What St Paul Really Said
‘A cogent exposition of Paul’s central teaching on the person of Christ.’
Times Literary Supplement
‘A well-informed and readable exposition of the more modern approach to Paul.’
The Tablet
‘The persuasiveness of Dr Wright’s book rests on his close reading of Pauline texts.’
New York Times
‘A stout defence of the orthodox view.’
The Guardian
‘I heartily recommend [this book] to anyone interested in Paul.’
Alice Thomas Ellis, in The Express on Sunday
For Keith Sutton
TOM WRIGHT
What St Paul Really Said
Copyright © 1997 Tom Wright
The author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A Lion Book
an imprint of
Lion Hudson plc
Wilkinson House, Jordan Hill Road,
Oxford OX2 8DR, England
www.lionhudson.com
ISBN: 978-0-7459-3797-7 (print)
ISBN: 978-0-7459-5867-5 (epub)
ISBN: 978-0-7459-5866-8 (Kindle)
ISBN: 978-0-7459-5868-2 (pdf)
First edition 1997
10
First electronic edition 2011
All rights reserved
Cover image: Paul Preaching in Athens by Adolph Spangenberg von Gustav
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Contents
Chapter 1 – Puzzling Over Paul
Chapter 2 – Saul the Persecutor, Paul the Convert
Chapter 3 – Herald of the King
Chapter 5 – Good News for the Pagans
Chapter 6 – Good News for Israel
Chapter 7 – Justification and the Church
Chapter 8 – God’s Renewed Humanity
Chapter 9 – Paul’s Gospel Then and Now
Chapter 10 – Paul, Jesus and Christian Origins
Preface
Paul has provoked people as much in the twentieth century as he did in the first. Then, they sometimes threw stones at him; now, they tend to throw words. Some people still regard Paul as a pestilent and dangerous fellow. Others still think him the greatest teacher of Christianity after the Master himself. This spectrum of opinion is well represented in the scholarly literature as well as the popular mind.
The Anglican approach to Paul, classically, has been cool and dry. We don’t want to be too enthusiastic; that might make us a trifle too Protestant. We don’t want to be too condemning; that might look too Catholic. We don’t want to take his every last word too seriously; that would be too conservative. But nor do we want to dismiss him out of hand; that would be far too liberal. We normally settle for a few favourite passages, a few ‘desert island texts’ (such as 1 Corinthians 13, which is about as popular as 1 Corinthians 11 is unpopular), a few favourite themes (such as ‘being in Christ’, which can be stated so vaguely as to support almost any theological scheme), and perhaps a favourite epistle (quite possibly Philippians, because it’s short, clear, and happy, unlike 2 Corinthians, which is perceived as long, tortuous, and gloomy – a good preparation for Lent, which is where it comes in the lectionary. Oh, and it has two chapters about money, which makes us embarrassed).
I have lived with ...
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About What St Paul Really SaidPaul has provoked people as much in recent times as he did when he was alive. Some regard him as a pestilent and dangerous fellow. Others think of him as the greatest teacher of Christianity after Jesus himself. In this book, leading theologian Tom Wright focuses on key areas of Paul's teaching, helping us to understand what he was doing and saying. He sweeps away the confusion of much modern theology to uncover the real man and his message. |
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