Book Review – “Rediscovering Paul: An Introduction to His World, Letters and Theology”

Rediscovering Paul – An Introduction to His World, Letters and Theology. By David B. Capes, Rodney Reeves and E. Randolph Richards. InterVarsity Press, 2007.
329 pages. Hardback.

“Rediscovering Paul”, a book written by David B. Capes, Rodney Reeves and E. Randolph Richards is (for the most part) a successful attempt to provide an introductory text that gives a fair overview of Paul, his writings and his theology; giving special consideration to those topics in light of Paul’s world as he lived it. (pgs. 15-16)

Particularly, the authors strive to present a Paul that in many respects runs contrary to the preconceived notions of the students whom they teach. All three are deans of respected Universities in the Bible Belt, and all combat “Western”, Americanized misguided perceptions of Paul and his letters.

These preconceived notions of Paul (presumably the notions of the authors’ students) are at the forefront of the authors’ minds as they explore who Paul really was. For instance, one of the authors states that as he thought about who Paul was, he “…began to question if my Western, domesticated, middle-class perception of Paul was the real Paul. Had my culture superimposed its values over the biblical Paul? (p. 14)”. In some respects, this statement smacks of the same tired critiques of “the West” that have recently been offered up by those in the Emergent Movement. Yet perhaps such critiques are needed, especially those directed at church-goers.

It must be said that all three of the authors are obviously well-read and well-studied. To their credit, they have learned the ideas and writings of men throughout church history whom they disagree with, yet they present the material in a fair and thoughtful way. In the chapter entitled “Paul’s Conversion, Call and Chronology”, the authors give a substantial amount of thought and ink to dealing with the “New Perspective on Paul” contention that Paul’s “conversion” was not along the lines of the traditional Lutheran type of salvific conversion, but rather it was more along the lines of a re-focusing of his “Jewishness” to include the Gentiles as well. While the authors seem to disagree with the “New Perspective”, they do so in a balanced and somewhat refreshing way (pgs. 90-94).

Additionally, the authors do a fair job of defending the primary issues of Christian Orthodoxy. In defending the creation of the Canon, they state that “Sometimes it is necessary to question the ‘establishment,’ as Martin Luther did; however, the verdict even on Luther’s actions was determined by the church over an extended period of time. (p. 293)”. They perceptively ask the rhetorical question: “Why do we think we have the right to question a decision accepted by millions of Christians worldwide over two thousand years? (p. 293)”. While the authors are not shy about asking some hard questions of themselves, their students and their readers, they do well to not go too far and leave the walls of Orthodoxy itself.

Yet, “Rediscovering Paul” is not without its weaknesses. While the authors aimed to have a “…finished product that was relatively seamless, speaking with one voice while still drawing on the expertise of each author (p. 16)”, the book does not read as seamlessly as the authors would have liked. In the discussion on the book of Romans, much effort is given to explaining chapters one through eleven, yet chapters twelve through sixteen, the “application” part of Romans, is only given a terse two page summary. This abruptness is somewhat disconcerting, especially when viewed in concert with the long (and somewhat tedious) discussion regarding letter writing in Paul’s day (pgs. 54-82).

While many will find things in this book that will challenge them, make them uncomfortable and perhaps even anger them; the authors deal with the question of who Paul was with a necessary honesty and openness that their students and their readers would do well to follow.