Paul: The Man and the Myth

by Calvin J. Roetzel, D. Moody Smith (Editor)

Winner of Biblical Archaeology Society Award - Best New Testament Book "We are left to construct a portrait of Paul with only scraps of what was once a large and imposing canvas - a small collection of letters and a historical narrative written a generation after his death. This reconstruction focuses on important parts of the image that usually fall in the shadows, parts dealing with Paul's sexual asceticism, his preoccupation with holiness - holy Spirit, holy community, and holy ethos - the evolution of his theology, and his emergence as a legendary figure. Although I have tried to follow the strict rules of historical investigation, of necessity much guesswork is involved in any exploration of Paul's life... All of these efforts are attempts to deal with the gaps in the text, understood in the broadest sense to include not just Paul's written words but also the culture, social world, and political realities surrounding them. - From the Introduction

Genres: Religion, New Testament

288 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1998

Reviews

[Kev · Rating 5 out of 5]

Roetzel is one on a very short-list of this country's preimminent Pauline Scholars. This is the one I use for Pauline chronology and hermeneutics. Essential IMHO.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

A concise reconstruction of Paul that deals with everything from sexual asceticism, the evolution of his theology, to his emergence as a legendary figure. Overall, I thought it was broad enough to cover ground that many introductory Pauline texts don't cover and yet short enough that it did not overwhelm. Rather it whet one's appetite to dig even deeper into exploring both the man and the myth we call Paul.

[Erin · Rating 1 out of 5]

This author needs an editor. I'm sure that he makes some really fine points in this book - if only it were readable. A background in Greek and/or Hebrew would make this a bit easier to get through, but only a bit.