The Authentic Letters of Paul: A New Reading of Pauls Rhetoric and Meaning

by Arthur J. Dewey (Translator), Roy W. Hoover, Lane McGaughy

There were four different portraits of Paul in the early the non-authoritarian Paul of the great Letters, the authoritarian, misogynist Paul of the Pastoral Epistles, the frenetic missionary who single-handedly introduced Christianity to the Mediterranean world, and the proto- Gnostic Paul of Marcion and the Gnostic commentaries on Paul s letters. Which is the real Paul? The Christian church opted for the Pastoral Epistles, and so read Paul letters through that lens. But that image has become so problematic in the modern world that many contemporary readers are either put off by Paul or simply ignore him. But was Paul really such a frightful figure? In providing a fresh reading of Paul s authentic letters, the SV translators have attempted to liberate his words from those of Augustine, and later Martin Luther, who used Paul to cover their own guilty consciences. This Augustinian-Lutheran tradition of interpreting Paul s discourses about justification by faith as a way of dealing with their own sense of moral failure, for instance, represents but one way of translating Paul s letters. The Greek of Paul s writings can be understood rather differently so that Paul s message is not about personal guilt, but about the trustworthiness of God, and Jesus courageous faith in God as a role model for others. This is how Paul s letters are translated in this book. Here readers will encounter a very different view of Paul and his message.

Genres: Religion, Christianity, Nonfiction

270 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2010

Reviews

[Margie Dorn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an important book for Pauline studies. It brings to bear, for example, important information about the rhetorical and political situation of people living in times of the Roman Empire. I was particularly interested in the rhetorical aspect here, which is not often addressed, and which is a particular interest of mine. It is important, of course, to bring other balancing voices into the discussion, particularly regarding his more extreme perception of what, within the Pauline letters, is not Pauline. I appreciated Dewey's translation of the letters very much, but because of his very specific purpose I did find his translation more difficult to read because it felt stilted and choppy. The setup of the book for Kindle felt very awkward, because it is the type of book where one needs to flip back and forth between pages quickly, and sometimes there was no indication that there might be a particular note at the end of a chapter. If I decide to use the book as part of a future group study, I will probably need to purchase a hard copy.

[Billie Pritchett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most of the New Testament Bible is Paul's letters. What this book, The Authentic Letters of Paul, offers is a commentary on those letters that, mainly for stylistic reasons, a majority of scholars agree are the letters that Paul wrote. The letters themselves are included in this book, and they are 1 Thessalonians, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Philemon, Philippians, and Romans. One of the more interesting claims of the book is that some of the 'letters' are actually two or more letters put together. For instance, the authors argue that 2 Corinthians is actually five letters and Philippians three. The authors have elected to show the reader where one of the letters within the letters begins and ends.

This is a fascinating book, albeit what constitutes authentic, religious scripture is a highly contentious subject. Nevertheless, it seems as though the authors/scholars here are pursuing their study in good faith.

[Peyton Deaver · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I immensely enjoyed the historicity of the Authentic Letter of Paul, I found myself confused and in disagreement with some of the theological claims made by Dewey et. al. Paul's rhetoric does provide more insight into his motives, the same theological conclusions can still be reached. Determining the historical context does not drastically alter Paul's claims, as Dewey and the other authors occasionally suggest. If you are looking for a book that accurately poses the historical context of Paul's authentic letters, this is the book for you. If you are looking for a theological paradigm shift, I would stick to more theologically-grounded material.

[Jean Marie Angelo · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the summary of this book says, history and religion are left grappling with many images of Paul. At times he is sublime and welcoming to everyone. At other times so anti-woman he appears hateful. He traveled miles and miles to teach about the resurrected Christ. Christianity would not be as widespread to so many peoples and places without Paul. Yet, his contradictions cannot be ignored. The four authors of this study look closely at the letters that have survived, those that might be lost, and the words that might not really be attributed to Paul. Worth the read.

[Frank Speight · Rating 5 out of 5]

Engrossing!

This is by far one of the best and most concise studies of the original letters of Paul I have ever read. The scholarship is brilliant and yet written in a "user friendly" way that makes it accessible to all. If you care about getting to the essential core of the Pauline message than this is a must read!

[Sergio Barrios]

Valioso aporte de los escritores para un estudio crítico del NT, ayuda a esclarecer interrogantes acerca de la doctrina paulina, contradicciones e incongruencias, de las que han surgido no pocos conflictos doctrinales a trave de los siglos.

[Richard Pütz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone interested in really knowing what Paul thought and said and the why behind what he said, should read this book. To understand the Universal Christ one needs to understand Paul.

[Neil · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to read this book for an online religion course. It was an okay book. If I had not had to read it for class, I probably would never have picked it up on my own to read it. The author[s] seemed fairly pompous in that they state if a letter does not follow their stated format for how an ancient letter should look than it is not an authentic letter. It just seemed to be a fairly arrogant, verbose statement they made and they did a poor job supporting their claim that their methodology was the only correct methodology for determining whether or not an Epistle was authentically Paul's.

What I liked most about the book was when it gave background history of the region to which the church mentioned in the letter resided. It discussed the geopolitical make up, the geography, the background, and the surrounding culture. Those were the best parts of the book.

I did find out some interesting things. Like I Corinthians is actually SECOND Corinthians [because Paul discusses having written a previous letter before he wrote this one]. I also learned that II Corinthians would actually be the FOURTH letter Paul wrote [he mentions his 'letter of tears' written inbetween the Biblical I and II Corinthians]. So that was quite fascinating. I also learned that it is believed [by some] that II Corinthians is actually several letters pasted together in some kind of mash-up to make one book. So that was also interesting to learn [even if I do not subscribe to it]. I also learned that there are primarily seven letters that are considered authentically Pauline because they have specific biographical information in them from which we can somewhat track Paul's movements and whatnot. So that was also interesting.

They did a little bit of reprinting some of the epistles by removing what they felt did not belong. Which explained why some of the Epistles were quite different in the book than in the RSV Bible I had to read for class! I did not realize this at first; I had to go back and reread the section discussing why the authors did what they did. So that was kind of different.

I am not sure how well the author[s] did in the stated reason why the book was written. Perhaps if they had included some of the other Epistles believed NOT to be authentically Pauline and why, then their argument[s] might have made more sense. I did get the sense that the Pastoral Epistles are believed to be written by somebody else because they directly contradict his earlier 'messages' to other churches; either that, or Paul changed his mind. Regardless, I did not feel the authors successfully defended why their methodology was the only valid methodology for students to use to study Paul's letters; neither did I feel they did an adequate job explaining the logic behind their reasoning.

Say a 2.8 - 2.9 stars, but I chose 2 stars because of the pomposity, the arrogance, of the authors to dismiss that which they did not agree with out of hand. The background historical information, the geography, and the geopolitical cultural information provided for understanding the climes of the time were wonderful, but were not enough to raise the book to a 3 star level. Maybe it would have been 3 - 3.5 stars but for the author[s]'s attitude.

[Matthew Klippenstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extraordinarily insightful analysis of the letters of Paul, which form the earliest documents to appear in the Christian scriptures. With time, I may add it to my "shelf-one-contemplative" shelf, a personal top-ten of books from the world's wisdom traditions.

The book provides a new and nuanced translation of the seven Pauline letters (all-but-) universally acknowledged to be authentic; there is entrenched scholarly disagreement about the authenticity of the others. While many modern translations continue to record Paul exhorting his audience to have faith IN Jesus (reflecting the later-developing doctrine of the Christian Trinity) this translation remains true to the original Greek, wherein the apostle repeatedly calls on his audience to have the faith OF Jesus (that is to say, the faith of Jesus in God).

More importantly, the book offers a detailed context for each letter, offering a variety of essays ranging from the rhetorical styles of the time, a hypothesis of Paul's transformative faith experience, to the discussion of possible interpolations (later editorial additions) in the existing letters.

This is particularly useful in understanding 2 Corithinians, which is rather hard to follow in its preserved form. The authors convincingly show that this letter is sewn together from several letter fragments (hence its disjointed format) -- presumably by well-meaning scribes hoping to preserve the Apostle's writings, but facing space or time constraints.

An analogy could be drawn that this book does for the writings of Paul, what The Landmark Thucydides does for the latter's history of the Peloponnesian War: by presenting the contemporary context, these books allow the reader to experience the source texts with a greater literacy.

[Janet Zehr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thorough, Scholarly Interpretation of Paul's Authentic Letters

This book provides the best understanding of Paul's theology that I have ever read. The authors analyze the authentic letters, pointing out the verses that they feel were inserted or added by later authors. The reader gains a good insight into the mind of this passionate missionary who was able to change the worldview of Greco_Roman society.

[Sandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dan is currently teaching a class on this text. His classes are on our church's website. www.heartofeugene.org just in case you are interested. I find all this so interesting. Getting excited, and stressing, about the trip. Lots yet to do to get ready.

[Susan Dehn Matthews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insightful. The authors penetrate the mind and milieu of Paul, providing the reader with a deeper awareness of the earliest strands of interpretation and understanding concerning the person and teaching of Jesus.

[Baumgartner Lisa]

Well Done

Oversee by verse review of what have come to referred of as the Pauline letters. Not only is it a new translation but also an historical explanation bit by bit. Very scholarly work that could overwhelm the casual user of the Bible.