Pauline studies

Review: The Pastoral Epistles

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Cover image of "The Pastoral Epistles" by Osvaldo Padilla

The Pastoral Epistles

The Pastoral Epistles (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, Volume 14), Osvaldo Padilla. IVP Academic (ISBN: 9781514006733) 2022.

Summary: An updated Tyndale New Testament Commentary giving context, commentary, and theological insights.

The Tyndale New Testament Commentaries have often been my first “go to” in preparing a Bible study or talk. The series was first published between 1956 and 1974. Then it was updated between 1983 and 2003. Now, the series is being updated once again, in light of the latest biblical scholarship.

Osvaldo Padilla, in this commentary on the Pastoral Epistles offering instruction for church leaders. After reviewing arguments for and against Pauline authorship, Padilla comes down on the side of Pauline authorship. He argues that the letters combine paraenesis or exhortation about what to believe with protreptic instruction on the kind of lifestyle expected within the church. He concludes his introduction with a discussion of the theological emphases of the Pastorals. Padilla highlights Christology, the work of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in salvation, the godly life, and the church as the household of God.

The commentary follows the outline in the “Analysis” of the books. Each section offers context, commentary, and theology. I found the context and commentary sections addressed the basic questions of textual exegesis. A few things to highlight:

In 1 Timothy 2:8-15, Padilla argues that the prohibitions with regard to women relate to specific issues in Ephesus rather than a general ban of women in leadership and teaching.

Then, in 1 Timothy 3:-13, he notes the emphasis on character and integrity rather than charisma or skills other than teaching.

In 2 Timothy 2:14-26, Osvaldo highlights what it means for Timothy to be an “approved worker” in light of enemy opposition:. Specifically, this means avoiding false teaching, demonstrating godly character, and showing mercy to opponents.

Titus 2:11-14, in remarkably concise form highlights the work of Jesus in the salvation where Yahweh is the subject of salvation in the Old Testament.

Finally, the depth of scholarship in an accessible commentary surprised me. Padilla draws on the fine commentaries of Philip Towner and Luke Timothy Johnson. However, scholarship walks hand in hand with evangelical conviction. Thus it upholds the high tradition of the TNTC for a new generation.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: The Theology of Paul the Apostle

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Cover image of "The Theology of Paul the Apostle" by James D.G. Dunn

The Theology of Paul the Apostle

The Theology of Paul the Apostle, James D. G. Dunn. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (ISBN: 9780802844231) 2006.

Summary: Using Romans as a foundation and referencing Paul’s other writings, elaborates the theology of Paul.

The late James D.G. Dunn was in the first generation or so of Pauline scholars in the “New Perspective” school, following the ground-breaking work of E.P. Sanders, although differing with him at a number of points. Since I began reviewing theological texts in 2013, I tended to review the next generation of scholars who both interacted with, and developed, or moved on from Dunn. Finally, I have had a chance to go back to Dunn in the maturity of his scholarship and read his The Theology of Paul the Apostle. This is a work that both incorporates and moves far beyond “New Perspective” issues in offering a comprehensive biblical theology of Paul.

Dunn begins with discussing whether and how a Pauline theology may be written. Unlike some who take a developmental approach, Dunn believes most of the “developoment” of Paul’s theology occurred prior to his written works. Differences reflect the contingencies of situations. Thus, Dunn approaches the task through the lens of the letter to the Romans. He believes it reflects his own mature understanding of the gospel and how Paul would order the themes of his theology. So, Romans is Dunn’s template into which he incorporates material from the most widely recognized Pauline writings. He follows much contemporary scholarship in considering Colossians, Ephesians and the Pastorals as deutero-Pauline. However he does accept 2 Thessalonians.

As it turns out, the sequence Dunn finds maps closely onto many systematic theologies: God, humankind, sin, christology, salvation, the church, and the Christian life. And it follows the unpacking of Paul’s argument in Romans. Since this is a long work, I will not go into depth on what Dunn writes but touch on some highlights that might whet your appetite for digging into this work.

Beginning with God, Paul’s God is the one God of Israel. Yet he makes room for the deity of the Son and the Spirit. One of the distinctives of his discussion is on Christ as the last Adam. Dunn goes back beyond Abraham or Moses to Adam to understand Christ’s work. Thus, Israel’s redemption is set within a larger cosmic narrative.

The chapters on law elaborate Dunn’s covenantal nomism, distinguishing it from legalistic works. For the believing Jew, obedience to the law was a response of faith to God’s covenant grace. Rather, Paul’s concern about works of the law (circumcision, cleanliness, etc.) was their use as identity markers that erected barriers between the Jews and the nations.

I was struck that unlike some “New Perspective” advocates, Dunn argues for the translation of pistis Christou as “faith in Christ” rather than “the faithfulness of Christ.” Similarly, he discusses justification as both an initial act of God righteousing the unrighteous and his ongoing justifying righteousness, enjoyed from beginning to end through faith. Then, his discussion of participation in Christ casts a profound vision for daily life in Christ.

Dunn’s theology of the Spirit is one of initial and ongoing enabling rather than second blessing. For Dunn, this is also reflective of an eschatology that understands the believer living between the times. The believer lives in the tension between flesh and Spirit, the already and not yet.

Dunn’s chapter on ministry and authority, within the section on the church, walks an interesting line between Paul’s incorporation of women in ministry, his “neither male nor female,” and social realities of the day that set limits on what women could do. Likewise, he notes Paul’s teaching on slaves. Christian slaves are free in Christ, but still slaves.

When it comes to the Christian life, the motive is “the law of Christ.” Love is the mean of liberty between the extremes of legalism and license. I thought it interesting that Paul in Romans focuses on love with the church rather than the law of Christ in contrast with worldly behavior as in Corinth. For example, the concern in Romans is to not use liberty in matters of food to cause another to stumble. By contrast, in writing to the Corinthians, the concern is sexual ethics. This reminded me of how important social context is in understanding these “occasional” letters.

This is a mere sampling. What stands out throughout is the centrality of Christ. Dunn keeps the main thing the main thing. However, he notes Paul’s focus on the death, resurrection, and saving work of Christ rather than his life and ministry. It was the crucified and risen Christ who appeared to and saved Paul.

One might hesitate taking on such a long work (737 pages of text). What I found was that Dunn writes with clarity and economy. He just covers so much and sees so deeply into Paul. Working through this book was three weeks of rich theological reflection, “dialogue” as Dunn puts it, with the Apostle Paul. I, for one, am glad I did.

Review: Paul’s Gospel in Romans

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Cover image of "Paul's Gospel in Romans" by Jarvis J. Williams

Paul’s Gospel in Romans

Paul’s Gospel in Romans, Jarvis J. Williams. Baker Academic (ISBN: 9781540963291) 2026.

Summary: Argues that Paul in Romans articulates a gospel with vertical, horizontal and cosmic dimensions.

Volumes have been written about Paul’s gospel in Romans. Some emphasize the vertical dimension of justification by faith, forgiveness of sins, reception of the Spirit and deliverance from God’s wrath. Others emphasize the horizontal dimension, including living righteously through the Spirit, in unity with other believers including between Jews and Gentiles. Yet others focus on the cosmic dimensions of the gospel, the deliverance of all creation from death, the resurrection of our bodies, and the new creation.

If Jarvis J. Williams were asked to choose which most faithfully describes the gospel in Roman, he would answer “yes.” In this book, he proposes that the best way to understand the gospel in Romans is that it is vertical, horizontal, and cosmic. All three are present. And by exegesis of selected texts, he shows how Paul elaborates each of these.

However, Williams begins by contending that we must first consider the “matters of first importance” that Paul elaborates in 1 Corinthians 15. These are Christ’s death for sins, bodily resurrection, ascension, and return. Then, before discussing the three dimensions in Romans, He shows how these “matters of first importance,” particularly the resurrection and death of Jesus in that order are present in Romans.

In introducing the three dimensions, he says they are interdependent but that the vertical good news is foundational. Williams then devotes one chapter each to the three dimensions. In each, he offers an extensive exegetical treatment of relevant texts.

For the vertical dimension, he shows the sinfulness of all humanity. Then he discusses justification, forgiveness, deliverance from wrath, and reconciliation. All are aspects of the gospel. Under the horizontal dimension, he shows how the Spirit transforms us to live lives of sacrificial love. He also renews our minds. Lastly, he restores relationships across all boundaries. Paul’s cosmic gospel is one of liberation for all creation that is subject to futility because of sin. As co-heirs with Christ, we await resurrection and the final defeat of death.

Williams offers a brief applicatory conclusion. He contends that we ought focus first on the matters of first importance rather than repentance in our proclamation. While we may not emphasize all the dimensions at any one time and must prioritize the vertical as the basis for the others, we have a great and expansive gospel to share. That was my takeaway from this book. We have a great gospel that touches every dimension of life and all of time and space. Furthermore, Williams show how all these dimensions cohere as one great gospel of the crucified, risen, ascended, and returning Lord. And he does all this in a clear and concise 144 pages.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: Enabling Grace

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Cover image of "Enabling Grace" by Susan Mathew

Enabling Grace

Enabling Grace, Susan Mathew. Langham Global Library (ISBN: 9781839732782) 2025.

Summary: A disability reading of Paul’s letters focusing on 2 Corinthians 12:7b–10, asserting the grace of God amidst human weakness.

In recent years the church has begun to recognize the importance of welcoming and supporting those with disabilities. In the U.S., it is estimated that 28.7 percent of our people have some form of disability. The reality is that that at some point in our lives, most of us will have some form of disability. In all our communities, this group represents a significant part of our mission field.

Much of the writing has focused on what churches can do to accommodate persons with disabilities. Increasing thought is also being given to how we support families of those with disabilities. For most of us, when asked for the biblical grounds for such work, we might appeal to both the Great Commandments to love God and neighbor and the Great Commission to make disciples of all the nations and those within them.

But how does God regard, and how ought we regard those with disabilities? Dr. Susan Mathew is uniquely equipped to address these questions. She not only has a doctorate in biblical studies and teaches New Testament at Faith Theological Seminary in Kerala, India. She is the parent of a son, Jyothish, with cerebral palsy. As she sought to address the needs of her son, she recognized many other families in Kerala with children with special needs. This led to founding the Deepti Special School and Rehabilitation Centre, which she directs. Thus, she combines biblical scholarship and extensive personal experience in this book.

Her focus is on select letters of the Apostle Paul, his use of the language of weakness including his “thorn in the flesh.” She considers how God works in human weakness and how the body of Christ may honor its weakest members. Mathew begins by addressing definitions and models of disability. She also identifies the passage in 1 and 2 Corinthians she will discuss. She lists the words used, with a focus on asthenia or “weakness.” Before turning to more detailed examination of relevant passages, she discusses disability in antiquity. Sadly, the fate of infants with disability was abandonment and death. In Judaism, disabilities excluded people from temple service. Many viewed disabilities as the result of sin or God’s curse.

Then chapter three considers God’s choice of the weak and foolish, described in 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:7. God works through the ultimate expression of weakness, the foolishness of the cross to subvert society’s norms and worldly wisdom. God identifies with and choose the weak as objects of his grace. Chapter four then turns to Paul’s teaching on gifts and the interdependence of the body of Christ. Among the gifted are those with disabilities, revealing God’s power working through human weakness. This calls for mutual concern and the honor of the less honorable. Above and over all is the love of 1 Corinthians 13. Chapter four also deals with 1 Corinthians 15 and the resurrection of the body. In this is both continuity and discontinuity, most notably, the transformation of all weakness and disability.

But what hope is there for the suffering and affliction caused by disabilities in this life? Chapter five turns to this question, looking at 2 Corinthians 1:3-10 and 12:7-10. Mathew considers the role of patient endurance, our partnership in suffering, and the comfort we have in Christ. Then she turns to an in depth study of Paul’s “thorn in the flesh.” She explores what this may have been, Paul’s prayer and how Christ met him in weakness.

The final chapters unpack all this. Chapter 6 recounts the author’s personal story and her experience of God’s power in her Christian community. In the final chapter, she explores what a holistic theology of grace means in the context of disability, including how Paul’s disability deepened his understanding of enabling grace.

This book is a good beginning toward a theology of disability. Coupled with the author’s personal testimony, it speaks powerfully of God’s enabling grace for persons with disabilities. And it calls us to be communities of mutual care and interdependence, recognizing the grace and gifts of God on those with disabilities.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: Paul Through the Eyes of the Reformers

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Cover image of "Paul Through the Eyes of the Reformers" by Stephen J. Chester

Paul Through the Eyes of the Reformers, Stephen J. Chester. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (ISBN: 9780802878489) 2025.

Summary: Challenges misconceptions of Reformation readings of Paul and proposes constructive approaches.

At times, one gets the impression in Pauline studies that there is either the perspective of the Reformers, and particularly Luther, or the New Perspective on Paul in its covenant and apocalyptic forms. And one gets the impression that we miss the meaning of Paul if we read him through Luther’s personal crisis and his liberating grasp of justification as God’s imputation of Christ’s righteousness through faith in Christ. We miss Paul’s concerns for covenantal boundaries and the inclusion of the Gentiles.

Stephen J. Chester, in this work, demonstrates the over-simplifications and misconceptions in such views. For one thing, Reformed and New Perspectives share in a much larger interpretive history. Chester traces the exegesis of Augustine, of the medieval scholars and their nominalism and the rise of humanism that preceded the Reformation. He also acquaints us with the parallel to New Perspective scholarship in the rise of Lutheran scholarship, including Bultmann.

Chester examines the careful exegetical work of Luther and his peers that led to a radical departure from Augustinian interpretation. He contends that New Perspective scholars need to reckon with that exegesis and recognize that there is far more than Luther’s guilty conscience involved in Luther’s elucidation of sin, law, the work of Christ, and grace. Chester develops an engagement that recognizes ways the New Perspective depends on the Reformers, ways it intensifies some aspects, ways it makes false assumptions, and ways it is truly in conflict.

Chester also argues that while the Reformers shared a commitment to justifying faith that looks to Christ to receive an alien righteousness, they had varied understanding how this was experienced by believers. In Part Three of the work, he offers an extended study of Luther, Melanchthon, and Calvin. Both Luther and Calvin stressed the idea of our union with Christ by faith. Melanchthon, by contrast, focuses more on justification being on account of Christ. In addition, Calvin, in contrast with Luther stressed union with Christ in both justification and sanctification without confusing the two.

Chester focuses in the concluding part of the work on how the idea of union with Christ may be fruitful in contemporary studies. This proposal typifies Chester’s approach throughout. Rather than oppose interpreters, Chester looks for the places of engagement. He affirms advances in New Perspective scholarship while inviting a better reading of the Reformers. I found this a far more constructive engagement than, for example, the polemical exchange between John Piper and N.T. Wright. His history of Pauline exegesis sets both the Reformers and the New Perspective within a larger context. And through it all, he points us to Paul’s marvelous apprehension of the grace of God.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: Paul, Apostle of Grace

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Cover image of "Paul, Apostle of Grace" by Frank Thielman

Paul, Apostle of Grace, Frank Thielman. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (ISBN: 9780802876294) 2025.

Summary: An introduction to the life and world of Paul based on Acts, his letters, and other sources including archaeology.

The sheer number of books on Paul, discussing aspects of his life and theology, attest to his continuing importance to our understanding of the early Christian movement. But often, these discussions focus on a particular book or theological theme. In addition, many of these discussions reflect the narrower scholarly consensus regarding the Pauline corpus. Many relegate Acts to secondary status.

Frank Thielman has written an overview to Paul’s life and world that sets his travels, mission, and writings in a wider historical and cultural context. Unlike some works, Thielman bases his account on all thirteen canonical letters of Paul as well as Acts. He also draws upon non-canonical sources and archaeology to round out this chronological account of Paul’s life, mission, trials, and death.

Beginning with Paul prior to the Damascus road, Thielman traces his travels and the context of each city and region in which he worked. He notes the theologically formative aspects of his training, his early meeting with Peter, and the developing vision of God’s grace for Jew and Gentile alike, formed at Syrian Antioch and elaborated throughout his ministry.

For example, Thielman develops the Jewish opposition Paul encountered in Syrian Antioch, Asia Minor, and Achaia over the inclusion of Gentiles without circumcision. For Paul, their inclusion, and table fellowship as one new people was essential in testifying to the grace of God in Christ. Likewise, Gentile solidarity with the Jerusalem church drove Paul’s collection.

Also, Thielman helps us understand the role and movements of Paul’s companions, notably Prisca and Aquila, Silas, and Timothy. And he fits the composition of each of the letters into Paul’s travels, and later, his imprisonment. He discusses the concerns occasioning each letter, how Paul responds, and how the letters may have been carried to their recipients.

Thielman argues for the reliability of Acts as a source and Luke as a historian and creates a chronology drawing both on letters and Acts. He does take positions on the chronology of Paul’s life that he describes as “outliers.” He equates the Jerusalem conference of Acts 15 with that described in Galatians 2. Thielman argues for Galatians as the earliest of Paul’s letters and affirms a southern hypothesis. He also argues for 1 Timothy, Titus, and 2 Timothy being written within the time covered by Acts. Thus, he argues that Paul was not released from his imprisonment and later re-imprisoned.

Thielman defends his reliance upon Acts and all thirteen canonical letters in his first appendix. And he discusses the imprisonment and the timing and manner of Paul’s death in appendices two and three.

The strength of Thielman’s work is that it reflects a scholarly account that reflects conservative convictions. He accepts the full Pauline corpus and the reliability of Acts. More than that, his account sets Paul’s ministry amid Jewish opposition, imperial concerns, and religious and commercial culture.

Thielman admits at the outset:

“Writing a book about Paul’s life is like putting together a puzzle of a thousand pieces, but a puzzle whose pieces can fit together in different ways. The best one can hope for, perhaps, is a picture that is reasonable and that, at least in some cases, is probable.”

On one hand, Thielman succeeds admirably in putting all the pieces together. However, this book is touted as a successor to F. F. Bruce’s Paul: The Apostle of the Heart Set Free. As a cohesive reckoning of all the details in a theologically conservative account, that certainly is the case. Thielman incorporates scholarship to which Bruce did not have access. But, in comparison to Bruce, this account seemed too concerned with all the puzzle pieces. While Thielman gets the theology of grace right, I felt the book lacked the overarching vision of grace’s liberating power for Paul and his ministry that I found in Bruce.

Nevertheless, this book is a great resource to read alongside Acts and the letters of Paul. It offers the “big picture” of Paul’s life. We see Paul’s ministry and his letters in context rather than just as disparate biblical passages. Thielman lays a good foundation for anyone pursuing further studies of Paul, the apostle of grace.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

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