The Gospel According to Paul: The Creative Genius Who Brought Jesus to the World

by Robin Griffith-Jones

The Creative Genius Who Brought Jesus to the World A new look at Paul as the fifth evangelist, the brilliantly entrepreneurial witness to Jesus who brought his transforming presence and essential message to the world.

Genres: Religion, Theology, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Christianity

528 pages, Hardcover

First published March 30, 2004

Reviews

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Absorbing, insightful, but oh the tangents he breaks off onto, substituting "interest" for scholarly authority. Worth the effort, though.

[Barry Hughes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite disappointed, very academic and a bit disjointed.

[Alan Fuller · Rating 2 out of 5]

Modern scholarship is very different from ancient scholarship, especially when it comes to the Bible. In order to understand the scriptures in today's world, the historian sets up a court with two judges. The judges are the historical environment and psychology. The political situation of the writing is examined and the ego-centered motives of the writer are then deduced. That is how the meaning and validity of the Bible is determined. There is little room for religious philosophy. However, it so happens that the Bible was written in the ancient world and not the modern one.

The subtitle of the book pretty much says it, "The Creative Genius Who Brought Jesus To The World." It's not, "The Inspired Genius." Paul created these ideas out of his own genius. Did God's inspiration have anything to do with it? I think you'll have a hard time finding anything about that in this book.

The author does his own translation and even changes the names of several biblical books. He definitely likes to put his own spin on things.

[Lucy Pollard-Gott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this exceptionally well-written and accessible guide to Paul's letters. This is no dry reference work nor strictly a commentary on Paul's Epistles, but rather a penetrating interpretation of Paul's mission as a whole, analyzing the letters in terms of Paul's characteristics as a correspondent and what he hoped to accomplish or correct in each of the churches addressed. Griffith-Jones coherently argues, going step by step through Paul's ministry, how he both represented and re-presented Jesus to the young churches following "the Way."