Paul : a biography

First Title Value for Searching:

Paul : a biography

Personal Author:

Wright, N. T. (Nicholas Thomas)

Edition:

1st ed.

Physical Description:

464 pages ; 24 cm.

Summary:

Paul is a modern biography that reveals the apostle’s greater role in Christian history—as an inventor of new paradigms for how we understand Jesus and what he accomplished—and celebrates his stature as one of the most effective and influential intellectuals in human history.

Contents:

Beginnings -- Zeal -- Damascus -- Arabia and Tarsus -- Antioch -- Herald of the king -- Cyprus and Galatia -- Antioch and Jerusalem -- Into Europe -- Athens -- Corinth -- Ephesus -- Ephesus -- Corinth -- Jerusalem again -- The sea, the sea -- From Caesarea to Rome and beyond -- The challenge of Paul.

Publication Info:

San Francisco : HarperOne, 2018.

Subject:

Paul, the Apostle, Saint

Pavel, the Apostle, Saint

Pavol, the Apostle, Saint

Paulus, von Tarsus, the Apostle, Saint

Paulos, the Apostle, Saint

Pōghos, the Apostle, Saint

Paweł, the Apostle, Saint

Pawełm z Tarsu, the Apostle, Saint

Būlus, the Apostle, Saint

Pablo, the Apostle, Saint

Paulo, de Tarso, the Apostle, Saint

Paolo, di Tarso, the Apostle, Saint

Pál, the Apostle, Saint

Paul, of Tarsus, the Apostle, Saint

Apostolos Paulos

Saul, de Tarse

Saul, of Tarsus

Paulos, Apostolos, Saint

القديس بولس الرسول

بولس، The Apostle, Saint

사도바울

SAILS ISBN:

9780061730580

Available:

Library	Shelf Number	Shelf Location	Status
Searching... Fairhaven-Millicent	282.3 PAUL WRI 2018	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Mansfield Public Library	225.92 PAUL	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Raynham Library	B PAUL WRI	BIOGRAPHY	Searching... Unknown
Searching... West Bridgewater PL	BIO PAUL, THE APOSTLE	BIOGRAPHY	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

In this definitive biography, renowned Bible scholar, Anglican bishop, and bestselling author N. T. Wright offers a radical look at the apostle Paul, illuminating the humanity and remarkable achievements of this intellectual who invented Christian theology--transforming a faith and changing the world.

For centuries, Paul, the apostle who "saw the light on the Road to Damascus" and made a miraculous conversion from zealous Pharisee persecutor to devoted follower of Christ, has been one of the church's most widely cited saints. While his influence on Christianity has been profound, N. T. Wright argues that Bible scholars and pastors have focused so much attention on Paul's letters and theology that they have too often overlooked the essence of the man's life and the extreme unlikelihood of what he achieved.

To Wright, "The problem is that Paul is central to any understanding of earliest Christianity, yet Paul was a Jew; for many generations Christians of all kinds have struggled to put this together." Wright contends that our knowledge of Paul and appreciation for his legacy cannot be complete without an understanding of his Jewish heritage. Giving us a thoughtful, in-depth exploration of the human and intellectual drama that shaped Paul, Wright provides greater clarity of the apostle's writings, thoughts, and ideas and helps us see them in a fresh, innovative way.

Paul is a compelling modern biography that reveals the apostle's greater role in Christian history--as an inventor of new paradigms for how we understand Jesus and what he accomplished--and celebrates his stature as one of the most effective and influential intellectuals in human history.

Reviews (3)

Kirkus Review

Wright (New Testament and Early Christianity/University of St. Andrews; The Day the Revolution Began: Reconsidering the Meaning of Jesus's Crucifixion, 2016, etc.) draws from a lifetime of study on the figure of Paul to construct this useful biography of the early Christian missionary.Though there is no shortage of extant material about Paul, who helped establish Christianity as a growing religion in the Mediterranean basin, the author is nevertheless able to provide a much-needed fresh voice to the body of Pauline studies. Blending solid scholarship and analysis with a respect for and, indeed, belief in the text, Wright provides a solid introduction to Paul written not for the skeptic but for the believer. He is a fluid writer whose work is accessible and engrossing. Throughout, Wright attempts to discover "what made Paul tick." What he discovers is a man driven from his youth by zeal and inspired by a passion for his scriptural antecedents. Once confronted with the new reality of Jesus Christ, revealed to him in a vision on the road to Damascus, Paul was forced to reassess his belief system and, ultimately, his life's course. Instead of getting bogged down in inconsistencies with Paul's timeline, as do many scholars, Wright takes these elements in stride and looks to the realities of what Paul must have been dealing with, wherever and with whomever being of secondary importance. Paul realized that Jesus represented not a new religion but a fulfillment of his Jewish beliefs; with that understanding firmly in his mind, he set out to share it with the world. Along the way, he suffered greatly, in ways that Wright brilliantly exposes by drawing forth from the text the tapestry of anxieties, broken relationships, beatings, imprisonments, and other crises that dogged his life and ministry.A very human Paul, brought to life by an experienced teacher and pastoran excellent introduction for general readers. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

*Starred Review* Continuing on the course he began in 2016's The Day the Revolution Began: Reconsidering the Meaning of Jesus's Crucifixion, Wright, an Anglican bishop, presents what might be called a speculative biography of the apostle Paul. Of course, as a prolific writer on Christianity, he has plenty of facts at his disposal, which he uses ably. But here he is doing something a bit different, actually getting inside the head of the man most responsible for spreading Jesus' words across the Roman world. This requires careful reading both of Paul's writings and of biblical sources like Acts, but when it comes to events such as Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus (which gets a full chapter's treatment), there is room to make calculated guesses. Wright brings alive not only Paul but also the communities where he formed churches and the religious ideas swirling around them, never forgetting to remind readers of the Jewish milieu from which both Jesus and Paul sprang. The final chapter offers answers to big questions, sometimes unsatisfactorily (e.g., Why didn't Jesus return or the earth pass away?), but his arguments are always spirited. This highly readable volume gives those interested in biblical history something to argue about and plenty to ponder.--Cooper, Ilene Copyright 2017 Booklist

Library Journal Review

To some extent, Wright (New Testament and early Christianity, Univ. of St. Andrews; Paul and the Faithfulness of God) is not providing a biography of the apostle Paul-there just isn't enough historical data for that. However, with the sources available, Wright is after the central concerns that impelled his subject, in particular the idea of zeal and faith as reckoned as righteousness. In many ways, this is a distillation of Wright's most recent works. His view of Paul is a mix of conservative biblical scholarship-e.g., he takes the "we" passages in the Book of Acts to be Luke's firsthand report and argues that most, if not all the so-called disputed letters of Paul are authentic-and a radical reworking of biblical theology, in which his own Exile theory is central. Wright offers a sense of the cultural, political, intellectual, and spiritual forces of that time that acted in the development of Paul's thought. -VERDICT Walking a fine line between presenting a fresh biblical perspective in Pauline theology and reworking the Pauline corpus according to his own biblical theology, Wright's work, although intended for the informed layperson, will spark much debate among scholars and students.-James Wetherbee, Wingate Univ. Libs., NC © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

List of Maps	p. ix
Preface	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
Part 1 Beginnings
1 Zeal	p. 27
2 Damascus	p. 41
3 Arabia and Tarsus	p. 61
4 Antioch	p. 85
Part 2 Herald of the King
5 Cyprus and Galatia	p. 103
6 Antioch and Jerusalem	p. 133
7 Into Europe	p. 171
8 Athens	p. 193
9 Corinth I	p. 209
10 Ephesus I	p. 235
11 Ephesus II	p. 271
12 Corinth II	p. 303
13 Jerusalem Again	p. 339
Part 3 The Sea, the Sea
14 From Caesarea to Rome-and Beyond?	p. 375
15 The Challenge of Paul	p. 399
Chronological Table	p. 433
Notes	p. 435
Scripture Index	p. 447
Subject Index	p. 455

Available:

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Summary

Reviews (3)

Kirkus Review

Booklist Review

Library Journal Review

Table of Contents