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Review Summary: A must-have for the beginning Paul scholar |
Date: 1998-10-24 |
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Details: More of an encyclopedia of Paul's letters. All the important issues in Paul's letters are listed encyclopedically in this book. The articles' authors have looked at all the popular, scholarly and important commentaries, and have lined the commentators up on either side of every little minute Pauline controversy. Not sure where you fall on a matter of interpretation? This book will summarize the positions, their supporters, and tell you where to find the supporters' books. And even if you're not trying to determine what a specific text means, it's at least an interesting read to see where modern commentaries are taking modern Christianity. |
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Review Summary: Works Well with "Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels." |
Date: 2000-12-15 |
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Details: In the same vein as the "Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels" this reference text continues, more or less, where the other left off (with the exception of the Book of Acts). The editors of this volume cover every imaginable topic from the Pauline Epistles. Issues such as circumcision, Eschatology, Gifts of the Spirit, Israel, Justification, the Law of Moses, Man and Woman, Opponents of Paul, Pre-existence, Resurrection, Rhetoric, Rome and the Roman Christian, etc. are covered and much, much, more. This is an almost exhaustive reference work regarding Paul and his letters. The book also contains a wonderful index of subjects, Paul's letters, and articles. In the text itself there are charts, cross references, Scripture references, and bibliographic information. This is a wonderful text for the researcher of the Pauline Epistles since you not only get invaluable information about Paul himself, but there is also historical information about the places he traveled to, the churches he established, the people he came in contact with, and the cultures he encountered. Additionally, there is over 900 pages of this detailed information at your finger tips in this one volume. I highly recommend this volume as well the "Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels" (also available here at Amazon). |
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Review Summary: Excellent Reference for Modern Pauline Scholarship. |
Date: 2007-01-18 |
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Details: `The Dictionary of Paul and His Letters' is a superb reference source if your primary objective is the study of Paul's writings. As a one-volume source, unlike, for example, the six volume Anchor Bible Dictionary, it is a far less expensive reference of all Pauline issues on your desk. For most people, the very best aspect of the volume is its dedication to contemporary scholarship. This focus has many good points and a few problems.
The only problem I see with its `contemporary' focus is that some important works on Paul may not cited. This is only a theoretical concern, as my biggest fear, that the article on `Mysticism' would not refer to Albert Schweitzer's important `The Mysticism of St. Paul', but it does.
On the other side of the coin, all major articles include generous bibliographies to both books and articles in English, German, and French. I find no references to Italian articles, but if there were important articles written in Italian, I believe they will be here.
While some major Pauline scholars such as Ed Sanders and N. T. Wright are missing from the list of contributors, there are many authorities that do weigh in. Foremost among these are James Dunn, F. F. Bruce, and David Wright. There are over a hundred contributors, so I'm certain I'm unfamiliar with many major authorities. From what I know, the credentials of the contributors are impeccable.
While I learned early in my elementary school years that an encyclopedia was always a good place to start a research project, it was often not enough for first class work, but there were always things an encyclopedia could do which no other reference could do quite as well. And, this volume does a great job on those tasks.
First, as already mentioned, it has great bibliographies on all major articles. My only complaint is that since all the entries run together (no break to a new line when beginning with the author's name), the bibliographies are hard to read. I commonly miss an important reference when my aging eyes skip over the lines just a bit too quickly.
Second, the text has superior cross-referencing. Every time a word or phrase is used which is itself the subject of an article, the word or phrase is asterisked. I don't recall that even the mighty Encyclopedia Britannia did so well in cross-referencing. I know the Britannia's bibliographies were not nearly as good.
Third, there are lots of useful articles with information you simply don't find anywhere else, at least not with a certain amount of luck. Two examples stand out. The first is a list of Pauline colleagues, all those co-workers mentioned in Acts and in Paul's own letters, with indications of their roles. The second is the list of Old Testament citations in Paul, divided by those where the quote from the Septuagint is exact and those where the quote is paraphrased. Most of this is reprinted from classic papers on the subject, primarily by E. E. Ellis.
There is one area where one needs to use additional references. While there are excellent articles on each of Paul's letters, they do not constitute complete exegeses of the letters. Fortunately, again, the bibliographies offer excellent lists of full commentaries; however, they are not complete and they are limited to `modern' exegeses. The bibliography on Romans, for example, does not include either N. T. Wright's very long commentary in `The New Interpreter's Bible' or references to classical commentaries such as those by Martin Luther or John Barth. Second, I would not entirely trust the information here on very early Judaism, for example. On the other hand, long general articles about, for example `Law' are extremely good guidance on research on this subject going back over 100 years.
This book will not replace more specialized works, but it will do an excellent job of helping you find and understand the mountain of scholarly research on Paul from the last century.
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Review Summary: The Wisdom Book of Olden & Modern Times |
Date: 2001-01-01 |
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Details: Once, I read: "If you want to be wise, read Paul." I really did not know how reading Paul could make me wise. That is, not until I discovered the multitude of teachers these editors called on to help me decipher, assimilate, and discover the wisdom of Paul. I found this book during a quiet time in a monastery, and knew instantly that I had found my treasure trove of the promised wisdom. I had to have it. Oh, what I have learned about the origins of my Catholic faith, the mores of the time of Jesus, the whys and wherefores of various passages in the Bible! Still, faith education makes up only a part of the power-house of information about living the comtemplated life, that teaches many schools of thought from several scholars, so you can clearly know where you feel comfortable within the many facets of each interpretation. Want to know how to construct a solid argument, read this book. Want to know how to write a letter, according to the Greek rules, read this book. Want to know your roots, read this book. Most important of all, want to know Paul, read this book. While you may not agree with everything Paul represented, you will come to understand Paul, and, through your understanding, come to love Paul. I guarantee you will enter into a state of satisfying new understanding with every page you read of this great work! |
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Review Summary: A Complete abbreviated Paul |
Date: 2003-08-07 |
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Details: A great introduction to Paul and Pauline studies. This book will give you an informed introduction to many of the Pauline perspectives. A most worthwhile read. Concise, easy to read, with a conservative scholarly bent, but also fair in its assesment of current scholarship. Highly recommended for the christian thinker who recognizes the need to stay informed. As with the other volumes the bibliography is one of the real values of this dictionary. Your money is well spent on this book. A real value! Pastor Ken |
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out of 10 Reviews
