Search

Paul proclaims in 90 percent of what he wrote that we have been set free, resurrected, and transformed through Christ at the behest of a loving God. This gospel proclamation can be found wherever he speaks of being'in Christ.'But this gospel and its account of salvation have been captured by'another gospel,'which also lays claim to being Paul's account of salvation. And this gospel is retributive, conditional, and ultimately damaging.'Justification theory,'as we call this false account, lays claim to just under 10 percent of what Paul wrote. The presence of both these gospels within Paul's interpretation causes numerous acute problems. To name just a few, they create an image of Paul as someone who is fundamentally confused, frequently harsh, and unavoidably anti-Jewish. If we reread Paul's justification texts, however, paying more attention to the original historical circumstances within which they were composed, then they turn out to say something subtly but significantly different. Paul's justification texts can be interpreted carefully, faithfully, and consistently, in terms of his usual gospel--our transformation in Christ. Thus Justification theory is never activated. Paul's true gospel is thereby liberated from its long captivity to a false alternative. We can now see a kinder, gentler, and more consistent apostle.

The eschatological heart of Paul's gospel in his world and its implications for todayDrawing upon thirty years of intense study and reflection on Paul, Douglas Campbell offers a distinctive overview of the apostle's thinking that builds on Albert Schweitzer's classic emphasis on the importance for Paul of the resurrection. But Campbell—learning here from Karl Barth—traces through the implications of Christ for Paul's thinking about every other theological topic, from revelation and the resurrection through the nature of the church and mission. As he does so, the conversation broadens to include Stanley Hauerwas in relation to Christian formation, and thinkers like Willie Jennings to engage post-colonial concerns. But the result of this extensive conversation is a work that, in addition to providing a description of Paul's theology, also equips readers with what amounts to a Pauline manual for church planting. Good Pauline theology is good practical theology, ecclesiology, and missiology, which is to say, Paul's theology belongs to the church and, properly understood, causes the church to flourish. In these conversations Campbell pushes through interdisciplinary boundaries to explicate different aspects of Pauline community with notions like network theory and restorative justice.The book concludes by moving to applications of Paul in the modern period to painful questions concerning gender, sexual activity, and Jewish inclusion, offering Pauline navigations that are orthodox, inclusive, and highly constructive. Beginning with the God revealed in Jesus, and in a sense with ourselves, Campbell progresses through Pauline ethics and eschatology, concluding that the challenge for the church is not only to learn about Paul but to follow Jesus as he did.

Douglas Campbell has made a name for himself as one of Paul's most insightful and provocative interpreters. In this short and spirited book Campbell introduces readers to the apostle he has studied in depth over his scholarly career.Enter with Campbell into Paul's world, relive the story of Paul's action-packed ministry, and follow the development of Paul's thought throughout both his physical and his spiritual travels.Ideal for students, individual readers, and study groups, Paul: An Apostle's Journey dramatically recounts the life of one of early Christianity's most fascinating figures—and offers powerful insight into his mind and his influential message.

All historical work on Paul presupposes a story concerning the composition of his letters -- which ones he actually wrote, how many pieces they might originally have consisted of, when he wrote them, where from, and why. But the answers given to these questions are often derived in dubious ways.In Framing Paul Douglas Campbell reappraises all these issues in rigorous fashion, appealing only to Paul's own epistolary data in order to derive a basic “frame” for the letters on which all subsequent interpretation can be built. Though figuring out the authorship and order of Paul's letters has been thought to be impossible, Campbell's Framing Paul presents a cogent solution to the puzzle.