Paul’s Theology in Context: Creation, Incarnation, Covenant, and Kingdom

by James P. Ware

Publisher:

Eerdmans

, 2019

Overview

This accessible text by James P. Ware provides both a concise guide to Paul’s theology and a general introduction to the key issues and debates in the contemporary study of Paul.

Examining Paul’s message in the context of the ancient world, Ware identifies what would have struck Paul’s original audience as startling or unique. By comparing Paul’s teaching to the other religions and philosophies of that day, Ware presents a fresh perspective on Paul’s theology, revealing four pillars of his thought: creation, incarnation, covenant, and kingdom. After examining each of these dimensions of Paul’s gospel, Ware explores the historical role of Paul within Christian origins and the astounding evidence embedded in his letters regarding the beginnings of Christianity and the eyewitness origins of the gospels.

Clergy, students, and laypeople will find that this guide to the big picture of Paul’s theology will illumine and enliven the study, preaching, and teaching of all the Pauline letters.

Key Features

• Provides a basic guide to Paul’s theology
• Explores the big picture of Paul’s letters
• Focuses on Paul’s presentation of the gospel and its reception amongst the Gentiles

Contents

Part One: Creation

• The Apostle of Creation
• The Good News of the Fall

Part Two: Incarnation

• The Two Streams of Expectation
• Paul’s Gospel of the Incarnation
• The Epicenter of Paul’s Theology

Part Three: Covenant

• Paul and the Law in Full Perspective
• The Covenant and the Cross
• Justification within the Covenant

Part Four: Kingdom

• Easter in Ancient Context
• The Resurrection of the Body in Paul’s Gospel
• The New Life
• The New Law

Part Five: Paul and Christian Origins

• The Gospel of the Eyewitnesses
• Paul and Peter among the Apostles

Top Highlights

“All ancient peoples for whom we have evidence (with the exception of the Jewish people) worshiped many gods. Moreover, the multiple gods and goddesses of the ancient Greco-Roman world—Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite, Hermes, even the highest god, Zeus—were not considered to be outside nature and the cosmos, but were believed to be products or aspects of it (Hesiod, Theogony 1–962; Ps.-Homer, Hymn to Aphrodite 1–246; Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.1–261).” (Page 9)

“In Paul’s theology, ‘those who call on the name of the Lord’ (Rom 10:12–13; cf. 1 Cor. 1:2), which is in the Old Testament a regular designation for the covenant people of YHWH (cf. Gen 12:8; Pss 98:6; 115:4; Joel 3:5), are all those, Jew or gentile, who confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised him from the dead (Rom 10:9–10).” (Page 110)

“In revealing to Moses his name, the creator God truly makes himself known to Israel. Although it is hidden from the English reader, in the original Hebrew the name YHWH in verse 15 is the third person form of the verb ‘I AM’ in verse 14, and thus means ‘The One Who Is.’” (Page 45)

“The distinction between works considered within and works considered apart from the covenantal relationship of faith, which is a regular feature of Jewish thought, is the key that unlocks the coherence and profoundly Jewish character of Paul’s theology of the law.” (Page 110)

“universe was an emanation (that is, an outgrowth or outflow) of divine being, and itself divine” (Page 10)

Product Details

• Title: Paul’s Theology in Context: Creation, Incarnation, Covenant, and Kingdom
• Author: James P. Ware
• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Publication Date: 2019
• Pages: 264
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Topic: Pauline Studies

About James P. Ware

James P. Ware is the associate professor of religion at the University of Evansville, where he teaches New Testament and ancient Christianity. He is the editor of Synopsis of the Pauline Letters in Greek and English.