The Cambridge Companion to St Paul (Cambridge Companions to Religion) [Paperback]

James D. G. Dunn (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 10, 2003 | ISBN-10: 0521786940 | ISBN-13: 978-0521786942

The apostle Paul has been justifiably described as the first and greatest Christian theologian. His letters were among the earliest documents to be included in the New Testament and, as such, they influenced Christian thinking from its very beginning. This Companion provides an important assessment of the apostle as well as a new appreciation of his continuing contemporary significance. With eighteen chapters written by a team of well-known international Pauline specialists, the collection will have wide appeal and be an invaluable point of departure for subsequent studies.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is an excellent introduction to the person of Paul: his letters, his theology, and his legacy."
Dennis R. Lindsay, Stone Campbell Journal

"The present volume is a good introduction to the mainstream of Pauline scholarship." - Christopher Stenschke, Wiedenest Bible College

Book Description

The apostle Paul has been justifiably described as the first and greatest Christian theologian. His letters were among the earliest documents to be included in the New Testament and, as such, they shaped Christian thinking from the beginning. The Cambridge Companion to St Paul provides an important assessment of this apostle and a fresh appreciation of his continuing significance today. With eighteen chapters written by a team of leading international Pauline specialists, the Companion will have wide appeal and provide an invaluable starting point and cross check for subsequent studies.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 324 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (November 10, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521786940
• ISBN-13: 978-0521786942
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #722,461 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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18 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, February 18, 2004

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benjamin (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Cambridge Companion to St Paul (Cambridge Companions to Religion) (Paperback)

I have never taken the time to study St. Paul; having read both the letters of Paul and the deutero-Pauline letters in the New Testament, this book comes as a welcome next step in understanding him. As those who have read him know, Paul is not always the easiest to follow, especially given his intricate weaving together of different styles of thought within his letters: Pharisaic/Rabbinic, Hellenistic, apocalyptic and early Christian.

This book covers what you would expect a "companion" to cover: Paul's life and context, historiographical issues, his letters and his purported letters (the "deutero-Pauline epistles": those letters in the New Testament that most scholars do not believe were written by Paul). However, several other essays whose topics might be unexpected - such as interpretations of Paul in the second century (the most enjoyable and fascinating essay in the book for this particular reader) - also find their way into the book.

While many simply see Paul as some sort of proto-Reformation-era de-/re-former (a la Luther), this book moves beyond these tired (and, it would seem at this point, largely incorrect) interpretations of Paul. Paul is not so easily reduced to a late-Medieval Roman Catholic reformer; he stands - however ambiguously and uncomfortably (for us no less than him!) - without such hermeneutical concealing. Rather than preach a reductive "doctrine of justification", Paul emerges from his letters (via this book) as being someone who has a rather mystical understanding of the eucharist as union, sees salvation as pertaining to a particular community (not merely individuals), and preaches "justification" as being far more than a type of legal status: it is being brought into the family of God (via baptism) as a child of God, participating now in God's new work in the world. The reduction of Paul to legal[-istic?] terminology fails to see him as a member of a community who preached to and from that community; it ignores the fundamentally relational element of Paul's thought.

This book is well worth the read. It is not difficult reading, but having read Paul first will greatly increase what you pull from this book. While it may be true that Paul has managed to upset just about everyone since the time of his writing, these essays are highly informative and helpful "for those with ears to hear". The Cambridge Companion to St. Paul engages and mediates him well.

13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent overview of current debates, June 23, 2004

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T. Hall (Ohio) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Cambridge Companion to St Paul (Cambridge Companions to Religion) (Paperback)

This collection of essays is a fine collection, offering challenges to interpretations of Paul that have dominated Western Protestant Christendom since the Reformation. I only have one caveat to offer. Many seem to have as a particular, though implicit, target the so-called 'Lutheran Paul.' The previous reviewer writes, in a concise precis of this critique, 'Rather than preach a reductive "doctrine of justification", Paul emerges from his letters (via this book) as being someone who has a rather mystical understanding of the eucharist as union, sees salvation as pertaining to a particular community (not merely individuals), and preaches "justification" as being far more than a type of legal status: it is being brought into the family of God (via baptism) as a child of God, participating now in God's new work in the world.' There is only one problem - with a little nuance here and there, that is precisely the Lutheran understanding of Justification in its relation to the Incarnate Christ's Person and Work. In short, we would look at all that and say, yes, that's justification all right. So let this book enlighten you as to the many fresh readings of Paul that you can find out there, but realize that the putative target of many critical challenges is in fact a straw man. In fact, if you're not careful it just might make you a Lutheran.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Book to Use alongside a NT Introduction, November 30, 2008

By 

bibliophile - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Cambridge Companion to St Paul (Cambridge Companions to Religion) (Hardcover)

The Cambridge Companion Series is designed to provide a solid introduction to a particular topic for new readers and non-specialists. This particular volume provides such a service by acquainting the reader with the current issues being discussed in the area of Pauline Studies. The most appropriate audience for this text would seem to be college or seminary-level students being introduced to the life and letters of St. Paul for the first time. Edited by James D.G. Dunn, this book contains articles about St. Paul from some of the foremost Pauline scholars today.

Beyond simply providing commentary on specific Pauline epistles, this text offers articles which discuss topics of the life of St. Paul himself. The introduction, written by Dunn, provides key information so the beginning student will understand some of the debates in Pauline scholarship over the past two centuries. To this end Dunn briefly surveys F.C. Baur, the History of Religions School and the New Perspective.

After the introduction, the book is divided into four primary sections. The first section which is titled "Paul's life and work" includes the following contributions: "Paul's Life" (Klaus Haacker); "Paul as missionary and pastor" (Stephen C. Barton). This section is primarily designed to show the reader what historical information about the life of the Apostle can be gleaned from biblical texts.

The second section titled "Paul's letters" examines the Pauline epistles themselves with general commentary on the text. This section contains the following articles: "1 and 2 Thessalonians" (Margaret Mitchell); "Galatians" (Bruce Longenecker); "1 and 2 Corinthians" (Jerome Murphy-O'Connor); "Romans" (Robert Jewett); "Philippians" (Morna Hooker); "Colossians" (Loren T. Stuckenbruck); "Ephesians" (Andrew T. Lincoln); "The Pastoral Epistles" (Arland J. Hultgren).

One particular area of this section which will certainly be of interest to the reader just beginning to study the Pauline epistles is the portion which discusses whether or not the Pastoral Epistles were written pseudonymously (142-143). While Hultgren, in the end, concludes that these texts were written pseudonymously, the reader is provided with the arguments, in five clear and simple to understand points, which have caused the author to hold these views. The reader is thus able to see the data supporting both sides of the argument and is able to better understand the dilemma for which there will never be an absolute solution. Rather than simply casting the opposing side in a pejorative light, Hultgren clearly shows why such a belief can be held.

The third section titled "Paul's theology" includes the following contributions: "Paul's Jewish presuppositions" (Alan F. Segal); "Paul's Gospel" (Graham N. Stanton); "Paul's Christology" (L.W. Hurtado); "Paul's Ecclesiology" (Luke Timothy Johnson); "Paul's Ethics" (Brian Rosner). Since many readers of the New Testament are often puzzled by Paul's use of scripture, Segal's article will also likely be of interest to the beginning reader. In this article Segal discusses such topics as Paul's handling of scripture (e.g. Paul's use of midrash in Gal. 3:6-14) and what Paul's presuppositions may have been as a Pharisee (164-71).

The final section which is simply titled "St. Paul" includes the following articles: "Paul in the second century" (Calvin J. Roetzel); "Paul's enduring legacy" (Robert Morgan); "Contemporary perspectives on Paul" (Ben Witherington, III). Witheringon's article which discusses contemporary perspectives has several facets which will be helpful to the unfamiliar reader. One such area is that Witherington juxtaposes Alan Segal's views about Paul's Jewish-ness against opponents of such a view (257-58). The debate which he singles out is the degree to which Paul was a "good Jew" (257). Other sections of Witherington's article provide broad overviews of such topics as feminist and liberationist approaches to the Pauline Epistles as well as a discussion of understanding the corpus through the lens of rhetorical criticism.

Readers unfamiliar with the technical terminology used in biblical studies will greatly appreciate the glossary provided at the beginning of the text. While this text is certainly broad in focus it provides a solid foundation from which the reader is able to venture out into the larger world of Pauline studies. It seems this book would be helpful in an introductory course and would aptly serve as a supplement to a New Testament introduction text book.