Jesus according to Paul

An authoritative and intelligible treatment of the manner in which the apostle Paul interpreted Jesus's significance.

Victor Paul Furnish (Author)

9780521458245, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 9 December 1993

144 pages
18 x 12.4 x 1.1 cm, 0.124 kg

"...an excellent little book for understanding Jesus as evidenced in the writings of Paul and the later 'Pauline School' authors of the New Testament....This book should be useful either for group or individual Bible study and is well worth reading." Dr. Ralph T. Palmer, The Disciple

Paul's letters are the earliest surviving Christian writings and therefore the earliest documentary evidence for what Jesus's followers knew and said about him. The present volume deals with questions frequently asked about Paul. Did he know Jesus personally? If not, then how much did Paul know about Jesus, and how did this information come to him? Where in his letters does Paul make use of Jesus's teachings, how does he employ them, and what kind of authority does he accord them? Above all, why does Paul place so much emphasis on Jesus' death and resurrection? How is he able to proclaim these as saving events? Finally, a closing chapter considers how several writings in the Pauline tradition variously continued and altered the apostle's own interpretation of Jesus. Because these Pauline understandings of Jesus have remained so influential across twenty centuries, the more fully they are appreciated the more one is helped in understanding Jesus today.

1. From Jesus to Paul
2. Paul's knowledge about Jesus
3. Sayings of Jesus in Paul's Letters
4. Jesus in Paul's Gospel
5. Jesus according to the 'Pauline School'
Suggested reading and discussion questions
Index

Subject Areas: Biblical studies & exegesis [HRCG]