JULY 14, 2008

FAITH LEADERS
The Apostle Paul: Saint of the public square

According to tradition, Saul of Tarsus — later the Christian convert and great evangelizer known as the Apostle Paul — was born about 2,000 years ago, and the anniversary has sparked renewed interest in the man considered the most influential, and controversial, early Christian leader after Jesus. The Roman Catholic Church, under the leadership of Pope Benedict XVI, is marking a Pauline Year, which was officially inaugurated at a June 28, 2008, vespers service at Rome’s Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. Because Paul is considered a symbol of the ecumenical movement, the service was also attended by Anglican and Orthodox Christian leaders, notably the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I.

Accompanying the religious aspects of the anniversary is a continuing wave of scholarship on Paul that is re-examining and often revising long-held assumptions about his views and his formative role in the rise of early Christianity — as well as his continuing impact on the development of Christianity today and its role in shaping society. Historical interest has also been heightened by the apparent discovery of the tomb of the apostle under the altar of the Roman basilica that bears his name.

This edition of ReligionLink provides an overview of the Pauline Year and resources for journalists writing about the man who took the Christian message beyond the first-century Jewish community and into the public square.

Why it matters

Because Paul was an educated and observant Jew and a Roman citizen, as well as an evangelical dynamo who engaged the wider world of the Roman Empire, he is seen as the template for Christian witness in secular society — a model that American Christians continue to emulate. Paul’s outreach to Gentiles also set the pattern for Christianity’s missionary impulse, which is perhaps the most prominent marker and source of tension between religions today, as well as within the wider Christian community. Paul’s often critical take on the normative Judaism of his day also informed a legacy of Christian-Jewish conflicts. Moreover, Paul’s writings — which pre-date the Gospels and comprise about a third of the New Testament — addressed issues like sexual morality and the role of women that continue to roil and divide Christian communities today.

Background

Given his prominence in the early Christian movement, Paul, like Jesus himself, has been the focus of renewed scholarly exploration in the past century that has sought to reread his role in light of historical criticism and new discoveries about the Holy Land of the first century. But the so-called New Perspective on Paul, or NPP, a school that seeks a radical reinterpretation of Paul’s letters and theology, was given a boost by the publication of E.P. Sanders’ 1977 book, Paul and Palestinian Judaism. Since then a spate of books has elaborated on this “New Perspectivism” with arguments that often run contrary to accepted views of Paul as the archetypal Protestant who eschewed “works righteousness” and focused on salvation by grace alone. Even Paul’s reputed misogyny and purportedly anti-Jewish writings have come in for critical re-examination. The NPP school is broad, and its participants often disagree. But it continues to produce a great amount of popular and scholarly work on Paul.

For an overview of the New Perspective on Paul, see the Theopedia entry on the New Perspectivism, or NPP, which characterizes the movement as “a system of thought in New Testament scholarship that seeks to reinterpret the Apostle Paul and his letters. In brief, the NPP is a reaction to the Reformation perspective on Paul (i.e. the traditional interpretation of him).” Theopedia is a Wiki-based resource, so its contents should always be double-checked for veracity. Another useful resource is The Paul Page.

A selection of recent books

• The Life of St. Paul (due November 2008), by Lawrence Boadt
• What Paul Meant (2006), by Garry Wills
• The Theology of Paul the Apostle (2006), by James D.G. Dunn
• Justification in Perspective: Historical Developments and Contemporary Challenges (2006), essays on Reformed theology edited by Bruce L. McCormack and inspired by developments of the NPP
• Rereading Paul Together: Protestant and Catholic Perspectives on Justification (2006), essays edited by David E. Aune based on the 1999 declaration on justification signed by Lutheran and Catholic leaders
• Paul: In Fresh Perspective (2006) and What Saint Paul Really Said: Was Paul of Tarsus the Real Founder of Christianity? (1997), by N.T. Wright
• The Gospel According to Paul: The Creative Genius Who Brought Jesus to the World (2005), by Robin Griffith-Jones
• Rabbi Paul: An Intellectual Biography (2005), by Bruce Chilton
• In Search of Paul: How Jesus’s Apostle Opposed Rome’s Empire With God’s Kingdom (2005), by John Dominic Crossan, a biblical scholar, and Jonathan L. Reed, an archaeologist
• Paul the Apostle: At the Edge by Faith (2004), by Stuart H. Merriam

News articles

• Read a July 2, 2008, essay by the Vatican-watcher Sandro Magister, “Pauline Year: The Ecumenical Dream of Pope Benedict.”
• Read a June 28, 2007, Catholic News Service story, “Pope announces special year dedicated to St. Paul.”
• Read Dec. 6, 2006, Associated Press article in USA Today, “Vatican archaeologists find tomb believed to be that of Apostle Paul.”
• Read a June 2005 article from Religion News Service, “Scholars chronicle Paul’s lasting impact.”

Other resources

• See the U.S. bishops’ resource page for the Pauline year.
• See two extensive resource caches on St. Paul from Catholic News Service, here and here.
• See a Zenit.org news agency story that features initiatives on St. Paul in dioceses from Phoenix to Denver to Toronto, as well as other resources. Catholic Bishop Michael Saltarelli of the Diocese of Wilmington, Del., has a column featuring 10 ways to mark the Pauline year.
• See the official site (in Italian) of the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, where tradition and recent excavations indicate Paul was buried after his martyrdom.

Click the map for interview sources in your state and region

National sources

• Efrain Agosto is a professor of New Testament at Hartford Seminary in Hartford, Conn., and director of its Hispanic Ministries Program. His research interests include the Pauline epistles, and he is the author of Servant Leadership: Jesus & Paul. Contact 860-509-9536, eagosto@hartsem.edu.
• Darrell L. Bock is a professor of New Testament studies at Dallas Theological Seminary and a widely cited expert on early Christian figures such as Paul. Contact 214-841-3710, dbockdts@aol.com.
• The Rev. Bruce Chilton is an Episcopal priest and executive director of the Institute of Advanced Theology at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y. He is the author of Rabbi Paul: An Intellectual Biography. Contact 845-758-7335, chilton@bard.edu.
• John Dominic Crossan is emeritus professor of religious studies at DePaul University in Chicago. He is a prominent expert on historical Christianity and co-author of In Search of Paul: How Jesus’s Apostle Opposed Rome’s Empire With God’s Kingdom. Contact through the department, 773-325-7385, or jdcrosn@earthlink.net.
• Gordon D. Fee is an emeritus professor of theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia, and author of Pauline Christology: An Exegetical-Theological Study. Contact 604-224-3245.
• Bruce L. McCormack is a professor of systematic theology at Princeton Theological Seminary. McCormack edited Justification in Perspective: Historical Developments and Contemporary Challenges (2006), essays inspired by developments of the NPP. Contact 609-497-7987, bruce.mccormack@ptsem.edu.
• Pheme Perkins is a theology professor at Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Mass. She is a highly regarded New Testament expert. Contact 617-552-3889, pheme.perkins@bc.edu.
• Beverly Roberts Gaventa is a professor of New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, N.J., and author of the 2007 book Our Mother St. Paul. Contact 609-497-7765, beverly.gaventa@ptsem.edu.
• Garry Wills is an adjunct professor in the history department at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. He is one of the foremost popular scholars writing on Christianity and church history and is author of the 2006 book What Paul Meant. Contact g-wills@northwestern.edu.

Regional sources

IN THE NORTHEAST
• Paula Fredriksen is a scripture scholar and New Testament specialist at Boston University. She is a widely cited commentator on Paul and new trends in Christian studies. Contact 617-353-4431, augfred@bu.edu.
• Scott J. Hafemann is a professor of New Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Mass. He has written widely on Paul, with a focus on Paul’s ideas of salvation. Contact 978-468-7111.
• Jennifer Wright Knust is an assistant professor of New Testament and Christian origins at Boston University. She is the author of “Paul and the Politics of Virtue and Vice,” an essay in the collection Paul and the Roman Imperial Order. Contact 617-358-4222, jknust@bu.edu.

IN THE EAST
• The Rev. Frank J. Matera is a professor at the Center for the Study of Early Christianity at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He has written extensively on Paul and the New Testament. Contact 202-319-6507, matera@cua.edu.
• Alan F. Segal is a professor of Jewish studies in the department of religion at Barnard College, Columbia University, New York City. Segal is the author of a well-regarded book, Paul the Convert: The Apostolate and Apostasy of Saul the Pharisee. Contact 212-854-5419, asegal@barnard.edu.
• Christopher D. Stanley is a theology professor at St. Bonaventure University in St. Bonaventure, N.Y. His writings focus on Paul and early Christian society. Contact 716-375-2454, cstanley@sbu.edu.

IN THE SOUTHEAST
• Bart D. Ehrman is a professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and a popular author of books on the New Testament and early Christianity. Contact 919-962-3940, behrman@email.unc.edu.
• The Rev. Richard B. Hays is a professor of New Testament and biblical studies at Duke University in Durham, N.C. He is the author of The Conversion of the Imagination: Paul as Interpreter of Israel’s Scripture. Contact 919-660-3411, rhays@div.duke.edu.
• Richard G. Walsh is a professor in the department of philosophy and religion at Methodist College in Fayetteville, N.C. He wrote a 2006 book, Finding St. Paul in Film. Contact 910-630-7077, rwalsh@methodist.edu.

IN THE SOUTH
• Timothy George is dean of Beeson Divinity School of Samford University in Birmingham, Ala. George is a New Testament expert who believes that Paul was the author of most if not all the epistles, rather than about half of them, as many scholars argue. Contact 205-726-2632, tfgeorge@samford.edu.
• Amy-Jill Levine is a professor of New Testament studies at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. She is a widely cited expert on early Christianity and Paul’s relationship with the rest of the Jewish community of the time. Contact 615-343-3967, amy-jill.levine@vanderbilt.edu.
• Ben Witherington III is a professor of New Testament at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Ky. He is a prolific author and commentator on the New Testament from an evangelical Christian perspective. Contact 859-858-3581, benw333@hotmail.com.

IN THE MIDWEST
• James W. Aageson is a professor of religion at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn. He is the author of Paul, the Pastoral Epistles and the Early Church (2008). Contact 218-299-3425, aageson@cord.edu.
• Sheila E. McGinn is a professor of biblical studies and early Christianity in the religious studies department at John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio. She has written on Paul’s writings and the theology of creation. Contact 216-397-3087, smcginn@jcu.edu.
• Calvin J. Roetzel is a professor of New Testament and Christian studies in the department of classical and Near Eastern studies at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. He is the author of numerous books on Paul and wrote the entry on Paul for the Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Contact 612-624-2810, roetz002@umn.edu.
• The Rev. Thomas H. Tobin is a theology professor at Loyola University in Chicago.  He wrote Paul’s Rhetoric in Its Contexts: The Argument of Romans. Contact 773-508-2343, ttobin@luc.edu.

IN THE SOUTHWEST
• David B. Capes is a professor in the department of Christianity and philosophy at Houston Baptist University. He is a co-author of Rediscovering Paul: An Introduction to His World, Letters and Theology (2007). Contact 281-649-3135, dcapes@hbu.edu.
• Pamela M. Eisenbaum is an associate professor at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver. She has written on Paul with a focus on his relationship to Judaism. Contact 303-765-3167, peisenbaum@iliff.edu.
• Rodney Stark is a professor of social sciences in the sociology department at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. He has written extensively on the growth of early Christianity and the role of Paul. Contact 254-710-1426, socstark@aol.com.

IN THE WEST/NORTHWEST
• Andrew S. Jacobs is an associate professor in the department of religious studies at the University of California, Riverside. He wrote the essay “A Jew’s Jew: Paul and the Early Christian Problem of Jewish Origins” in The Journal of Religion (2006). Contact 951-827-4490, andrew.jacobs@ucr.edu.
• Seyoon Kim is a professor of New Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif., and has written widely on Paul and “the New Perspective.” Contact 626-584-5689, sekim@fuller.edu.
• Douglas M. Underwood is an associate professor of communications at the University of Washington in Seattle. He wrote an article, “The Problem With Paul: Seeds of the Culture Wars and the Dilemma for Journalists” in the Journal of Media and Religion (2006). Contact 206-685-9377, dunder@u.washington.edu.