A review by piccoline
The First Paul: Reclaiming the Radical Visionary Behind the Church's Conservative Icon by John Dominic Crossan, Marcus J. Borg
4.0
Refreshing, brisk exploration of Paul. I especially appreciated the care with which Borg and Crossan presented the various theological strains that have emerged over time. I've been reading quite a few books about early Christianity lately (Boyarin, Pagels, etc) and that diversity of thought within Christianity over time is such an important thing to understand. The fact that so much of the more conservative/fundamentalist approach to Christian theology (especially the rather crabbed, bloody, and mechanical versions of penal substitutionary atonement that are in the ascendant on the right these days) emerged closer to today than to Jesus' time cannot be emphasized enough, and Borg and Crossan discuss this carefully, kindly, but firmly. Their discussion of Phoebe delivering the messages of Paul are particularly persuasive on these matters.
Much better than I expected. Fascinating and a fine tonic.
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Edit to add: As the title/subtitle suggests, this book does a fine job of providing better context for Paul. If you've felt (as I certainly have) impatient and even angry with Paul over the years, and would like to move beyond that, this book will help you. (It does so, though, in part by using the biblical/historical/textual scholarship of the last 150 years to distinguish between the letters Paul almost certainly wrote, those he probably didn't, and those he certainly didn't. Beyond the textual evidence, Borg/Crossan show a rather clear difference in content amongst the letters, and distinguish the Radical Paul from the Conservative Paul from the Reactionary Paul. I found this portion of the book persuasive and very helpful.)
Much better than I expected. Fascinating and a fine tonic.
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Edit to add: As the title/subtitle suggests, this book does a fine job of providing better context for Paul. If you've felt (as I certainly have) impatient and even angry with Paul over the years, and would like to move beyond that, this book will help you. (It does so, though, in part by using the biblical/historical/textual scholarship of the last 150 years to distinguish between the letters Paul almost certainly wrote, those he probably didn't, and those he certainly didn't. Beyond the textual evidence, Borg/Crossan show a rather clear difference in content amongst the letters, and distinguish the Radical Paul from the Conservative Paul from the Reactionary Paul. I found this portion of the book persuasive and very helpful.)