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

by Robin Griffith-Jones

Paul of Tarsus is one of the most controversial apostles--a man who began his religious life as a passionate adversary of Christianity and wound up being one of its most passionate evangelists. Robin Griffin-Jones, a Christian scholar who previously taught the New Testament at Oxford University, attempts to answer many of the questions surrounding the "real" Paul. Some teachings have heralded Paul as the salvation of Christianity--having traveled thousands of miles across the Roman Empire, founding churches and spreading the "good news" wherever he went. He is also accused of embodying much of Christianity's shadow side--anti-Semitism, homophobia, misogyny, and a fanatical insistence upon converting others. In this 510-page character study, Griffith-Jones promises to get inside the head of the enigmatic Paul and offer a plausible interpretation of his motives and spiritual evolution. He argues that Paul was foremost an intensely devout seer and that much of the darker accusations were taken out of context. "This book is the story of arguments bitterly contested between different missionaries and different churches. Paul was in the thick of them. The conduct of these arguments is as gripping as their content. They throw into sharp relief the questions that still face any community growing in numbers and independence." Although Griffith-Jones excels in setting this historical context, he seems overly enamored with the visionary qualities of Paul's life and the poetic vibrancy of his letters, calling into question his ability to objectively present this complex apostle. The jacket cover dangles disturbing accusations against Paul in front of readers, but the author rarely addresses them directly. Unfortunately, Griffin-Jones's prose is often convoluted and he tends to jump about in time and focus, making this a challenging as well as unsatisfying read. -- Gail Hudson

Genres: Religion, Theology, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Christianity

496 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."