Paul
The Early Christian Worldview of the Letter to the Romans
Second Edition
Stephen Westerholm
© 1997, 2004 by Stephen Westerholm
Published by Baker Academic
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
First edition published under the title Preface to the Study of Paul by William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
Second printing, December 2006
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Westerholm, Stephen, 1949–
Understanding Paul: the early Christian worldview of the letter to the Romans / Stephen Westerholm.—2nd ed.
p. cm.
Rev. ed. of: Preface to the study of Paul. Grand Rapids, Mich. : W. B. Eerdmans Pub., c1997.
Includes bibliographical references and .
ISBN 10: 0-8010-2731-4 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-0-8010-2731-4 (pbk.)
1. Bible. N.T. Epistles of Paul—Study and teaching. 2. Bible. N.T. Romans—Criticism, interpretation, etc. 3. Paul, the Apostle, Saint. I. Westerholm, Stephen, 1949– Preface to the study of Paul. I. Title. BS2650.55.W47 2004
227 .106—dc22
2004007268
Scripture quotations marked nrsv are taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked kjv are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.
Scripture quotations marked niv are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
Jessica, Martin, Paul, and Monica
—each a gift of Love
1. The Commission and Its Context
2. Intuitions of Goodness—and Divine Tzedakah
9. The Goals and Goodness of the Law
11. The Triumph of God in History
Two thousand years later, Paul attracts more attention than any other figure from antiquity but one. Within the academy, anthropological readings of the apostle are heaped upon feminist, which are heaped upon historical, which are heaped upon liberationist or Marxist, which are heaped upon psychological, which are heaped upon rhetorical, which are heaped upon sociological, which are heaped upon theological. One is loath ...
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About Understanding Paul: The Early Christian Worldview of the Letter to the RomansIn his study of Paul, Stephen Westerholm suggests that despite the unparalleled influence the apostle has exercised over the last two thousand years, he is little understood by contemporary readers because they often read the Pauline Epistles from the largely unconsidered presuppositions of modern culture. To counter that perspective, Westerholm proposes investigating the mindset of Paul himself. Westerholm’s well-crafted book presents an insightful survey of the apostle’s thought world. It focuses on the Epistle to the Romans as the most thorough and detailed account of Paul’s convictions regarding Christian life and doctrine. Westerholm uses the letter of Romans as a guide to the themes that were most important for the apostle, revealing the fundamental elements of Paul’s thought and the Jewish tradition from which it emerged. Following the thematic approach of the epistle, he considers each subject in the order it was taken up by Paul. Along the way, he delves into the writings of the Old Testament and their influence on Paul, presenting the issues in a manner that will challenge contemporary readers to rethink their ideas about faith, belief, and the life well lived. |
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