Customer Reviews

Paul (Past Masters)

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A very readable summary of Paul, based on Paul's letters in the New Testament. Not as hostile to Paul as other biographies, which place more of an emphasis on a claimed perversion and ignorance of Jesus's message by Paul. Still, it does devote some space to the conflict of ideas between the Jerusalum Apostles (mainly Peter) and Paul. It is more of an exposition of Paul's theology, and more briefly, of Jewish theology, and a very good one. Among other topics, deals with justification by faith, and how Paul reconciles (or tries to) why the law is not a vehicle for justification / salvation when God was the originator of the law (Torah). If you are familiar with the New Testament, it may lead you to some fresh insights, and if not, it is an excellent introduction to it.

This little volume is a reissue of Ed Sanders's book on Paul in Oxford's "Past Masters" series. It's held up well.

Sanders, the author of several highly acclaimed works on Palestinian Judaism and of two absolutely magisterial works on the historical Jesus, here presents a highly condensed and accessible summary of Paul's thought. The reader should be aware that Sanders (a) locates Paul within the Judaism of his time and (b) has what most Christians (I'm not Christian myself) would call an extremely "liberal" approach to New Testament interpretation.

The book is already so short that summarizing it will require preternatural brevity. But here goes: for Sanders, Paul has an answer (Jesus's death and resurrection) to which he doesn't know the question, and his writings are an attempt not only to pass along the answer but to figure out just what that question is.

This little book is a nice introduction both to Sanders's thought on Paul and, for that matter, to Sanders himself. He's a master of expository prose style, reasonable almost to a fault, and a genuinely towering figure in modern New Testament scholarship; if you find that you like him, you'll want to check out his other books. I especially recommend _Jesus and Judaism_, _The Historical Figure of Jesus_, and _Studying the Synoptic Gospels_ (which he co-wrote with his wife, Margaret Davies -- who, incidentally, is the daughter of famed New Testament scholar W.D. Davies).

Great Scholar, Easy Read do not always go hand in hand. It is difficult to recommend some books to people, because you are not sure if they will be able to stay with it due to the heavy technical language, but E P Sanders has written a great book that will familiarize someone with the gist of Paul's thought, and he has done so in a very readable style.
I cannot say that you will agree with every conclusion that he comes to, especially if you are hyper conservative when it comes to Scripture, but you will leave the book with the right questions that one should be asking about some of the difficult issues in Paul's writing.

Sanders deals with Paul's working out living in the Spirit and being in Christ against keeping the Law. The strength of Sanders is that he has such a thorough knowledge of the Judaism of Paul's day. He brings out many of the challenges that Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles had to deal in light of his thorough Jewishness.

What I found most interesting in this book was Sanders view on Romans 7, and Paul's views on sexuality. Sanders allows that Paul wrote Galatians earlier than Romans and by so he sees Romans as being more fully developed than Galatians. Sanders allows that Paul's theology developed and was modified over time as Paul had to deal with various issues about what it meant to be in Christ and be a Gentile and how the Law of the Jews relate to this new position.

This book deals with being "righteoused by faith" in Romans and Galatians. It deals with the resurrection of the dead which is very interesting chapter that many folks would benefit from reading.

The section on behavior deals with the Greco-Roman worlds view of sexuality versus the Jewish view of sexuality. Sanders shows Paul as always struggling with his Jewishness over against his mission to the Gentiles. Paul was determined not to make them Jews, but in issues of sexuality there is not much bend. Sanders give informative historical data in a fun and easy to read format on Greco-Roman sexuality.

I highly recommend this book.

`Paul, A Very Short Introduction' by the leading American Pauline scholar, E. P. Sanders is a revelation to me it will also probably be a surprise to anyone not familiar with this Oxford University Press series. My first surprise is that an author of such great academic distinction should be doing this kind of treatment which looks, on the surface, to be a popular gloss, evoking images of `Cliff Notes' and `Paul for Dummies'.

My reading of Pauline theology and exegesis is still a bit shallow; but I know enough already to see that while Sanders may just be covering the peaks, he is giving us a good enough look deep into some of the valleys to appreciate his stating that Paul is a difficult writer for modern readers. Not only was Paul not as polished a writer as his contemporary Philo in Alexandria, he used some Greek terms which simply do not easily translate into English. And, many important modern such as the RSV (Revised Standard Version) Bible translations don't help much when they mangle some of Paul's more important statements.

Since practically nothing is known about Paul's life with any certainty, Sanders takes little space for biography and no space on speculation on what Paul may have done, for example, during his early years in the Nabatean desert. Oddly, he does add to the question of where Paul wrote his Epistle to the Romans. Some writers say he wrote in Miletus and others say he wrote it in Corinth. Sanders opts for Corinth.

Sanders is probably one of the very best writers from which to get the `non-Lutheran' interpretation of Paul, as he concentrates much more on seeing Paul concentrate on the membership of Christians in the body of Christ instead of Righteousness by faith. At the very least, he gives the two points of view equal importance.

While the book is organized primarily by theological topics, Sanders seems to get most of his quotes and references from Romans and Galatians (which happen to be the two letters most interesting to Luther in his early career).

There are two new aspects of Paul I get from this book. First, Paul is NOT an anguished soul, as we have come to view Luther or Kierkegaard or modern existentialists. The second is that for Paul, evil was a real, palpable force in the world. The evil of sin was not an outgrowth of simple guilt, depression, or other psychological phenomenon. Evil was REAL. This gives me a whole new perspective on interpreting the Gnostics, who made a big thing of the doctrine that the physical world was created by an evil demiurge.

I also get a reassurance on Paul's doctrine on free will. Unlike Luther in `Bondage of the Will', Paul firmly believed that humans have free will and can choose right or wrong and disbelief or faith.

As excellent as this book is, it may be a bit too technical for a younger teen that is new to problems of reading and interpreting ancient translated texts. If the student is, however, a student of Biblical Greek, then this is a book they should know!

Paul by E.P. Sanders was first published in 1991, but now it's out in an illustrated edition (2009) with a bit of revision here and there.

Below are summaries of Sanders take on various aspects of Paul's Life and Thought:

On Paul's Mission

Sanders argues that Paul saw God's plan in history in two ways: 1. His rescue of Israel; and 2. His rescue of the Gentiles. The first of these is attributed to Jesus, God's servant to the Jews (Rom. 15:8). Then Paul saw himself as fulfilling the second half of God's plan, "Apostle to the Gentiles in the Messianic Era" (Rom. 11:13; 15:14-16).

On Paul's Life and Letters

Sanders is not totally convinced that Paul studied under Gamaliel I. Rather, the author of Acts drew an inference because Paul was an outstanding Pharisee and Gamaliel the leader of the party (p. 14).

Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, and Philemon he attributes to Paul. "Fortunately Paul wrote letters, and equally fortunate someone collected, edited, and published some of them" (p. 15).

He argues also from 1 Clement, a letter from the Bishop of Rome to the Corintian church around A.D. 96, that Paul was executed in Rome, during his first imprisonment, at the close of Acts 28. A follower of Paul wrote 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, the Pastoral Letters.

On Paul's Method and Message

While he seen as debating in the marketplace, synagogues, and debating publicly, Sanders believes that when Paul entered a new city, "he probably took a room in which to ply his trade, and he talked with whoever came in or walked past" (p. 33). Regarding his message, Paul "preached the death, resurrection, and lordship of Jesus Christ, and he proclaimed that faith in him guaranteed a share in his life" (p. 34). This Sanders says we can know with "a good deal of precision" from Paul's surviving letters.

On Paul's View of the Return of the Lord and the Resurrection of the Dead

At first, argues Sanders, Paul said nothing about life after death for believers, since he believed Jesus was returning in his lifetime and that of his converts. But when believers started dying in Thessalonica, Paul had to modify his eschatology (pp. 44ff).

Furthermore, in combining both Greek and Jewish ideas of immortality, Paul believed that "at death the soul ascends to heaven, to await the resurrection; at the resurrection soul and body are reunited" (p. 53).

On Paul's View of Righteousness by Faith and Being in Christ:

Sanders devotes two chapters to Paul's view of Righteousness by Faith and Being in Christ: first in his letter to the Galatians and then in his letter to the Romans. In his Letter to the Galatians, Sanders aruges that when Paul speaks of "righteousness by faith," he has in mind how the Gentiles are included in the renewed family of God, a view shared by N.T. Wright.

Regarding Paul's Letter to the Romans, Sanders says that despite differences between Romans and Galatians the problem is substantially the same: "that of Gentile inclusion in the people of God." He adds: "The single most important theme of Romans is equality of Jew and Gentile" (pp. 106-7).

For Sanders, while dikaioun, "to righteous" (a term he favors over "to justify), has a legal aspect in its active use, he believes that in its passive use Paul forced it to mean "changed, transferred, incorporated into another person" (p. 77).

On Paul's Christology

To Paul, Jesus was indeed the Son of God. But what occupied Paul's thought, though he held to a forensic and judicial aspect of Christ saving us through the Cross, was "participation in Christ and a change of one's state from being under Sin to living in the Spirit" (p. 130).

Sanders believes Paul held to what would later be called "Adoptionism": Jesus was adopted by God as Son, not born that way. He cites Romans 1:1-4 as his prooftext (p. 131).

On Paul's View of the Law

Sanders argues that Paul presentseddifferent views of the Law according to the circumstances: in one case, the Law was a badge of membership for the Jews (Rom. 9:4); in another, as a set of ethical standards for corrective behavior (Rom. 13-8-10).

But the chief purpose of the Law: "God gave the law in order to condemn, with the ultimate purpose of saving people through Christ" (p. 145).

On Paul's View of the Salvation of Israel and the World: Romans 9-11

In Romans 9-11, Sanders says that according to Paul the Jews had one problem: "Rejecting Jesus as the Christ" (p. 189). God's solution to the problem: "God will save Israel by means of the Gentile mission, which will make them jealous and lead hem to accept Christ" (Ibid.)

Regarding the problematic Romans 11:25-27, Sanders portrays Paul as a Covenant Theologian: "God has made a covenant with Israel, and he will keep it, whether they are obedient or not" (p. 191).

Then Sanders ends his radical and challenging book with the apostle Paul as a universalist. This Sanders argues from Romans 11:32-36; 5:18; and 1 Corinthians 15:21-22.

If you wish to have your view of Paul challenged, I highly recommend that you read Paul: A Brief Insight by E.P. Sanders.

The author is incrediable. Specifically, concerning the author's style of writing, he is writing for those who know very little about Paul, yet in such a concendensed book as this, you will finish feeling you know Paul like he's your neighbor. He begins with an explanation of Paul's life, his goals, and then moves on to bigger questions about Paul. What was Paul's view on rightousness? His view on the law?

I still can't believe that after reading this small book I've learned so much about one of the most influencial apostles of our time. If you don't know much about Paul, or want to brush up a little, this really is an excellent book.

Of course, if you want to deeply study Paul, you may want to go with a book that's more than 100 and some odd pages, but for my purpose, which was simply finding out "Who the heck is Paul?", I don't think I could have found a better book.

A good intro to the apostle Paul, emphasizing and explaining the Jewish context, and how important that is in interpreting Paul's letters.

Sanders' clearly written book shows us that Paul, to pave his new way, is in a world of competition, energy, doubt, and violence. Paul has too many targets and too many different backgrounds to cope with. He has to speak a different language to each group of listeners and invent answers to solve awkward questions previously unaddressed. Paul also evolves, contradicts himself, which is common currency among religious reformers facing theological and practical difficulties. Finding answers nearly always rely on his Pharisee background and his knowledge of the OT. Sanders' Paul is a practical man. Jesus seems forgotten, except as the recipient of God's power to revive a person.

Paul wants the Pharisee Jews (they support a different Messiah: Elijah) to join, but most scorn the new wave, just as Paul had previously rejected it and is now persecuted for his incessant proselytism.

He is even more in trouble with the Messianic Jews in the line of James. The Faith versus Law issue, interestingly discussed, is however not the only bone of contention.

Paul mainly wants the Greco-Romans to submit to the God of Israel and receive everlasting life in the footsteps of Messiah Jesus. Paul presents a tempting program to pagans: join us, accept a few moral constraints (as a member of the body of Christ and being in the Spirit) and be saved. To the upper class he has to attenuate the idea of bodily resurrection not in favor within Hellenistic circles and introduces fuzzy concepts such as the more "politically correct" revival of a spiritual body. E. P. Sanders considers (erroneously I believe) that the idea was almost certainly derived entirely from his experience of encountering the risen Lord.

Sanders' short and lively book leaves us with a human Paul who does not seem to be very aware or concerned about a human Jesus. As a contemporary of Jesus, Paul disturbs many precisely because he does not show much interest in the man Jesus and his words. Why such a dichotomy? Sanders has no convincing explanation to offer.

Some readers at this point may question if the human Jesus really existed and if there is something else behind the story that we have not been told? This is the golden egg of the mythicists such as E. Doherty who erroneously can only see a Hellenistic background to Paul's teaching.

But to readers who, contrary to Sanders can reject an historical Jesus, Paul with his indelible Judean background becomes the loudspeaker not of a man but of a dissident Judean messianic school of thought registered under the Jesus trademark. The name (Yahweh saves) personifies an opinionated faction within a messianic institution.

Paul, mainly addressing people who did not have a Judean culture, is above all promoting a political party that boasts a priority claim on salvation. The resurrection story is that priority claim. It is a political slogan showing the group's intention to be the exclusive ones administering the very promising eternity creed.

Paul endorses here the role of a self-conscious Jewish propagandist capable of sensing opportunities and fighting for them, just as any energetic and convinced politician would do with a persuasive promise in his hands. He is not competing against or snubbing Jesus but spreading an ambitious party program (a Judean messiah-mediated revival cult) and has lots of enemies.

This is the side of the story that Sanders will not be able to communicate. Nevertheless, Sanders book is well worthwhile because he stays close to Paul the man and investigates step by step with his readers how Paul solved his dogmatic and ethical problems: he shows us a human enterprise more than a divine one.

A brief discussion of St. paul, including a discussion of Paul's own percepion of his mission to the Gentiles, a discussion of Paul's life, his missionary strategy and messgae, and discussion of his thrology revolving around Romans and Galatians - including the development of Pauline Christology, the interaction of the Old and New Covenants, and a look at Pauline ethics and behavior. A decent intro into the most influential of all Christian writers.

In 150 pages Sanders comprehensively discussed various (if not all) aspects of Pauline Christianity:

- Resurrection (1 Corinthians 15 is dissected in full)
- How one is "justified" (i.e. "made righteous") through faith (Galatian 2 is used to illuminate)
- What Paul thought of Jesus (two different views: an "adoptionist" kind in Romans 1 and "high Christology" in Philippians 2)
- The nature of "The Law". This part is interesting (and difficult), and Sanders (p. 110) frankly points out "Paul had a problem", if God "has now decided to send his Son to save all alike, whether Jew of Gentile, provided that they have faith in him, what in the world was he up to when he gave the law?" Here (Ch.9) Paul's reasoning appears strained - the full solution has to wait till the last chapter
- Moral perfectionism (again 1 Corinthians is examined)

Finally, the last chapter, the crown of this small book, shows Paul's triumphant vision of universal salvation (Romans 5:18; 1 Corinthians 15:21-22; and of course the highly crucial Romans 11). This seems to (and probably does) conflict with Paul's own prediction of destruction of those who rejected his message - but that does not matter, says Sanders, because Paul was NOT a systematic/philosophical theologian; he was instead "an apostle, an ad hoc theologian, a proclaimer, a charismatic who saw visions and spoke in tongues - and a religious genius." (p. 148)

Highly informative. Five stars.