Paul the Apostle of Jesus Christ: His Life and Works, His Epistles and Teachings

by Ferdinand Christian Baur

In 1845, F. C. Baur published Paul the Apostle of Jesus Christ, in which he presented his theory of two rival missions in the first-century church. So began a debate concerning the nature of Paul’s relationship to the Jerusalem apostles that continues today. With this reprint of the English translation, Baur’s two-volume classic is once again available, now bound together in one book.

Genres: New Testament

752 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2003

About the author

Ferdinand Christian Baur was a German Protestant theologian and founder and leader of the (new) Tübingen School of theology (named for the University of Tübingen where Baur studied and taught). Following Hegel's theory of dialectic, Baur argued that second century Christianity represented the synthesis of two opposing theses: Jewish Christianity (Petrine Christianity) and Gentile Christianity (Pauline Christianity). This and the rest of Baur's work had a profound impact upon higher criticism of biblical and related texts.

Reviews

[Justin Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

How unfortunate that F.C. Baur's work has largely been forgotten. I think his acceptance of four of the Pauline epistles as being authentic misses the mark, but the critiques of the Acts of the Apostles in volume one clearly laid the foundation for the criticism that later came in the 20th century.

This is recommended reading for those who are interested in learning where the beginnings of higher criticism came from, but the read can be difficult at times. The translation from German to English in this edition is rather crude at times and doesn't exactly come out to be an easy read.

[Ben Montoya · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horribly wrong on so many topics, but important to read for understanding Pauline studies.