Customer Reviews

Dictionary of Paul and His Letters (The IVP Bible Dictionary Series)

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More of an encyclopedia of Paul's letters. All the important issues in Paul's letters are listed encyclopedically in this book. The articles' authors have looked at all the popular, scholarly and important commentaries, and have lined the commentators up on either side of every little minute Pauline controversy. Not sure where you fall on a matter of interpretation? This book will summarize the positions, their supporters, and tell you where to find the supporters' books. And even if you're not trying to determine what a specific text means, it's at least an interesting read to see where modern commentaries are taking modern Christianity.

`The Dictionary of Paul and His Letters' is a superb reference source if your primary objective is the study of Paul's writings. As a one-volume source, unlike, for example, the six volume Anchor Bible Dictionary, it is a far less expensive reference of all Pauline issues on your desk. For most people, the very best aspect of the volume is its dedication to contemporary scholarship. This focus has many good points and a few problems.

The only problem I see with its `contemporary' focus is that some important works on Paul may not cited. This is only a theoretical concern, as my biggest fear, that the article on `Mysticism' would not refer to Albert Schweitzer's important `The Mysticism of St. Paul', but it does.

On the other side of the coin, all major articles include generous bibliographies to both books and articles in English, German, and French. I find no references to Italian articles, but if there were important articles written in Italian, I believe they will be here.

While some major Pauline scholars such as Ed Sanders and N. T. Wright are missing from the list of contributors, there are many authorities that do weigh in. Foremost among these are James Dunn, F. F. Bruce, and David Wright. There are over a hundred contributors, so I'm certain I'm unfamiliar with many major authorities. From what I know, the credentials of the contributors are impeccable.

While I learned early in my elementary school years that an encyclopedia was always a good place to start a research project, it was often not enough for first class work, but there were always things an encyclopedia could do which no other reference could do quite as well. And, this volume does a great job on those tasks.

First, as already mentioned, it has great bibliographies on all major articles. My only complaint is that since all the entries run together (no break to a new line when beginning with the author's name), the bibliographies are hard to read. I commonly miss an important reference when my aging eyes skip over the lines just a bit too quickly.

Second, the text has superior cross-referencing. Every time a word or phrase is used which is itself the subject of an article, the word or phrase is asterisked. I don't recall that even the mighty Encyclopedia Britannia did so well in cross-referencing. I know the Britannia's bibliographies were not nearly as good.

Third, there are lots of useful articles with information you simply don't find anywhere else, at least not with a certain amount of luck. Two examples stand out. The first is a list of Pauline colleagues, all those co-workers mentioned in Acts and in Paul's own letters, with indications of their roles. The second is the list of Old Testament citations in Paul, divided by those where the quote from the Septuagint is exact and those where the quote is paraphrased. Most of this is reprinted from classic papers on the subject, primarily by E. E. Ellis.

There is one area where one needs to use additional references. While there are excellent articles on each of Paul's letters, they do not constitute complete exegeses of the letters. Fortunately, again, the bibliographies offer excellent lists of full commentaries; however, they are not complete and they are limited to `modern' exegeses. The bibliography on Romans, for example, does not include either N. T. Wright's very long commentary in `The New Interpreter's Bible' or references to classical commentaries such as those by Martin Luther or John Barth. Second, I would not entirely trust the information here on very early Judaism, for example. On the other hand, long general articles about, for example `Law' are extremely good guidance on research on this subject going back over 100 years.

This book will not replace more specialized works, but it will do an excellent job of helping you find and understand the mountain of scholarly research on Paul from the last century.

This was the first volume in the whole IVP series I purchased, and because of it, I bought the "Dictionary of the Later New Testament." This whole series is a wonderful and insightful compilation of Biblical studies. This work is a concise, and yet thorough work on Paul's theology and termonology, and the novice student doesn't need to worry about a ton of theological jargon or a degree in Greek in order to read it, either.

I tend to prefer the more extensive "The Theology of Paul" by James Dunn, although this book may have a more logical orginization to it as a dictionary format. I usually sit down with both when I study, as they both have their strenghts and weaknesses as a resource.

I dont 100% agree with everything in this book, but I agree with a lot of it, and consider it a necessity in my library.

A great introduction to Paul and Pauline studies. This book will give you an informed introduction to many of the Pauline perspectives. A most worthwhile read. Concise, easy to read, with a conservative scholarly bent, but also fair in its assesment of current scholarship. Highly recommended for the christian thinker who recognizes the need to stay informed. As with the other volumes the bibliography is one of the real values of this dictionary. Your money is well spent on this book. A real value! Pastor Ken

Once, I read: "If you want to be wise, read Paul." I really did not know how reading Paul could make me wise. That is, not until I discovered the multitude of teachers these editors called on to help me decipher, assimilate, and discover the wisdom of Paul.

I found this book during a quiet time in a monastery, and knew instantly that I had found my treasure trove of the promised wisdom. I had to have it. Oh, what I have learned about the origins of my Catholic faith, the mores of the time of Jesus, the whys and wherefores of various passages in the Bible!

Still, faith education makes up only a part of the power-house of information about living the comtemplated life, that teaches many schools of thought from several scholars, so you can clearly know where you feel comfortable within the many facets of each interpretation.

Want to know how to construct a solid argument, read this book. Want to know how to write a letter, according to the Greek rules, read this book. Want to know your roots, read this book.

Most important of all, want to know Paul, read this book.

While you may not agree with everything Paul represented, you will come to understand Paul, and, through your understanding, come to love Paul.

I guarantee you will enter into a state of satisfying new understanding with every page you read of this great work!

I enjoy reading this book. It has great contributions to the identity of Paul and circumstances of his letters. Articles are written by well-known scholars. It gives you a quick and extensive overview on recent debates of the scholarship on particular topics. Instead of reading a dozen books, you can read a comprehensive summary in a article on the topic of your interest. It is a great book and I recommend it to any student of the New Testament.

Was excited that this was available as a Kindle book. Had ordered the hardcover edition through Amazon. Good stuff! Due to a medical condition, it is too large for me to handle physically. Gave it to a friend and downloaded the e-book and discovered it is does not have active content. I have other reference books on the Kindle that work well as reference books, being able to type a subject, have suggestions come up, then move the cursor and click to be on my way. It didn't occur to me or my friend (a Kindle owner) that this not be the case for this book.
Long story short, I have procured this book on another platform that allows access to the wonderful contents and is more conducive to Bible study. That platform is an app on the iphone 4, called Accordance, which means it will work on the ipad. Currently and for a limited time, they offer several books from this series( there may only be 3-4 thus far) plus other worthy books in a bundle for $110. The price for this one book, poorly done is $34.
You decide.

Very oomprehensive--maybe tells you more than you wanted to know. A lot of Greek word info.

This book and the book "Paul and His Letters" by Pohill create a library necessity for the exegesis of the letters of Paul. What the Pohill book does not tell you is in the Dictionary and wow - wonderful addition to my Library.

I am currently taking Pauline Writings in a MDiv program. This book is priceless and has become a "must have" for any library!!