus was the Jewish Messiah and also divine. For Wright the core of Paul's gospel was the death and resurrection of Christ. The proclamation of the gospel was the proclamation of Jesus as Lord, the Messiah who fulfilled Israel's expectations. In Jesus' death, resurrection and ascension, nearly every Old Testament hope is fulfilled. Those who believe in Jesus Christ will have their sins forgiven. Wright also considers the role of the Holy Spirit to be crucial: "No one can say `Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:3).The most controversial chapter is "Justification and the Church." Wright understands justification as basically a law-court term. It means the judge's declaration that a person is `in the right' in terms of the law court. It is the declaration that they have become a Christian. Wright believes that in Romans 2:4-11 Paul is saying that all human beings will be judged by their works at the final judgment. Those who are guilty of wickedness will be punished; those who have acted virtuously will be rewarded. Wright states that first-century Jews believed in a final judgment at which their works in the present time would be an important part, if not the whole part, of what counted. In Wright's view an honest reading of Scripture shows that Romans refers to justification by works (2:13: "It is not the hearers of the law who will be righteous before God but the doers of the law who will be justified").Wright explains that salvation is achieved through a multi-stage process: (1) people hear the gospel;(2) the process continues with a combination of preaching and the work of the Holy Spirit on the heart of the hearers; (3) there is the birth of faith and entry into the family of Abraham through baptism; (4) justification in the present is based on faith; (5) there will be a future justification based on the entire life lived. Wright asserts that those who are presently justified through faith may be confident of their final justification by works, since those with true faith will always do good works. Wright does not say that we merit salvation by works aloneWright believes that in the first-century context “works of the law” had little to do with Reformation ideas of works-righteousness. Paul's main problem with the “works of the law” was that it kept Jews and Gentiles separate. In Romans 3:28: “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too.”Wright points out that Scripture cannot be rationalized away because it is inconvenient or does not fit with protestant tradition. This is an enjoyable book and I thoroughly recommend it.

A critical study of how first century Judaism influenced St Paul and the final results we have through the epistles we have in the New Testament

Everything as expected. Super

Reading this book was an Ah-ha! Experience for me. N.T. Wright begins by providing an overview of 20th century Pauline scholarship; he ends by saying Paul's Gospel is not simply a new way of being religious - it is the foundation of a new community rooted in the cross that can create a new humanity. Paul's writings have been the source of individualistic pieties. Wright sees in them a call to social transformation.Wright manages to bridge the divide between scholarship and the ordinary educated Christian in the pew. He has built on the work of leading scholars such as Ed Sanders and James Dunn. While he is a scholar himself, his intent here is both pastoral and subversive.At the core of Wright's argument is his analysis of justification. This part of the book is a bit of a slog. Justification, he maintains, is not about "a detached system of salvation," but rather a declaration that someone has gained admittance to the covenant community. Wright does not eliminate the centuries-old faith-vs-works controversy, but he does put it in a wider perspective.Wright has written a fine set of commentaries on the Pauline letters - Paul For Everyone. What Saint Paul Really Says is the hermeneutical key as it were to the fullest understanding of those simpler books.Wright appears to have attracted a coterie of devout followers of his writings. After reading this book, I understand why. You can now count me among their number.

It was packaged well. Came in great shape. Fast delivery. Price is fair.

Super