The Letters of the Apostle Paul

“Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked.”

Who was this man who had undergone such tribulations?

For centuries, Paul’s letters have been read in a theological context, forming as they do part of the foundation of the Christian faith. This book, however, maintains that it is important to read these letters in a different way, to learn to analyse them in their original, contemporary context. It scrutinizes Paul’s letters, showing that the texts as we now have them form a kind of palimpsest in which other layers and text fragments are visible. It also studies Paul’s views on the resurrection, investigating Paul’s idea of the son of God and the sermon in Athens with whetted-knife precision. In addition, it deals with the alleged letter to the Romans and considers the trial of Paul and his burial place in Rome.

In such ways, it poses questions about the authenticity of the Pauline letters and comes up with surprising answers. As such, it represents fascinating study that breaks with many traditional beliefs and creates space for radical new insights.