The Conversion of the Imagination: Paul as Interpreter of Israel's Scripture [Paperback]

Richard B. Hays (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2005

The Conversion of the Imagination contains some of the best work on Paul by first-rate New Testament scholar Richard B. Hays. These essays probe Pauls approach to scriptural interpretation, showing how Pauls reading of the Hebrew Scriptures reshaped the theological vision of his churches. Hayss analysis of intertextual echoes in Pauls letters has touched off exciting debate among Pauline scholars and made more recognizable the contours of Pauls thought. These studies contain some of the early work leading up to Hayss seminal Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul and also show how Hays has responded to critics and further developed his thought in the years since. Among the many subjects covered here are Pauls christological application of Psalms, Pauls revisionary interpretation of the Law, and the influence of the Old Testament on Pauls ethical teachings and ecclesiology.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Richard B. Hays is George Washington Ivey Professor of New Testament at Duke Divinity School. His other books include "The Faith of Jesus Christ: The Narrative Substructure of Galatians 3:1 – 4:11," 2nd ed. (Eerdmans).

Product Details

• Paperback: 213 pages
• Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (August 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802812627
• ISBN-13: 978-0802812629
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #426,730 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hays at his best!, August 21, 2005

By 

Don K. Preston "Minister, author, debater" (Ardmore, Ok.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Conversion of the Imagination: Paul as Interpreter of Israel's Scripture (Paperback)

In Conversion, Hayes shares with us some of his early research that led him to his excellent "Echoes of Scripture." His posit that we must read Paul as a preacher of the hope of Israel, while sounding simple, is profoundly important. Pau's claim that his gospel was nothing but the fulfillment and proclamation of that spoken by the prophets has incredible implications for the proper understanding of the N. T., and yet, in the amillennial and postmillennial worlds, this truth is greatly misunderstood, or ignored.

Hays' suggested rewording of Romans 4:1 is particularly provocative, and sets the stage for opening our eyes to a totally different interpretation of that text/context than has been the center of the faith-v-works polemic for so long.

I highly recommend Conversion of the Imagination. If you read this work carefully, it may be that you also, like Paul, have a conversion of the imagination!

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Understanding Paul Understanding Scripture, October 5, 2006

By 

Craig W. Beard (Birmingham, AL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Conversion of the Imagination: Paul as Interpreter of Israel's Scripture (Paperback)

In order to understand Paul, one of the things that is of major importance is understanding how he understood the bible of the early Church (the Old Testament). Hays has spent over two decades learning how Paul handled the Old Testament, and this along with his Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul will richly repay study. The last and briefest essay (originally appearing as an article in The Christian Century), "A Hermeneutic of Trust," should be read by everyone who wants to know why some scholars (and others) take such a loose view of the authority of Scripture, and who wants to be reassured that we stand under, not over, Scripture. Recommended.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hays is brilliant. I highly recommend this book., September 28, 2007

By 

Russell A. Roberts - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Conversion of the Imagination: Paul as Interpreter of Israel's Scripture (Paperback)

This book is a compilation of ten essays written by Hays over the years. The essays are brilliant and might take reading over several times to fully digest. Hays considers Paul's hermeneutic of the Old Testament and cites several examples in I Corinthians that show how Paul considered the church to be the eschatological people of God. The arguments he presents are pursuasive and compelling. In another section of the book Hays expounds Paul's train of thought in the last few verses of Romans 3 and Romans 4. The insights he offers into this section of Romans is alone worth the price of the book. He shows how Paul mounts an argument from the law to show that the law always pointed to inclusion of the Gentiles, who were apart from the law, into Abraham's family. Like another reviewer here noted, Hays failure to translate certain German texts is frustrating and would have been helpful. Hays makes a couple of points that I didn't necessarily agree with. For example, he contends that Paul's argument in Galatians hinges on the understanding of the singular seed as an allusion to David's seed in II Sam. 7. I need to re-read this section but I believe that N.T. Wrights idea of the incorporative use of Christos in Galatians 3:16 sounds more reasonable to me, especially in light of Pauls conclusion in 3:29. It seems to me that Paul's quotation of the relevant Genesis texts would be dis-ingenuous knowing that the 'seed' there is a collective singular. Wright's incorporative idea of Christos might also have been helpful regarding Hay's interpretation of Habbakuk 2:4. Overall, this is an excellent book and I highly recommend it.