Coming to grips with Christianity means coming to grips with Paul. There is no figure aside from Jesus himself who is more important to the history of this world religion, and no figure from the age of the early church about whom we know more or of whom we have a more rounded view. Historian Luke Timothy Johnson, the best-selling author of The Real Jesus, offers a fresh and historically grounded assessment of the life and letters of Christianity's...

In this expanded and updated third edition of an important work, respected Pauline scholar Victor Paul Furnish presents an analysis of some of Paul's most famous yet often misunderstood ethical teachings. Dr. Furnish enriches his discussion of key Pauline topics including: sex, marriage, divorce, homosexuality, women in the church, and the Church in the world. He pays particular attention to the socio-cultural context of Paul's ministry, the complexity...

The apostle Paul was kind of a jerk. He was arrogant and stubborn. He called his opponents derogatory, racist names. He legitimized slavery and silenced women. He was a moralistic, homophobic killjoy who imposed his narrow religious views on others. Or was he? Randolph Richards and Brandon O'Brien explore the complicated persona and teachings of the apostle Paul. Unpacking his personal history and cultural context, they show how Paul both offended...

"Paul's epistles are central to nearly every variation of Christianity, and there are as many different readings of Paul as there are sects of Christianity. Paul has also been co-opted by influential contemporary thinkers such as Agamben, Badiou, and Žižek. Religious scholar Cavan Concannon, however, has other plans. Taking as his starting point the language of excrement, refuse, and waste in Paul's letters, he reads these passages to think about...

In today's world the Christian is constantly being challenged with new teachings. Some of these are particularly dangerous because they are put forward by those with evangelical credentials. Tom Nicholas Wright is one of the leading proponents of the New Perspective on Paul. Wright sees himself as the new Luther, a discoverer of the true biblical understanding of key doctrines like that of justification by faith. According to him, the Reformation...