Students of all ages appreciate a comprehensive overview of any topic they are studying. Here you have just such a convenient summary of the life, letters, and teaching of Paul of Tarsus, one of the key figures in early Christianity. The book first sketches Paul's Jewish pedigree, his sterling rabbinic training under Gamaliel the Elder, and his enthusiastic persecution of Jewish infidels known as the followers of Yeshua of Nazareth. After tracing the circumstances that gave rise to his thirteen extant letters written to infant Christian churches, the book ends with an investigation of Paul's relationship with the Jewish Law, the nation of Israel, and the historical Jesus. Other topics of timeless interest include his teaching on death, resurrection, and immortality, his view of baptism and the Lord's Supper, and his advice about ideal family relationships. And many readers will be startled to read about the four low points in Paul's career.
Murray J. Harris is professor emeritus of New Testament exegesis and theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. Formerly he was warden (i.e., director) of Tyndale House, a biblical research library in Cambridge, UK, and a faculty member of the Divinity School in the University of Cambridge. He has written commentaries on the Greek text of Colossians and Philemon, 2 Corinthians, and John’s Gospel. He was one of the original translators of the New International Version (NIV). He resides in his native New Zealand in retirement.
“We may be familiar with the bits and pieces, but having them drawn together as Murray Harris does here, coordinating the story of Paul’s life from the data of his letters and the book of Acts, is both useful and illuminating. Harris provides us with a mini-Pauline theology that puts to shame many larger tomes on the subject. This book is a gem for all who want to understand the great apostle.”
—Donald A. Hagner, Fuller Theological Seminary, emeritus
“In this book, born of decades of meticulous scholarship, Murray Harris pieces together (like a jigsaw) the life, ministry, and theology of the most influential thought-leader of the Christian faith. The historicity of the apostle Paul comes alive in this book. An outstanding, yet concise, compendium for any serious study of New Testament letters.”
—Brian Winslade, pastor and denominational leader, New Zealand