I was considering a list of top Paul books over the past 10 years. Here’s the list I had and then below it were other recommendations from friends. My criteria are that the book has to be general in scope (e.g., theologies) and/or presents an influential or unique perspective. What are your thoughts?
My list (chronologically):
- Dunn, J. D. G., The Theology of Paul the Apostle. 1998.
- Engberg-Pedersen, Troels, Paul and the Stoics. 2000.
- Gorman, M. J., Cruciformity: Paul’s Narrative Spirituality of the Cross. 2001.
- Schreiner, T. R., Paul, Apostle of God’s Glory in Christ: A Pauline Theology. 2001.
- Westerholm, S., Perspectives Old and New on Paul: The “Lutheran” Paul and His Critics. 2003.
- Carson, D. A., P. T. O’Brien, and M. A. Seifrid, Justification and Variegated Nomism. 2001, 2004.
- Longenecker, Bruce W. ed. Narrative Dynamics in Paul: A Critical Assessment. 2002.
- Hurtado, L. W., Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity. 2003.
- Sampley, J. P., Paul in the Greco-Roman World: A Handbook. 2003.
- Watson, Francis, Paul and the Hermeneutics of Faith. 2004.
- Campbell, D. A., The Quest for Paul’s Gospel: A Suggested Strategy. 2005.
- Schnelle, Udo, Apostle Paul: His Life and Theology. 2005.
- Jewett, Robert, Romans: A Commentary. 2007.
- Childs, Brevard, The Church’s Guide to Reading Paul: The Canonical Shaping of the Pauline Corpus. 2008.
Other’s recommended these:
- Justin Meggitt, Paul, Poverty, and Survival
- Todd Still and David Horrell, eds, After the First Urban Christians (Forthcoming late 2009)
- Gordon Fee, Pauline Christology
- Barclay and Gathercole, Divine and Human Agency
- Ross Wagner, Heralds of the Good News
- Terrance Donaldson, Paul and the Gentiles: Remapping
- Francis Watson, Paul, Judaism and the Geniles: Beyond the New Perspectative
- Simon Gathercole, Where is Boasting
- Peter Stuhlmacher, Revisiting Paul’s Doctrine of Justification
- Todd Still, Jesus and Paul Reconnected
- Alain Badiou, St. Paul: The Foundations of Universalism
Tuesday, 7 April 2009 at 11:49 am
Ben I like the list! However, I would personally take out Carson’s Justification and Variegated Nomism, because it is so internally conflicted and Schreiner’s, Paul, Apostle of God’s Glory in Christ: A Pauline Theology, because it is so boring.
Dunn does not meet the 10 year limit you have limited yourself to! If your gonna open it up you have to have Nanos’ work on the list!
I think you have to have Elliott’s new work, even though Barclay is bound to hate it, The Arrogance of Nations: Reading Romans in the Shadow of Empire. Also I think the collection of essays in Yeo’s, Navigating Romans through Cultures: Challenging Readings by Charting a New Course, is worth the list. Now that my thoughts are flowing, Esler’s, Conflict and Identity in Romans: The Social Setting of Paul’s Letter, and Tobin’s, Paul’s Rhetoric in Its Contexts: The Argument of Romans, are also important reads.
Is Childs’ work really that good, I haven’t read it but am highly skeptical, should I buy it?
Thanks again for your informed postings!
Tuesday, 7 April 2009 at 4:52 pm
Ben,
I would move Watson’s Paul, Judaism and the Gentiles up into the Top Ten list and also add Gorman’s Apostle of the Crucified Lord and Bird’s Saving Righteousness. And if you get Dunn’s Paul from 1998 then why not Lonenecker’s The Triumph of Abraham’s God from 98?
Wednesday, 8 April 2009 at 7:33 pm
Ben,
Enjoy the list and your site, but I have to give a shout out to my fellow Lutheran Pauline scholars: Stephen Westerholm and Andrew Das?
Wednesday, 8 April 2009 at 10:40 pm
I thought I had Westerholm in there. I guess I didn’t copy it over correctly, so thanks for the catch.
Thursday, 9 April 2009 at 2:20 am
Bryan,
I am reading Child’s book right now. I think it is worth the read simply because it comes from a really unique angle in my opinion that at least stretches one’s thinking on Paul. From what I have gained thus far he presents reconstructing the historical Paul as a secondary task to reading the canonical Paul that we have in his corpus and the Book of Acts (e.g. Rather that reading Romans through Galatians because of chronology, you would read Galatians through Romans because of canonical ordering).
Monday, 12 October 2009 at 12:22 pm
i’m planning to study PhD and write a thesis about romans — in fact, i’m a beginner in pauline studies. Gospels are my favourites in the past. So, the list you suggested and the suggestions by other repliers help me a lot. Thanks ~~~~