“For me, Paul has always been the most difficult and therefore also most delightful advocate and interpreter of the Lord Jesus Christ and of the human experience of God’s transforming power through Christ. In Paul’s letters above all I have found the quality of mind and the depth of conviction that could arouse in me both excitement and passion. And it is Paul’s letters, above all, that show how important and difficult is life together in the church.” — from the preface With the contextual framework in place from volume one of The Canonical Paul, Luke Timothy Johnson now probes each of the thirteen biblical letters traditionally attributed to the apostle Paul in a way that balances respect for historical integrity with attention to present-day realities. In doing so, Johnson reforges the connection between biblical studies and the life of the church, seeking to establish once again the foundational and generative role that the thirteen letters of Paul have had among Christians for centuries. Far from being a “definitive theology” of Paul, or an oversimplified synthesis, Interpreting Paul provides glimpses into various moments of Paul’s thinking and teaching that we find in Scripture, modeling how one might read his letters closely for fresh, creative interpretations now and into the future. Approached in this way, both in minute detail and as a whole canon, Paul’s letters yield rich insights, and his voice becomes accessible to all readers of the Bible.

Andrew Perriman's contribution to the increasingly strident debate on the status of women in the Christian religion provides an ironic treatment of one of Christendom's most controversial subjects.

Draws together the most important articles on Paul and his letters by distinguished scholar and author N. T. Wright. Interpreting Paul puts into one volume Wright's most important articles on the Apostle over the last six years. It collects the essays—written for a wide variety of publications—that further his detailed reflections on Paul since the publication of his magisterial Paul and the Faithfulness of God, including such diverse investigations as: How and Why Paul Invented 'Christian Theology' How Greek was Paul's Eschatology? Paul and Missional Hermeneutics The Challenge of Fraternity in Paul Interpreting Paul displays Wright's engaging prose, his courage to go where few have gone, and his joy to bridge the work of the academy and the church. Here is a rich feast for any serious student of the Bible, especially of the New Testament. Detailed, incisive, and exquisitely nuanced exegesis, this collection will reward you with a clearer, deeper, and more informed appreciation of Paul and the relevance of his teaching to Christian life and thought today. Many of the included studies have never been published or were made available only in hard-to-find larger volumes and journals.

Interpreting Paul brings together N. T. Wright’s most important articles on Paul and his letters since the publication of his magisterial Paul and the Faithfulness of God and its companion volume of essays Pauline Perspectives in 2013. Here is a rich feast for all serious students of the Bible. Each essay will amply reward those looking for detailed, incisive and exquisitely nuanced exegesis, resulting in a clearer, deeper and more informed appreciation of Paul and the relevance of his teaching to Christian life and thought today.

First of a two-volume work providing a framework for understanding the life and thought of the apostle Paul In this methodological tour de force, Luke Timothy Johnson offers an articulate, clear, and thought-provoking portrait of the life and thought of the apostle Paul. Drawing upon recent developments in the study of Paul, Johnson offers readers an invitation to the Apostle Paul. Rather than focusing on a few of Paul’s letters, Johnson lays out the materials necessary to envision the apostle from the thirteen canonical letters of Paul and the Acts of the Apostles. Constructing Paul thus provides a framework within which an engagement with Paul’s letters can take place. Johnson demonstrates the possibility of doing responsible and creative work across the canonical collection without sacrificing literary or historical integrity. By bringing out the facets of the apostle from the canonical evidence, Johnson shows the possibilities for further and better inquiry into the life and thought of Paul. This first volume imagines a plausible biography for Paul and serves as an introduction to the studies in the second volume. Constructing Paul addresses all the pertinent questions related to the study of Paul. Johnson uses the canonical material as building blocks to make a case for why Paul ought to be heard today as a liberating rather than oppressing voice.

An experienced teacher provides an accessible textbook on the Pauline letters that orients beginning students to the genre in which Paul writes.