“When I was going through college, both for a BA and an MBA, I never read the textbooks. In fact, I stopped buying them my last few years, because you never got a fair price when they bought them back. Now that I have graduated though, I find myself reading more textbooks than I read in college. I attribute it to actually being interested in the subject matter. If I could do it all over again, I’d have gotten a degree in theology. I’m not sure what I’d do with it, but I’d have enjoyed it more than my degree in psychology. That’s for sure.

Today, I am reviewing The Pauline Letters by Daniel J. Scholz. This book is a systematic study of Paul, his writings (both undisputed and disputed), and writings from the period after him. This book is divided into two main parts – the ‘Undisputed Letters’ and the ‘Disputed Letters and Post-Pauline Writings.’ Before reading this book, I didn’t realize that the authorship of so many of Paul’s thirteen letters was disputed. However, only 1 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Romans, Philippians, and Philemon are undisputed.

Apart from just being rich in information, there are many aspects I like about this book. For starters, Dr. Scholz organized his book chronologically. It’s always interesting to me to read about the historical context of a book of the Bible and arranging the letters chronologically enhances that for me. Another aspect I appreciated was the outlines of each letter. Each letter, undisputed or disputed, in this book comes with an outline of its message. When you pair that with the PLETHORA of charts and tables in this book, it makes studying these works both enjoyable and rewarding.

There are also questions both for review and reflection at the end of every chapter. These questions help reinforce the author’s main points and give the reader a chance to reflect on certain points. The reflection questions especially can make good dialogue in class or a group Bible study. They also would make good essay topics for all you professors out there. I think my favorite feature is the ‘Recommendations for Further Reading’ at the end of every chapter. So many authors just tell you to read these extra sources; Dr. Scholz takes the time to tell you why to read them.

Just from a superficial reading of this work, I learned so much. As mentioned earlier, I learned that not all thirteen letters attributed to Paul are considered undisputedly written by him. I learned about post-Paul writings like the Acts of Paul and Thecla and the Apocalypse of Paul, which the author claims to have influenced Dante’s Inferno. I also learned that Paul’s ministry didn’t begin until 33 CE (author’s dating), but his first letter wasn’t written until approximately 50 CE. It makes you wonder if he didn’t write anything during this period of if Paul’s earlier writings have been lost or destroyed.

No person, apart from Jesus, had a greater influence on the shaping of Christianity than St. Paul. If you want to know more about this great man and his writings, pick up this 5-star book and read it. Then, go back and study this book. Work your way through it systematically with a Bible next to you. Take time to reflect and answers the questions at the end of every chapter. Then, when you’ve finally done that, pick up Jesus in the Gospels and Acts.”

“Myhre has produced a strong volume of essays for undergraduates covering contemporary issues in ethics. With a conversational style, the authors introduce students to key thinkers and theories in the current use of technology, medical ethics, war and peace, food ethics, political ethics, environmental ethics, and economic ethics. The format reinforces the style: a preface announces each chapter’s goals, and questions for reflection and discussion are inserted in the middle and at the end of each chapter. The questions, however, mainly ask students to reflect on their own experiences, thus possibly drawing them away from wrestling with and comprehending the text.

“The collection succeeds where M. has found teachers/scholars who know how to communicate complex ideas to students through an engaging use of examples. Highlights include Maureen O’Connell’s opening essay, which is a clear and cogent introduction to religious ethics; James Caccamo’s chapter on the ethics of digital communication technologies; Julie Hanlon Rubio’s balanced, but challenging, piece on the ethics of food consumption; and the chapters on access to health care and AIDS by Aana Marie Vigen and Kimberly Vrundy, respectively.

“The collection is ideal for a course covering contemporary ethical issues, or, as a late-semester resource for a course in foundational religious ethics. As with many volumes designed to take up a variety of applied topics in ethics, the chapters here are often more descriptive than theological or prescriptive, as they assume students are conversant with concepts in religious ethics. As a result, students will benefit most from the text after studying the various schools of ethical method.

“While the book’s title indicates that this is a text in religious and ethical perspectives, the preponderance of attention is given to Christian thinkers and concepts. However, some chapters contain sufficient treatment of non-Christian thought to engage students in the rudiments of interreligious ethics. Faculty who seek an extended treatment of how various religious traditions address contemporary ethical issues will need to look elsewhere.”

“This is a college text for generally educated readers not prepared to read the specialized literature in biblical studies and ancient history. Questions for review and for discussion appear at the end of each substantive chapter, and appendices include an account of Paul and his theology, the Logion-Quelle, a glossary, a who’’s who, and a select bibliography. The scholarship behind the account is current, so that nonstudent readers may find it useful for updating their knowledge of the early Christian movement. We use the term “Christian” with the proviso that movement participants did not think of themselves as Christians rather than Jews until well into the history of the movement.

“The preface and occasional later reminders point to the difficulties of reading New Testament passages as history, the difficulty of dating them, and the differences between our notions of history and the ancients’’ use of history for entertainment and commentary. Fundamentalists will be uncomfortable with this book; scholars will be impressed with its balance.

“Ch. 1 is a brief history of the Hellenistic world. The subsequent chapters proceed decade by decade through the first century of the Christian movement, paralleling it with the history of the Roman emperors and, where relevant, the major officials and Herodian kings in Palestine. This parallel political history helps provide contexts for the Christian movement as reflected in its literature. This is important because the world of the Roman Empire was very much a political and military world (not an “honor/shame” theater, as some commentators insist).

“Ch. 2 describes the world of Jesus, introducing the reader to Herod the Great and Herod Antipas, Pilate, and various bandit kings. It describes the absentee ownership of lands once owned by locals and in the lifetime of Jesus owned by Romans and their urban elite allies.

“Ch. 3 focuses on the conviction that Jesus had been raised, which made his execution by the Romans secondary. The Gospels of Mark, Matthew, and John have the male disciples experiencing the risen Jesus in Galilee, while the Gospel of Luke and Acts of the Apostles has all the disciples experiencing the risen Jesus in Jerusalem, with a mother church led by James the Righteous emerging there. Some followers left Jerusalem and lived in less Jewish settings as hostility developed in the city. When gentiles join the movement and mixed churches develop outside Jerusalem, issues of membership and organization arose.

“Ch. 4 sifts through the limited evidence for the early missionary expansion (41-50 CE). Herod Agrippa I had John Son of Zebedee executed in Jerusalem. Egalitarianism marked the movement for a time, and the issue of circumcision for gentile followers had to be addressed. Paul, Barnabas, and John Mark, member of a relatively elite family, set out on a missionary journey to Cyprus. McGinn refers to the hypothetical role of Sergius Paulus, governor of Cyprus, owning properties in Asia Minor, assisting the mission, with Saul taking the name “Paul” in his honor. Here I think McGinn should have put more stress on the hypothetical nature of this.

“Ch. 5 introduces the Logion-Quelle (sayings source common to Matthew and Luke) and the authentic letters of Paul. In a reference of the Christian leader, Lydia of Thyatira, McGinn suggests she had two homes——one in Philippi and one in Tyatira. We do not know this was the case; it is hypothetical. McGinn does provide an interesting and well-warranted interpretation of the First Corinthians’ injunction that women wear hair coverings when prophesying——it was an indicator of being a respected woman, not a prostitute or slave, to do so, and that when prophesying women had authority over their heads. The instruction would have an egalitarian effect when lower-status women covered their hair to prophesy. Also interesting: McGinn does not consider Romans 16 to be a separate letter from the rest of Romans.

“Ch. 6 describes the tumultuous era of persecution in Rome by Nero, the Jewish War in Palestine, and the deaths of Peter, Paul, and James the Righteous. McGinn seems to think that the Letter of James was written by James the Righteous (p. 171)—, probably a minority view among scholars. With the destruction of Jerusalem, the movement lost its center. The flight of Torah-observant Christians out of Palestine led to disputes over Torah-observance in the movement.

“Ch. 7 takes up the organizing of the church within a new period of relative peace. The decade 71-80 features the writing of the Gospel of Mark, Colossians, Ephesians, and, ironically, the Letter of James. There is good reason to put these in the following decade, but little difference in the historical account arises from McGinn’’s placing them here.

“Ch. 8 uses the Gospels of Matthew and Luke as data, especially their friendlier stance toward the Roman Empire.

“Ch. 9 records sporadic efforts to force the Christians to conform to Roman ways in the late-first century. Christian literary evidence includes First Clement (noncanonical Roman Church letter to the Corinthian churches) and the Johannine books. Of these, the Gospel of John and the letters of John represent an isolated Christian community more or less reconciled to the Empire, but the book of Revelation adamantly opposed to it.

“Chs. 10 and 11 feature internal organizational developments in the movement (2 Thessalonians and the Pastoral Epistles, and such noncanonical works as the Didache, quotations from Papias of Hierapolis, the letters of Ignatius of Antioch, and the Acts of Paul and Thecla). Not all scholars would date the Pastorals (1 and 2 Timothy, and Titus) in the 111-120 decade.

“In general, I recommend this as an excellent history and background reading for the Christian scriptures. While there are junctures where many scholars would disagree with the author, it must be said that her positions are defensible ones. The volume is not at all out of the mainstream of historical and biblical scholarship.”

“The conversational style of this fine introduction to biblical studies makes it an ideal textbook for undergraduate study. It begins with explanations of basic biblical matters such as formation of the biblical traditions and writings, types of expression and literary forms, and the relationship between the Jewish canon and the Christian scriptures. Next, sections of the biblical corpus from the Pentateuch to Revelation are discussed. Appendices explain the Hebrew calendar and important feasts, Israelite worship, archaeology, and the practice of lectio divina. Charts, illustrations, maps, time lines, and suggestions for further study add to the usefulness of this book. The author’s skill as a teacher can be seen in the way she has organized her work and presented her ideas. It is highly recommended.”

“Aimee Upjohn Light provides us with a survey of theologies dealing with the liberation, feminist, and interreligious movements. The survey is used to strongly advocate for a theology of religions that is inclusive of the theologies resultant from these movements. The common denominator to all these theologies is that they deal with those on the margins where God is revealed in a unique manner –different than in those previous theologies constructed over the last two thousand years. Her surveys are comprehensive as well as well argued. The reader is provided with arguments for and against the diverse views she presents. Any unease with the overall arguments and positions of these theologies are well known: a too-easy acceptance of God’’s presence without an advocacy for a deep and necessary discernment process; the centrality of experience with only a hint at logical and scientific analysis; a claim to wholism without an equal challenge to balance all the relationships, both formal and informal, that are necessary to bring the common good; an urging for not only confrontation with the theologies of the past but also advocacy for a common search to build a new theology out of the central principles of all past theologies. Anyone doing theology today is familiar with these theologies and the theologians associated with them. The audience for this book would be upper-level religious study classes as well as interfaith / interreligious programs done in a Roman Catholic context.”