The Living Paul: An Introduction to the Apostle’s Life and Thought by Anthony C. Thiselton
The Living Paul
Subtitled, An Introduction to The Apostle’s Life and Thought, this book lives up to its title.
Written by Anthony C. Thiselton, professor of Christian Theology at the University of Nottingham, The Living Paul will be a helpful addition to any Bible student’s library.
The first four chapters deal with Paul as a person, preacher, writer, apostle, etc. and introduce us to the man.
The following chapters deal with Pauline thought. Referencing various theologians and various viewpoints time and again, this book seeks to draw from learned men for the purpose of presenting Paul to us, and has done a good job for a book that is an introduction.
What I appreciate the most of this book is the arrangement of it. While I appreciate its content, and benefit from it, the arrangement is very helpful. Not only does it provide a bibliography, but a good index. The arranging of the chapters is well done, too. One only need to go to the table of contents to determine where he shall find that aspect of Paul’s thought he wishes to consider. In that sense this book is a mini encyclopedia of Pauline thought and doctrine.
Of special interest is the fact that the author deals with much modern thought as he deals with Pauline thought. The New Perspective on Paul is discussed as well as postmodernism. The latter shows how relevant Paul is to today’s issues.
The con is that I believe there are many who would be put off by the fact that the author does not see Paul as a complementarian when it comes to the roles of men and women. While I think Paul was, I do not see this as a reason to reject the whole book.
The Living Paul will not only be a read-through-at-once book, but also a good reference book.
Thanks to IVP for providing this book for review.
