Understanding Paul

Two thousand years later, Paul attracts more attention than any other figure from antiquity besides one," writes Stephen Westerholm. Why the fascination with the apostle Paul? Westerholm explains that Paul remains such a compelling figure because he was "a man completely captivated by a particular way of looking at life." Using the themes of the Epistle to the Romans, Westerholm helps readers understand the major components of Paul's vision of life. He delves into the writings of the Old Testament, explores their influence on Paul, and engages contemporary readers in a thought-provoking reconsideration of their own assumptions about faith, theology, and ethics. This insightful introduction gives postmodern readers, especially those with little or no biblical background, a necessary big-picture look at Paul's view of reality.

This introduction to the study of Paul's ethics collects fourteen essays by notable scholars which, with commentary to the editor, illumine the origin, context, social dimension, shape, logic, foundations, and relevance of Paul's ethics.

Understanding Paul and His Letters is a seminal text in that it traces the development of the main lines of Paul?s theology and faith through each of his letters.

First Published in 1998. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This book engages in a careful study of Pauls letters to determine if the apostle expected the communities to which he wrote to engage in missionary activity. It helpfully summarizes the discussion on this debated issue, judiciously handling contested texts and provides a way forward in addressing this critical question. While admitting that Paul rarely explicitly commands the communities he founded to evangelize, Plummer amasses significant incidental data to provide a convincing case that Paul did indeed expect his churches to engage in mission activity. Throughout the study, Plummer progressively builds a theological basis for the churchs mission that is both distinctively Pauline and compelling.

Faith and Understanding is the first book-length study of the age-old effort to understand Christianity from both the sides of faith and reason, looking at the work done by such figures as Augustine, Anselm, John Calvin, and Jonathan Edwards.

"Besides Jesus, no one has kept me from despair, or taken me deeper into the mysteries of the gospel, than the apostle Paul." —John Piper No one has had a greater impact on the world for eternal good than the apostle Paul—except Jesus himself. For John Piper, this impact is very personal. He does not just admire and trust Paul. He loves him. Piper gives us thirty glimpses into why his heart and mind respond this way. Can a Christian-killer really endure 195 lashes from a heart of love? Can a mystic who thinks he was caught up into heaven be a model of lucid rationality? Can an ethnocentric Jew write the most beautiful call to reconciliation? Can a person who lives with the unceasing anguish of empathy be always rejoicing? Can a man's description of the horrors of human sin be exceeded by his delight in human splendor? Can a man with a backbone of steel be as tender as a nursing mother? If we know this man—if we see what Piper sees—we too will love him. Paul's testimony is a matter of life and death. Piper invites you into his relationship with Paul in the hope that you will know life, forever.