Charts on the Life, Letters, and Theology of Paul

by Lars Kierspel

Paul's letters have fascinated and challenged most every reader of the Bible. As a result, many general introductions and specific studies on Paul are available, but none are like Charts on the Life and Letters of Paul, which provides over 100 charts to explore the apostle's background, life and ministry, letters, and theology. The charts visually offer clarity on: Basic insights (e.g., Autobiographical Information)
Comparisons (e.g., Parallels between Acts and Paul's Letters)
Advanced tools for further study (e.g., Key Words in Romans)
Analysis (e.g., The 'New Perspective' on Paul)
Research (e.g., Key Texts and Their Interpretations)
Comments on the charts and discussions of significant theories-with leads for further exploration-are offered together with an extensive bibliography that includes references to past and current Pauline scholarship. Interested Bible readers as well as students of Paul's life, letters, and theology will find plenty of material to deepen their understanding. Teachers will find the charts to be a valuable teaching resource. This book is an excellent supplement to any general introduction or specific study on Paul.

Genres: History, Christian

272 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2012

Reviews

[Rich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kierspel, Lars. Charts on the Life, Letters, and Theology of Paul (Kregel Charts of the Bible). Kregel Publications, 2012.

Kregel hits another home run with this book! This follows the same approach as Charts on the Book of Hebrews, which I previously reviewed. Like that book, this one provides necessary information in a readily usable format, which makes it ideal for detail study as well as easy for quick reference. For a pastor/teacher this is an excellent resource.

Content

The charts are extensive, well organized, and logical. There are four major parts:

A. Paul’s Background & Context
B. Paul’s Life & Ministry
C. Paul’s Letters
D. Paul’s Theological Concepts

The largest parts are appropriately the last two. But we cannot ignore the first two (Note: I am using shortened chart titles). Charts 1 (Roman Emperors), 4 (Roman Military Structure), and 5 (Greco-Roman Religions) are well worth having available when questions arise, but which the serious studies may not provide in summary form. Likewise Charts 7 (1st Century Judaic Groups) and 8 (1st Century Judaism Characteristics) provide more detail than some table formats permit. But in this case the format works well.

In Part B, Chart 11 (Parallels Acts and Pauline Corpus) is helpful. But I found the table a little confusing regarding the relationship between Acts 11 and 15 with Galatians. This might be one area in which the table/chart format fails to convey the challenges of such matching. Charts 13 (Jesus in Luke, Paul in Acts) and 14 (Peter and Paul in Acts) are excellent. I remember Robert Hoerber teaching using the same kind of tables 30+ years ago at seminary. Excellent charts! Chart 18 (Missionary Journeys) is another superb summary of critical information related to Paul’s ministry. Chart 19 (Coworkers) is helpful, but it seemed incomplete. That is, the author divides the references into Male and Female. The missing part would be to look at the various terms used and how that is used relative to male and female. I found Chart 28 (Names, Titles, etc.) very helpful, information often needed, but not often put together in one place. Likewise Chart 31 (Sufferings) is essential because suffering influences so much of Paul’s life and writings.

Part C For those using the Greek, Chart 35 (Manuscripts) sets forth an easy to understand and use reference list, in conjunction with Chart 41 (Arrangement of Letters). Chart 42 (Structural Comparison) is one of the best in the entire book! Charts 45-50 show the quotes and allusions of the Old Testament. Chart 47 also provides whether the quote is MT or LXX; Chart 50 gives the OT order of the allusions. Charts 51-52 extend the same for Intertestamental writings. In Charts 53-76 the author sets forth the snapshot of each letter, followed by a listing of key words in the longer letters. I was pleased to see Chart 62 (Ephesians and Colossians) because often this parallelism is overlooked; but both deal with the Church from two perspectives (Body of Christ and Christ the Head). The author uses Charts 68-73 to address the pastoral epistles and similarities as well as authorship issues (72) and relationship to Paul’s ministry (73). Excellent tools.

Part D is perhaps the most intense part of the book. That is, theology can be systematized and condensed, but this section assumes the most background knowledge. This is not a criticism at all. After all, this is a tool for serious students and pastors/teachers. I commend him for doing so in an easily understood manner (with the above caveat), organized, and compiled for maximum usability. For me the most important Charts are 81 (Christological), 82 (Pneumatological), 84 (Soteriological: Objective), 85 ( Soteriological: Subjective), 90 (Eschatological), and 92 (Ecclesiological). One area which I have just begun studying in detail is “Faith of Jesus” (Chart 89) and the controversy of translation as either objective (NAS) or subjective (NET). Helpful starting point for identifying the issues and texts. So also, Chart 111 (New Perspectives on Paul). Charts 96-107 present ethics and related topics as addressed by Paul.

In the Comments part at the end, Dr. Kierspel offers reasoning for decisions and how he understands the issues. And he provides specific bibliographic references for further study. This section is worthwhile for gaining insight into the whole enterprise.

Formatting

Titles of charts should continue on each page with the same chart (I.e. Charts 5 and 8, and throughout book). But interestingly in Chart 98-100, the headings continue on each page.Many of the charts have vertical lines that help guide the eye through the material. But some charts that could benefit from this do not have the vertical dividers (Charts 22, 23, 25, etc.). There is not Chart title/heading for pages 86-88. These formatting issues are indeed minor and do not detract from this valuable resource.

Evaluation

In sum, this book should be in every pastor’s and teacher’s library. Any student of the Bible and Paul’s letters, in particular, will benefit from Dr. Kierspel’s meticulous and thorough work. Well done to Kregel and Dr. Kierspel for a top notch book.
Note: Thanks to Kregel Academic & Professional for the review copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

[Michael Boling · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Apostle Paul – volumes have been written on his life, writings, and theology. One may rightly ask where there would be a need for yet another book that engages the works of the man responsible for writing most of the New Testament. Is there really anything else that can be discussed about Paul or his works that has not already been covered in some commentary, scholarly work or journal article throughout the years? While the works on the life, times, and writings of Paul are certainly voluminous, Lars Kierspel’s “Charts on the Life, Letters, and Theology of Paul” fills a void, that of providing an overview of Paul in chart form.

One may rightly ask how the life, letters, and theology of Paul can be reduced to a book full of charts while also asking how a book full of charts on these aspects of Paul would be of any service to layman and scholar alike. As noted in the salient comment on this book by Professor John Polhill, “Kierspel provides us with a treasure trove of information on Paul’s world, life and ministry, churches, letters, and thought. All of this is condensed into a format of some 111 charts, each covering a different topic related to Paul and his epistles.” Providing this type of information in chart form is invaluable to the student of Scripture, the Apostle Paul in particular. The ability to access both the level of broadness and detail provided in Kierspel’s book is something not found in most commentaries, scholarly tomes, or journal articles. This one stop shop if you will of information allows the student of Paul and his writings the ability to quickly note a variety of important issues that define the life, letters, and theology of Paul.

This book of charts is divided into four main sections: 1) Paul’s Background and Context; 2) Paul’s Life and Ministry; 3) Paul’s Letters; and 4) Paul’s Theological Concepts. Each of these four sections contains a treasure trove of information that further engages matters of historical importance, those who interacted with Paul, the cities he visited, snapshots of each of Paul’s letters, and a deep dive into the multifarious theological concepts that are found throughout the Pauline corpus.

Each chart is each to read, replete with valuable information and is obviously very well researched providing a useful tool for not only the seasoned student of Pauline thought, but also those who are not as familiar with the various aspects of Paul’s life and writings. While it is difficult to pinpoint exactly which section was the best, if forced, this reader found the section on Paul’s Theological Concepts to be the most useful. The Apostle Peter noted in 2 Peter 3:15-16 the following:

“and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.”

It is apparent that even Peter believed some of Paul’s theology was “hard to understand” while still noting Paul’s works to be inspired by God. Thus, a section, the largest section to boot in this book, devoted to engaging the theological concepts found in Paul’s writing is of the utmost service to the student of Scripture. Being able to study Paul’s theological approach in chart form helps break down the many difficult concepts found in Paul’s writings into an easily viewable and more understandable study tool. Kierspel provides a chart for every major theological topic discussed by Paul with the term listen in English and Greek followed by a list of references to the Pauline corpus where that term is used. This serves the purpose of having this information available in one book as opposed to searching through a concordance, then a Greek lexicon or another language/reference tool to find the same level of information.

Anyone who is interested in studying the desires of the flesh or the fruits of the Spirit, a concept repeated throughout Paul’s writings, will find pages of charts listing the vice or virtue, the Greek word and again, a list of Scripture references. Often, scholars, in particular liberal scholars try to paint a conflict between the Pauline corpus and that of Jesus or other New Testament authors such as James, most notably with the subject of faith and works. Kierspel’s helpful charts outline the statements made by Jesus or James and the corresponding comment on a particular subject made by Paul. This demonstrates the consistency of Scripture on matters such as faith and works to include exactly what each individual, whether that be Jesus, Paul, or James was noting in their respective statements.

Even beyond the helpful section on Paul’s theology, Kierspel also includes a section that provides additional commentary on each chart. This is quite simply a wonderful addition to this already excellent book. For any student who may not be familiar with the information on a different chart, for example the Roman Political Order outlined on Chart 2, Kierspel cogently and clearly provides additional detail on what he was trying to convey with that particular chart. For each of the 111 charts in this book, there is an accompanying commentary. The bibliography is also most impressive demonstrating the scholarly and well researched nature of this book. Providing a bibliography also allows the reader to engage in further research. With such an extensive bibliography, one can find numerous other quality books to continue their engagement of Paul, his life, his letters, and his theology.

This is truly a remarkable tool for both scholar and layman alike. I truly wish Kierspel’s “Charts on the Life, Letters, and Theology of Paul” would have been available during my journey through Bible College and Seminary. It certainly would have made access to information on Paul more easily available, something of vast importance when studying and researching the Pauline epistles. With the quality track record of Kregel Publications series of charts on the Bible, I wait with anxious expectation for future volumes in this series.

I received this for free from Kregel Publications for this review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

[Jack Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This comprehensive book on the works of the Apostle Paul is a fabulous resource and teaching tool. I refer to this book to assist my education on the Bible, a work I get into to get its message in me.

[Kier Scrivener · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this source and the Greek and lists were really useful

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

I reviewed this on my blog: http://thoughtsprayersandsongs.com/20...

It is a rather good book and well worth checking out; however it has not generated many hits. I guess Paul does not excite the imagination of the internets. This is really too bad.