The Real Paul

The Real Paul

Recovering His Radical Challenge

By Bernard Brandon Scott

A slow rumbling that has been building up among New Testament scholars for the past twenty years is only now beginning to make its effects felt on a more general public. A new Paul is beginning to emerge—one who differs from the Paul of Augustine and Luther, who is no friend to the traditional orthodoxy that has co-opted him for almost two thousand years.

To help us see Paul in this new way, Scott arrives at three conclusions argued step-by-step throughout the book:

• Paul was called
• His concern was with the nations
• Paul addresses particular situations, not a universal human condition

The new Paul threatened Roman authorities with anti-imperial rhetoric, much of which is still operative today. Thus, the new Paul may prove an even more radical challenge to church and society than did the historical Jesus.

» Read an excerpt

Contents

1. Getting Started
2. Finding Paul
3. Starting in the Middle
4. Life-Changing Event
5. After the Event
6. Was Paul Converted?
7. Showdown in Antioch
8. Faith or Faithful
9. Father of Us All
10. In the Anointed
11. The Matters You Raised
12. The Law
13. The Law in Romans
14. Advantage Israel
15. Paul’s Christian Future
Annotated Bibliography

Cameo essays

Jesus Movement
Galatians
Martyrdom
Letter to the Philippians
The Apostle Junia
Greek and Barbarian
Tentmaker
Cephas and Peter
Pauline Chronology
Apocalyptic Scenario
Ransom
Corinthian Correspondence
Chloe
Baptizō
Letter to the Ephesians
House Church
Letter to the Romans
First Letter to the Thessalonians
Second Letter to the Thessalonians

More praise for The Real Paul:

“An impressively informed and informative work of biblical scholarship that will prove to be as thoughtful and thought-provoking as it is seminal and iconoclastic ... Highly recommended for seminary and academic library New Testament Studies reference collections in general, and Paulinian Studies supplemental reading lists in particular.”
—Midwest Book Review

“… An engaging all-out attack on the Augustinian-Lutheran reading of Paul and his letters. The Real Paul gives new interpretations to what it meant for Paul to be called as the apostle to the Gentiles and takes Paul's claims seriously …”
—Stanley K. Stowers, Brown University

“Scott’s treatment of Paul navigates the narrow gap between engaging in critical evaluation of Paul’s language and making it intelligible to those interested in the topic but not necessarily trained in the methods and jargon of the specialists. Moreover, he recognizes the role that the historical devaluation of Judaism still plays in the way that Paul is usually interpreted, however inadvertent that may be, and he explicitly resists solutions that fail to counter that legacy. What a welcome read.”
—Mark Nanos, University of Kansas

Bernard Brandon Scott (Ph.D., Vanderbilt University) is the Darbeth Distinguished Professor Emeritus of New Testament at the Phillips Theological Seminary, Tulsa, Oklahoma. A charter member of the Jesus Seminar and Chair of Westar’s Christianity Seminar, he is the author of several books, including The Trouble with Resurrection (2010) and Re-imagine the World (2001).

Publisher: Polebridge Press
Publication Date: March 2015
ISBN: 978-159815-154-1
Kindle ASIN: B00W225W9S
Number of pages: 272
Format: Paperback

Keywords: the apostle Paul, radical Paul, authentic Pauline letters, Pauline Studies, Augustine, Luther, empire studies, New Testament, biblical studies

BISAC Subjects
RELIGION / Biblical Studies / Paul’s Letters
RELIGION / Biblical Studies / History & Culture
RELIGION / Biblical Criticism & Interpretation / New Testament

“In the easily readable style of an experienced teacher, Scott shows the anachronism of claiming a religious conversion for Paul, which helps readers understand why (the Jewish) Paul so focused on the paradox of Jesus’s crucifixion as victory against Roman ideology. … a fine contribution to Pauline scholarship and understanding.”
—Publishers Weekly

“An impressively informed and informative work of biblical scholarship that will prove to be as thoughtful and thought-provoking as it is seminal and iconoclastic. An inherently fascinating read from beginning to end, The Real Paul: Recovering His Radical Challenge is highly recommended for seminary and academic library New Testament Studies reference collections in general, and Paulinian Studies supplemental reading lists in particular.”
—Midwest Book Review

“… An engaging all-out attack on the Augustinian-Lutheran reading of Paul and his letters. The Real Paul gives new interpretations to what it meant for Paul to be called as the apostle to the Gentiles and takes Paul's claims seriously …”
—Stanley K. Stowers, Brown University

“Scott’s treatment of Paul navigates the narrow gap between engaging in critical evaluation of Paul’s language and making it intelligible to those interested in the topic but not necessarily trained in the methods and jargon of the specialists. Moreover, he recognizes the role that the historical devaluation of Judaism still plays in the way that Paul is usually interpreted, however inadvertent that may be, and he explicitly resists solutions that fail to counter that legacy. What a welcome read.”
—Mark Nanos, University of Kansas

“A remarkable book, clear, astute and challenging. Bernard Brandon Scott rides the recent wave of Pauline scholarship with courage and verve. His book elegantly stays the course: to detect the voiceprint of the historical Paul. … Paul no longer wears the professor’s robe of Augustine and Luther. Nor is he a controlling misogynist. … The real Paul, for Scott, is a Jew who discovers that the God of Israel continues to surprise.”
—Arthur J. Dewey, Xavier University

“Finally—a concise and clearly written synthesis of the new Paul by a leading New Testament scholar! … All in all, a coherent portrait of arguably the most contested, and influential, figure in the history of Christianity.”
—Lane McGaughy, Willamette University