New Perspective, Paul within Judaism, apocalyptic Paul: Pauline scholarship has long been a contest of rival schools. This volume does not add another. Instead, leading scholars bring the competing approaches into conversation and ask where the study of Paul and his letters goes from here.
This volume explores the future challenges and possibilities of Pauline studies in the wake of the debates surrounding the New Perspective on Paul, Paul within Judaism, and more traditional interpretations of the apostle Paul. Bringing together contributions from leading international scholars, the book argues that the future of Pauline scholarship lies not in abandoning earlier perspectives, but in fostering constructive dialogue between diverse methodological and theological approaches. The volume focuses primarily on the interpretation of the Pauline letters within the contexts of Second Temple Judaism, early Christianity, and the Greco-Roman world of the first century.
Methodologically, the essays employ a broad interdisciplinary framework that includes historical exegesis, reception history, memory studies, narratology, rhetorical analysis, textual criticism, apocalyptic theology, and leadership theory. Through these approaches, the contributors reassess central questions concerning Paul's Jewish identity, grace, apocalyptic thought, ecclesiology, authorship, and the transmission of the Pauline text. Several chapters also demonstrate how the history of interpretation and the reception of Paul within Christianity remain essential for contemporary exegesis.
The volume's central finding is that Pauline studies advance most fruitfully through methodological self-awareness, historical sensitivity, and sustained scholarly dialogue across interpretive traditions. By integrating established debates with emerging perspectives and interdisciplinary methods, the book opens new directions for research on Paul, early Christianity, and the Pauline letters.
Table of contents:
Mikael Tellbe
Introduction
Contributions
Where Do We Go from Here?
John M. G. Barclay
Paul within Judaism: Peering through the Fog of Debate
Magnus Zetterholm
Paul within Judaism: A Rejoinder to John Barclay
John M. G. Barclay
Paul within Judaism: A Reply
Karl Olav Sandnes
Corinthian Grace and Incongruity: Picking up on a Debate between John M. G. Barclay and Troels Engberg-Pedersen
Jamie Davies
An »Apocalyptic Paul within Judaism«? Talking Points for a Hypothetical Conversation
Beverly Roberts Gaventa
Reaching Back to Move Forward: Reflections on Our Predecessors in Pauline Interpretation
Karin Neutel
Paul within Christianity: Persistent Problems and New Directions
Samuel Byrskog
Past, Present, and Future: Memory Studies and Paul's Letter to the Romans
Eve-Marie Becker & Sigurvin Lárus Jónsson
In Search of the Intellectual Paul: A Plea for Moving beyond Quests
Carl Johan Berglund
Paul within Greco-Roman Literary Culture: Traces of Ancient Literary Criticism in First Corinthians
Tommy Wasserman
New Light on the Text of Paul - Proposed Changes to Nestle-Aland 28
Ellen Howard
Beyond Jewish Identity: A Narratological Analysis of Paul's Self-Presentation in Galatians 1:13-17
Anna Enberg
Reading Colossians: An Evaluation of Authorship Theories, Methodologies, and the Relevance of Local Historical Context
Gustaf W. Henriksson
Enacting Evangelic Victory: Conceptual Connections of Gospel and Suffering in 2 Timothy and Philippians
