Dimensions
158 x 236 x 28mm
For two centuries‚ we've misunderstood the apostle Paul. The traditional portrait of Paul is of a zealous Jew who was persecuting the church until the resurrected Jesus appeared to him‚ converting Paul from Judaism to Christianity and from a zealous Pharisee to an unstoppable preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ. According to this version of events Paul rejected Judaism because of its endless demands of the law.
Eisenbaum argues that the traditional view of Paul-in which Paul understands Jesus Christ to have superseded Torah-is profoundly misguided. Although Paul unabashedly proclaimed his faith in Jesus‚ such proclamations were not inherently "Christian‚" since no such religious category existed in Paul's time. Paul's claims about Jesus are a response to specifically Jewish problems that many Jews of his day faced-problems that were theological‚ social‚ and political.
Eisenbaum is at the forefront of the new Paul scholarship that shows Paul to be thoroughly Jewish. Paul did not think he was creating a new religion-rather‚ he was advocating the next stage in Jewish religious evolution. Eisenbaum's work will have a profound impact on the way many Christians approach evangelism and how to better follow Jesus's-and Paul's-teachings on how to live faithfully today.
