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The Theology of Paul the Apostle © 1998 Eerdmans xxxvi+808 pages James Dunn has spent over four decades with Paul on his mind. He’s produced commentaries on his letters and been one of the pioneers of the New Perspective on Paul. When you read The Theology of Paul the Apostle, his experience and knowledge of [...]

I have been curious about Christian pacifism since the aftermath of 9/11. “Just war theory” had always been my official view, although I had no real idea what that meant. A few years ago the documentary, God of War, Prince of Peace was produced. (You can grab it for free on TheMovieBlog.com.) In it, Tony [...]

The end. Phew. In once sense I’m relieved that this epic study of Paul is finished. On the other hand, I suspect I’ll have to pick up another book by Dunn shortly. His formula of scholarship + passion + lucid writing is perfect. Here in the last chapter we’re going to wrap up the study [...]

I remember sitting in Pastoral Theology classes back in Bible College. The professor would offer a case study of a situation that was far from black-and-white, and we naive students would offer a solid answer. I learned then that the application of principles is a complex art. Now that we’ve studied Paul’s ethical principles, it’s [...]

We’re closing in on the end. There are only two sections left before the epilogue. In these chapters (Motivating principles & Ethics in practice), I suspect we’ll get down to the nitty-gritty about how Paul’s theology should influence our day-to-day lives. As a preacher (not to mention a Christian), I suspect this to be among [...]

I’m almost 37 years old. I probably started taking communion around age 13. My tradition celebrates the Eucharist monthly. That means, allowing for the odd skipped first Sunday of the month, I’ve participated in communion about 250 times. And I have to say (not just because I’m a minister) that each time is still meaningful. [...]

Now we come to that area of theology that is so abused in the modern church: authority! (Can I hear a, “touch not God’s anointed”?) In all seriousness, I’ve never spent any significant time thinking about issues of apostolic authority. This should be interesting. . . .

We now turn the corner from the question of Israel to Paul’s broader understanding of the church. Funny coincidence: I just finished reading the papers from the 2010 Wheaton Theology Conference on the works of N. T. Wright. In a tantalizing foretaste of his big book on Paul, Wright questions why so many Pauline theologians [...]

Ah, the moment I’ve been waiting for. The question I’ve never been able to understand: now that the Gentile mission has flourished, what about the Jewish people? This question is exacerbated by the prophetic fervor that has gripped my tradition ever since Israel became a political player on the world scene. I’m excited to how [...]

This week we turn the corner from five sections on “The Beginning of Salvation” to two sections on “The Process of Salvation”. While I’m most excited to read the next section on Israel, the process begins here, with “The eschatological tension.” Already / Not Yet, here I come … . . .