Paul the Apostle: His Life and Legacy in their Roman Context

by J. Albert Harrill

Overview

This book is a controversial new biography of the apostle Paul that argues for his inclusion in the pantheon of key figures of classical antiquity, along with the likes of Socrates, Alexander the Great, Cleopatra, and Augustus. It first provides a critical reassessment of the apostle's life in its historical context that focuses on Paul's discourse of authority, which was both representative of its Roman context and provocative to his rivals within Roman society. It then considers the legend that developed around Paul as the history of his life was elaborated and embellished by later interpreters, creating legends that characterized the apostle variously as a model citizen, an imperial hero, a sexual role model, an object of derision, and someone to quote from. It is precisely this rewriting of Paul's history into legend that makes the apostle a key transformative figure of classical antiquity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521757805
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	09/28/2012
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.70(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

J. Albert Harrill is Professor of Classics at Ohio State University. A New Testament scholar, he is the author of Slaves in the New Testament: Literary, Social, and Moral Dimensions (2006) and The Manumission of Slaves in Early Christianity (1995). He has contributed to numerous reference works on the Bible and Christianity, and his articles have appeared in such journals as New Testament Studies, the Journal of Biblical Literature, Studia Patristica, and Religion and American Culture.

Table of Contents

Introduction; Part I. The Life: 1. From Pharisee to Apostle; 2. Communities in the making; 3. Paul's life in its Roman context; Part II. The Legend: 4. Competing stories about Paul in Late Antiquity; 5. Paul the scriptural authority: contradictory discourses; 6. How the West got Paul wrong; Conclusion: going beyond the epitaph.

Editorial Reviews

"This entertaining and informative book is an ideal text for introducing Paul and his letters to undergraduates. It not only introduces the historical Paul but also gives a representative impression of the rich and varied history of the reception of his person and letters. It will attract and inform advanced students, faculty, and the general reader."
Adela Yarbro Collins, Yale University Divinity School

"In this innovative and critical biography of Paul and his legacy, Harrill cuts through the romanticism, ideology, and just plain bad historiography that plague so many publications on the famous apostle. Though written for a broad, general audience, there is much here that will also be of interest to scholars."
Dale B. Martin, Yale University

"Learned and lively, Bert Harrill's Paul the Apostle reminds us that Paul was not only a Jew, but that he was also a Roman. As with Ioudaismos, so also with Romanitas: Paul functioned within, not against, Roman culture. And his complex identity became only more so as it was refracted through his multiple literary afterlives. Sorting scrupulously between primary and secondary traditions, thinking historiographically as well as historically, Harrill offers a refreshed portrait both of the apostle and of the later communities that looked to him. This is a graceful and thought-provoking essay."
Paula Fredriksen, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

"… [a] well-researched and well-written monograph … this volume is quite successful as an introduction to Paul."
Choice

"Harrill's book would serve well as a scholarly and accessible introduction to Paul and the Pauline tradition, especially for courses on the New Testament and early Christianity."
Bryn Mawr Classical Review

"This is one of the very best books to appear that situates Paul's ministry in its historical context with subtlety and rigor across many disciplines of Pauline studies. This rich and lucid book will be a resource for graduate and undergraduate libraries alike. Indeed, Harrill is at his best conducting interdisciplinary research into the contexts of the early Jesus movement."
Review of Biblical Literature

"'That Saint Paul. … He's the one who makes all the trouble.' Anyone who wants to understand that trouble would do well to take up this book, and anyone charged with teaching a course on the troublesome apostle will find it made for this purpose. That the author chooses this line from Hemingway for an epigraph tells us that he, too, wants to stir up a bit of creative trouble, in the classroom and in academic discourse about Paul."
Wayne Meeks, Church History

"In this accessible and engaging introduction, Harrill brings his expertise in social history to bear on Paul's life and legacy … the book contains numerous insights that will be of interest to university students and scholars alike."
John K. Goodrich, Religious Studies Review

From the Publisher