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  • From: "David C. Hindley" <dhindley AT compuserve.com>
  • To: "Corpus-paul" <corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: RE: Beginning Reading
  • Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2001 08:54:45 -0400


Kevin Winters asks:

>>As a beginner in Pauline studies, what are some good introductory
books on the subject? Who are some authors names that I should look
for and, if they exist (as they most undoubtedly do), who should I try
to avoid? As the gentleman before me: many thanks in advance for the
suggestions and help.<<

For a review of the beginnings of the critical look at the Pauline
corpus, I always recommend Albert Schweitzer's _Paul and His
Interpreters_ (out of print, 1911). He has an entertaining writing
style (witty but cuts right to the point) and covers all the major
players from the 18th century on, but not in great detail. His
selection of critics for evaluation write almost entirely German,
Dutch and French, although he occasionally mentions English critics in
passing. However, Europe probably generated the bulk of the
contributions to higher criticism in the 19th century. Luckily the
English translator of Schweitzer's original German edition informs us
of the names of English translations for many of the works cited in
the book.

Jeffrey Gibson once posted a list of recommended books for the list,
and I believe he mentioned one by Ben Witherington III called _The
Paul Quest_ or something similar (I believe it was a "sister" book to
his _The Jesus Quest_). I did not recall seeing it in print at the
time, though. Perhaps you could check the C-P archives. Witherington,
at least in his book _The Jesus Quest_, reviews critics in more recent
times, so I would imagine that this might be a good reading sequel to
Schweitzer.

InterVarsity Press publishes a 1,038 page _Dictionary of Paul and his
Letters_ (Downers Grove IL USA/Leicester, UK: 1993) for only about
$25. Of course, it has a somewhat evangelical orientation that can be
observed in the selection of the topics that are, and are not,
covered. However, it will provide you with a tolerably good overview
of where research stood in the late 80's and early 90's. And don't
forget NT introductions by the late Raymond Brown and the not so late
Helmut Koester.

Whatever books you ultimately decide to rely upon, be prepared to do
some detective work! Luckily the Pauline corpus is of a modest size,
allowing a close reading of the original text in less than a year. As
you go mark any apparent seams, odd turns of phrase, and parallels
with other Pauline texts and the Gospels. Check out the early
Christian fathers (through, say, Justin) to see how they appear to use
Paul's ideas and possibly quote or allude to his works. How do they
differ from the canonical text? Etc.

Good luck (you'll need it)!!

Respectfully,

Dave Hindley
Cleveland, Ohio, USA





  • Beginning Reading, Kevin Winters, 08/28/2001
    • <Possible follow-up(s)>
    • RE: Beginning Reading, David C. Hindley, 08/31/2001

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