Paul and Jesus

by David Wenham

Publisher:

SPCK

, 2002

Overview

Many people today have a negative view of Paul. He is accused of not being a faithful follower of Jesus because of his failure to refer much to Christ’s early life and teaching in his letters. He is seen as a freelance who did his own thing with the Christian faith, changing Jesus’ good ideas and introducing bad ones, especially about women and sex. He is also often thought to be arrogant and obscure.

But was Paul a narrow-minded maverick who meddled with the gospel? In this book, David Wenham seeks to address these doubts a

Key Features

• Origins and conversion of Paul
• Paul’s missionary journeys
• Examination of the four letters of Paul

Contents

Top Highlights

“It is an attractive thought that Stephen was not only influential in making Paul a persecutor of the Church, but also an inspiration to Paul after his conversion. Did Paul take up Stephen’s mantle as a leader in the Greek-speaking church and also take forward Stephen’s critique of Pharisaic and other Jewish attitudes to the law and the temple? I had thought of entitling this book Paul Follows Jesus, but it might be true also to say that ‘Paul follows Stephen’. But first Paul had to get converted.” (Page 8)

“If Paul was between 15 and 20 in the early 30s ad when Stephen was martyred, then he would have been born in Tarsus between ad 15 and 20 (and, looking ahead, this would mean that he was in his forties when writing a letter like 1 Corinthians). How long he stayed in Tarsus before coming to Jerusalem for his Pharisaic education is impossible to say. But it is at least possible that he was in Jerusalem before the death of Jesus, and indeed at the same time as Jesus.” (Page 5)

“It was known for its educational and philosophical schools. It had a well-established Jewish quarter. It was ten miles from the sea up the river Cnydus, in what is now south Turkey.” (Page 3)

“We may guess that Paul the Pharisee will have taken these laws very seriously, and have seen Jesus as deserving death for misleading the people.” (Pages 11–12)

“The first recorded contact between Saul and the Christian movement was when Stephen was stoned.” (Page 6)

Product Details

• Title: Paul and Jesus: The True Story
• Author: David Wenham
• Publisher: SPCK
• Print Publication Date: 2002
• Logos Release Date: 2012
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Jesus Christ › Teachings; Jesus Christ › History of doctrines--Early church, ca. 30-600; Paul, the Apostle, Saint › Teachings; Bible. N.T. Epistles of Paul › Theology
• ISBNs: 9780281054800, 0281054800
• Resource ID: LLS:PAULJESUS
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T02:09:13Z

About David Wenham

Reverend Dr. David Wenham is a British theologian and author of several books on the New Testament. David Wenham was born in 1945 (son of theologian John Wenham) and studied theology at Cambridge University before undertaking doctoral research under F. F. Bruce. After becoming the Theological Students’ Secretary with the UCCF he taught at Union Biblical Seminary in India before returning to become the Director of Tyndale House (Cambridge)’s Gospels Research Project.