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Review of Biblical Literature Blog

The Early Reception of Paul
Liljeström, Kenneth, editor

Helsinki: Finnish Exegetical Society, 2011 pp. 192. €25.00

Series Information
Publications of the Finnish Exegetical Society, 99

Description: From his own lifetime to this day, Paul the apostle has engendered rivaling interpretations of his true intentions and theology. As in the earliest times after his death, so also today Paul is as passionately loved as he is hated. Paul’s journey from being a disputed apostle to one receiving an equal footing with the other “acknowledged pillars” belongs to the crucial trajectories of early Christianity. This process takes place through the early reception of Paul and his letters and is therefore one of the most challenging and rewarding objects of the study of early Christianity. The literary reception of Paul’s letters in various early Christian writings makes up the focal point of this volume. Some of the essays take up familiar topics from the history of research but offer solutions that swim against the current, challenging the prevailing scholarly views. Others, while discussing a familiar theme, approach it from a fresh angle. Together the articles offer the reader a thought-provoking perspective into the question of the literary reception in early Christian texts.

Subjects: Bible, New Testament, Pauline Epistles, Literature, Methods, Historical Approaches, History, History of Interpretation