Apostle Paul
Take & Read: New Testament
Joshua Jipp recommends the best recently published books in his field.
selected by Joshua Jipp
What have the Romans ever done for us?
The aqueduct. The roads. An enforced peace to allow a young faith to spread.
by Tony Jones
Preaching among idolatrous hipsters? Study Paul.
In Athens, the apostle bears witness—and doesn't try to be cool.
Carnal theology
Flesh is indeterminate. It flows, changes over time, and is consumed and transformed. It becomes the reality of rich spiritual encounter.
Everyday theosis
Theosis is mission’s starting point. Believers are called to “become” the gospel through participation in the divine life.
by Greg Carey
Wrestling with Paul
Frances Taylor Gench doesn't ignore difficult texts about women; she wrestles with them. That's because she is committed to the Bible as scripture.
How to Read the Bible, by Harvey Cox
For the Bible to belong not only to the church or the academy but to the people, a guidebook is needed. Harvey Cox provides one.
reviewed by Robert Cornwall
What is marriage now? A Pauline case for same-sex marriage
"It is better to marry than to burn," says Paul. This strange, embarrassing passage may offer some ground for fresh discernment.
Paul and the Faithfulness of God, by N. T. Wright
N.T. Wright aims to show how Paul's story of the crucified and risen Messiah is at the same time the story of Israel rescued from extended exile.
reviewed by Alexandra Brown
In the place of Jesus: Insights from Origen on prayer
Growing in prayer is not simply acquiring a set of special spiritual skills. It is growing into Christian humanity.
Redeeming Our Sacred Story, by Mary C. Boys
Mary Boys offers concrete proposals for how the story of Jesus’ crucifixion can be told faithfully in the presence of Jewish conversation partners.
reviewed by Walter Brueggemann
Arguing with Paul: 2 Corinthians 5:6-10, 14-17
I don’t want to leave my body or its loves. I wouldn’t rather be at home with the Lord; I want to be right here.
Turn in the road: Acts 9:1-6 (7-20)
Christians tend to compare their personal conversion experiences to Saul’s encounter on the road to Damascus. Not all of us, of course, talk freely about what happened in us and to us on the way to becoming Christian. Our levels of comfort with such talk vary widely depending on our congregational culture, our notions of evangelism and our ability to be self-revelatory. But when we do think about that journey, and when we’re willing to talk about it, we say that our conversion was—or was not—a Damascus Road. We tell our young people that their experience does not need to be a Damascus Road experience, although it can be. There are many paths of Christian transformation—and the light from heaven is only one of them.