What was the apostle Paul's relationship to Judaism? How did he view the Jewish law? How did he understand the gospel of Jesus's messiahship relative to both ethnic Jews and gentiles? These remain perennial questions both to New Testament scholars and to all serious Bible readers. Respected New Testament scholar Matthew Thiessen offers an important contribution to this discussion. A Jewish Paul is an accessible introduction that situates Paul clearly within first-century Judaism, not opposed to it. Thiessen argues for a more historically plausible reading of Paul. Paul did not reject Judaism or the Jewish law but believed he was living in the last days, when Israel's Messiah would deliver the nations from sin and death. Paul saw himself as an envoy to the nations, desiring to introduce them to the Messiah and his life-giving, life-transforming Spirit. This new contribution to Pauline studies will benefit professors, students, and scholars of the New Testament as well as pastors and lay readers.

About the Author
Matthew Thiessen (PhD, Duke University) is associate professor of religious studies at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. He is the author of numerous books, including Paul and the Gentile Problem, Jesus and the Forces of Death, and Contesting Conversion: Genealogy, Circumcision, and Identity in Ancient Judaism and Christianity (awarded the Manfred Lautenschlaeger Award for Theological Promise).


Book Information
ISBN 9781540965714
Author Matthew Thiessen
Format Paperback
Page Count 208
Imprint Baker Academic, Div of Baker Publishing Group
Publisher Baker Publishing Group
Weight(grams) 666g
Dimensions(mm) 216mm * 140mm * 15mm