Paul

This study of the life and teachings of the apostle Paul, by the professor of New Testament at Heidelberg, is a worthy successor to his widely praised study of Jesus. With scrupulous scholarship, and in clear, persuasive style, he sets forth what can be known and said about Paul's life and his theological teaching. Although the Book of Acts purportedly gives a good deal of information about Paul, the more trustworthy sources are the references to his own experiences provided by the apostle himself in his letters. Beginning with I Thessalonians, these antedate the writing of Acts by more than forty years and the Gospels by almost as long. The letters, says Professor Bornkamm, "bring us very close to Paul but they also make us feel strangely remote from him." We cannot have a full life of Paul. The most we can get are his accounts of concrete incidents and the insights that arise from his reflection on these. In presenting Paul's theology, the author acknowledges that these are superficial grounds for the popular modern view that Paul was really a corrupter of the original Gospel as taught by Jesus. But he proceeds to show that the shift from that original teaching characterized the thought of the whole primitive church, that it is present in other New Testament writings besides Paul's letters, and that it was the inescapable development of the Gospel as a consequence of Jesus's resurrection. Though intended for the informed lay reader, this study will be equally welcomed by students and scholars, even those who may not accept all of the author's conclusions. It will stand as one of the more important New Testament Studies of recent years. (Kirkus Reviews)