Making Sense of Paul: A Basic Introduction to Pauline Theology

by Virginia Wiles

Wiles introduces Paul's theology by helping readers bridge the gaps of time and place between twenty-first-century Western readers and the first-century Mediterranean apostle. Writing with undergraduates in mind, Wiles especially relies upon solid interpretation coupled with modern analogies and engages the reader in a meaningful way. Taking her cue from the notion that what may be familiar may not necessarily be understood, Wiles shows how assuming knowledge of Paul's thought world and language leads to confusion and misunderstanding. Thus "familiar" terms such as righteousness, sin, law, and grace take on a new dimension under Wiles's guiding hand. Paul's experience of God is also factored in as a very real dimension of his relationship with God. Wiles thinks once we are able to appreciate Paul in his own context, then Paul's writings offer lessons about human existence for believer and nonbeliever alike. "Making Sense of Paul is a refreshingly insightful and splendid attempt to allow the complexity of the Apostle's theology to become intelligible both for the beginner as well as for the mature learner. Even those who might wish to place the emphases at different points in Paul's thought will profit from the lucidity of expression and the use of consistently thought-provoking and helpful illustrations. This magnificent little gem fills a huge void in Pauline literature and rightly will find very wide usage."
-Karl Paul Donfried, Professor and Chair, Department of Religion and Biblical Literature, Smith College

Genres: Religion

160 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1994

Reviews

[L.L. Martin]

This review originally appeared on my blog, along with several other book reviews related to Paul and the doctrine of justification: https://lightenough.wordpress.com/201...

This book was apparently birthed from a class the author taught at the secular undergrad level. It is a detailed book on Paul's theology, but it is written with the assumption that the student may literally have NO familiarity with Christianity at all. Does this mean there is no value in the book for those with more advanced understanding of Christianity? No. I found it a helpful book. Familiarity can create blindness, and the author’s way of explaining things on a basic level gave me fresh perspective and understanding. Because it was written as a text, the book has questions and exercises to help the reader interact with the material. The author does have a unique way of approaching certain aspects of Paul’s theology, and several times I worried she was drifting into “liberal” interpretation but she would bring it back around – and I thought the gospel was made clear. She did have an odd explanation of righteousness as God’s covenant faithfulness. As chance would have it, in another book I’m reading by Schreiner, he mentions this view and explains the problems with it. I’d never heard of it before, so it was interesting to suddenly bump into it in 2 books. Overall I recommend this book.