Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians (New Testament Guides for Everyone) [Paperback]

Tom Wright (Author)

Book Description

Series: New Testament Guides for Everyone | Publication Date: August 2002

An entirely new and approachable translation of the New Testament and study guides by a world-renowned scholar, Tom Wright. The series provide invaluable background detail and a wealth of information to help the reader understand each passage in a richer way. The implication of the text for the life of the modern reader is also explored.

The translation of the Bible text is underpinned by deep scholarship, but has an immediacy and freshness that makes it easy to read, and set it apart from other modern-language translations.

The guides assume no detailed knowledge of the New Testament, and are therefore suitable for beginners as well as more experienced students of the Bible. Each volume stands alone, though the series will build into an unrivaled guide to the entire New Testament, book by book.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

A former teacher of New Testament studies at the universities of Oxford, Cambridge and McGill, Tom Wright is among the most interesting and respected New Testament scholars currently at work. He is the author of many books, including The Challenge of Jesus, Twelve Months of Sundays: Reflections on Bible readings and, the first volumes in this series, Mark for Everyone and Luke for Everyone. Formerly Dean of Lichfield, he is currently Canon Theologian at Westminster Abbey and SPCK Research Fellow.

Product Details

• Paperback: 178 pages
• Publisher: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (August 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0281053049
• ISBN-13: 978-0281053049
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,972,420 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

N.T. Wright is Bishop of Durham and was formerly Canon Theologian of Westminster Abbey and dean of Lichfield Cathedral. He taught New Testament studies for twenty years at Cambridge, McGill and Oxford Universities. Wright's full-scale works The New Testament and the People of God, Jesus and the Victory of God, and The Resurrection of the Son of God are part of a projected six-volume series entitled Christian Origins and the Question of God. Among his many other published works are The Original Jesus, What Saint Paul Really Said and The Climax of the Covenant. He is also coauthor with Marcus Borg of The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions and the volume on Colossians and Philemon in The Tyndale New Testament Commentary series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Right Interpretation from Wright, May 20, 2006

By 

DarrenGJohnson "DarrenGJohnson" (Georgia, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians (New Testament for Everyone) (Paperback)

Tom Wright (aka N T Wright)is the most insightful and unique conservative scholar to come along. He has shared with us his great gift of, not only his theology, but his whimsical writing, anectdotes, story telling and of course the most important of all correct interpretion of the text itself. Wright is not only a theologian, but is as much a historian. I recommend the entire everyone series from him. You will not regret buying these easy to read, entertaining, and remarkably insightful books.

When it comes to interpreting Galatians Wright is right on. He recognizes the problem in Galatia not to be Law verses Grace (categories of the reformation), but rather table fellowship or in other words who is accepted into the family of God and who is not? Who do we eat with? Wright shows the opponents of Paul to be those who had said that Paul, who is not really full Apostle, has missed it by not telling the Galatians that they needed to be circumcised along with faith in Jesus as Messiah in order to be full fledged members of the family of God. Paul argues for his full Apostleship and challenges the notion of circumcision as a badge of fellowship. Galatians moves from the idea of circumcision to faith as the true badge as demonstrated through baptism and the Holy Spirit as the seal on the deal and not any works of the flesh.

Wright also deals responsibly with First and Second Thesalonians, giving good, though not exhaustive interpretations of some very difficult passages that deal with the parousia appearing or coming of the Lord. It is refreshing for me to see someone who does not take the Left Behind rapture theory deal adequately and responsibly with 1 Thessalonians 4:13 and following. He also does a good job with "the man of sin" of 2 Thessalonians. Perhaps (for me personally at least) the most important thing the Church can hear from Wright's comments has to do with the call to holiness. Wright sees Paul as calling upon Christians to live life as thinking of themselves as always being in the Temple or in the presence of the Lord.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Simplicity, Brilliance and Balance, November 8, 2006

By 

David E. Blair (Columbia, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians (New Testament for Everyone) (Paperback)

It is hard for me to remember when I have used the above words to describe a book. Reading in this area for me is an exercise in the historical investigation of the early Church and Roman antiquity. I have "no dog" in the theological fights that propel much of the discussion of the early Church history and Biblical commentary. Therefore, Tom Wright would not normally be on my list of scholars to read. He is the Bishop of Durham in the High Episcopal Church of England. He is after all a believer in the divinity of Jesus as a matter of faith and grace. I picked this book up as I was under time pressure to prepare for a discussion on Galatians. I already had books by Esler and Nanos on Galatians and a commentary by J. Louis Martyn, as well as, "The Galatians Debate" which is edited by Mark Nanos. That amounts to in excess of fifteen hundred pages of tough scholarly reading on the book of Galatians.

However, this short one hundred seventy eight page book would have to do. And what a surprise it was. First of all I concluded that Wright is a scholar of the first rank. Second, I very much like his rejection of the "Lutheran" Paul which has infected so much writing over the last few centuries. Third, I was amazed at the relatively simple translations done by Wright that seemed to convey the message of the epistles under consideration with extreme clarity. And lastly, the book conveys a well established understanding of these epistles as internal documents of early Church history. It is this reader's opinion that the epistles of Paul have far more to say about the history of the early Church and the person of the historical Jesus than is normally granted.

Wright's "new perspective" stance on Paul allows for a reconciliation of Paul and the Jerusalem Church headed by James the relative of Jesus. It becomes clear that Paul's message about Jesus was known and accepted by James. If one fails to engage New Testament writings as a strong source of information about the early church and the historical person of Jesus, then one's understanding of that history will remain skewed. One star was deducted for a lack of ultimate depth. Many of the more complex and troubling issues about these epistles have been avoided by Wright. However, that in no way denigrates the value of this book. It is accessible to the general reader, and any open minded person will find much of value here. N. T. Wright may just be the best conservative scholar working in this area at this time. I shall be reading more of his work and recommend this book highly to all but the most advanced students of the epistles of Paul.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From one of the very best, August 13, 2006

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Tim "Theologator" (Belleview, Florida) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians (New Testament for Everyone) (Paperback)

N.T. Wright is among the very best Biblical scholars in the world. His genius is evident in how clearly he brings Paul's letters alive for us today. Rememnber, this stuff isn't rockewt science and the enduring truth of Paul's theology and counsel has always been meant for EVERYONE.