John: The Gospel of Light and Life Hardcover – December 15, 2015

Adam Hamilton, The Call - Life and Message of the Apostle Paul, Abingdon Press, Nashville (2015). [Kindle]His Hebrew name was Saul - named for the first king of the United Kingdom of Israel. His Roman name was Paul. His conversion on the Damascus road from a persecutor of Christians to a Christian teacher and preacher, his missionary journeys, his arrest in Jerusalem and trip to Rome, are old familiar stories.Adam Hamilton’s “The Call - Life and Message of the Apostle Paul” appears to be more the work of a Christian apologist than that of a Pauline scholar. His list of references does not include citations by established scholars such as James Tabor, Marcus Borg, John Dominic Crossan, and others. Being a graduate of Oral Roberts University might lead the reader to wonder, “Is this just another fundamentalist Bible thumper?” In each section of the book, Rev. Hamilton gives a little information on the Apostle St. Paul, then launches into a sermon. At times one might feel like shouting, “Get back to the topic!”.Rev. Hamilton describes well Paul’s background and his birthplace, Tarsus, a center of culture and learning. Greek philosopher Strabo (died 24 CE) described Tarsus as surpassing Athens and Alexandria as a center of philosophy. Paul was well educated and probably spoke several languages, giving him a distinct advantage over “The Twelve”, who were uneducated fishermen from Galilee. Further, he studied in Jerusalem, possibly with Gamaliel I, a first century rabbi and leader in the Sanhedrin. Moreover, his Roman citizenship probably saved his life on several occasions. However, Paul never personally met the earthly Jesus.To his credit, some of Rev. Hamilton’s sideline sermons were meaningful and inspirational. In Athens Paul began with an affirmation of the people: “I see that you are very religious.” This was Paul’s positive way of introducing his message for Christ, rather than attacking the Athenians’ pagan gods. Many clergy members should consider this. In Rev Hamilton’s words, “I think this points to Paul’s genius in sharing Christ”. He mentions the need to take time from a busy life for “solitude, reading, prayer, and reflection”. He points out that, “Our task in worship is to prepare ourselves spiritually to hear the Spirit speak, sometimes despite the music and preaching”. In fact, all too often we are so focused on the quality of some aspect of the service that worship falls by the wayside. Moreover, we often fail in the area of social and political activism. A riot broke out in Bristol, England, when John Wesley preached against slavery. American Civil rights leaders faced threats. A congregation planned to establish a home for special needs adults, but the neighbors were concerned about lowering property values. A pastor welcomes gay and lesbian people to the congregation, only to see some of his parishioners get up and leave.Rev. Hamilton points out that the Holy Spirit is an aspect that is often missed in today’s sermons. “This lack of attention to the Holy Spirit may be one reason many of us, and many of our churches, have a faith that is a bit anemic. …. When we baptize and confirm in The United Methodist Church, we lay our hands on the head of the one being baptized or confirmed. Often we anoint with oil (a sign, among other things, of the Spirit’s presence and power) and ask the Holy Spirit to fill the one being baptized or confirmed. But I wonder how many, as adults, continue to invite the Holy Spirit to empower, work in, and fill them? In the time since your baptism or confirmation, have you intentionally sought the Spirit to work in your life?”Paul was a stubborn individual and was known for perseverance in the face of hardship. He continued after numerous setbacks, even at the risk of his life. He emphasized that Jesus taught love (my favorite verse):1 Corinthians 13: 13 13 And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.Paul’s message was clearly described. “The gospel accounts describe events from the life of Jesus and the Lord’s teachings, whereas Paul’s focus is on the significance of Jesus’ life and message, with a particular focus on the meaning of Jesus’ death and resurrection.” However, Rev. Hamilton failed to emphasize that present-day Christian theology came largely from the message of Paul.Rev. Hamilton describes Paul’s human side.On several occasions Paul mentions his “physical infirmity”:Galatians 4: 13 You know that it was because of a physical infirmity that I first announced the gospel to you; 14 though my condition put you to the test, you did not scorn or despise me, but welcomed me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. 15 What has become of the goodwill you felt? For I testify that, had it been possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.Romans 7: 15 I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.Because he says, “you did not scorn or despise me” and “but I do the very thing I hate”, some scholars have suggested that Paul might have been homosexual, although Rev. Hamilton did not mention this. He did mention the possibility of trachoma, an eye infection, evidenced by the comment, “you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me”. However, it is doubtful that Paul would have been despised for an eye infection.Rev. Hamilton points out that the phrase “the Jews”, used frequently in Paul’s writings, only referred to Jewish non-believes. Then, as in numerous situations, he turns apologist, “Had Luke and John known that their language would foster anti-Semitism, I believe they would have chosen a different term (paraphrased).” He uses “Luke” and “John” meaning the authors of Luke and John. Paul had a traveling companion named “Luke” and from this writing it might appear that Rev. Hamilton assumes that his traveling companion was the author of The Gospel According to St. Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. While it is commonly accepted that the same person authored both, there is no evidence connecting Paul’s traveling companion with these writings.Rev. Hamilton’s discussions of Paul’s attitude toward women might leave the reader with a false impression. Rev. Hamilton’s apologetic explanation was that present day people are judging Paul by 21st century standards. In fact, Paul was very positive toward women, especially by 1st century standards. There are numerous incidents in Paul’s actual writings (the Pauline Corpus) of Paul using women in his ministry. According to most scholars, the statement, “… women should be silent in the churches” (from 1 Corinthians 14: 34), does not fit the flow of the text and was likely added by a scribe who thought Paul was too positive about women. Moreover, phrases such as, “I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she is to keep silent” (1 Timothy 2: 12) are from the pastoral epistles (I & II Timothy, Titus) which are outside the Pauline Corpus – Paul did not write either of them. In fact, at several points, Rev. Hamilton makes statements such as, “Paul describes in Colossians” when, in fact, very few scholars feel that Paul wrote Colossians.In Corinth Paul met Aquila and Priscilla. Rev. Hamilton says, “they recently had been expelled from Rome with the rest of the Jewish population under a decree from Emperor Claudius (this occurred in A.D. 49)”. History tells us that Claudius (r 41 - 54) came down hard on rebellious Jews and many of them left. However, no Jews were expelled from Rome. There were other historical errors, but I will leave those for future readers.Despite my criticisms, I actually did enjoy reading “The Call”. If one is seeking a series of meaningful and inspirational sermons, this might be your book. If you are expecting Pauline scholarship, this isn’t it.

This book is exactly what my wife wanted. Timely delivery; very good packaging; Amazon offers many fine non-fiction books that we both enjoy.

This book is unique, in that the text is surrounded by the Gospel of John. This arrangement keeps the reader engaged in both, at the same time.For me, it brought an understanding and a peace.

My church small group chose this study of the book of John for the Lenten season. I have attended other studies of John and they were good, but this one is EXCELLENT! I learned so much new information, the text flowed well and was an easy read. Our class used the optional videos which were also quite good. I can't wait to attend another Bible study written by Andy Hamilton!

Loved this book. I chose it as one of my books to read for Lent this year (2016), and I'm so glad I did. It is a thought provoking study of all of the wonderful nuances in the book of John as it compares to the Synoptics. I am most definitely not a Bible scholar, and Adam went into just the right amount of detail without overwhelming me. The only reason I didn't give the book a full five stars is because I wish he would've talked more about the reasoning behind the references to "the disciple whom Jesus loved/the beloved disciple" that exist exclusively in John's gospel. One of the great points that Adam makes is that we should, whenever we notice a slight variation from the accounts in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, ask ourselves, "What is John trying to teach me here?" There are several examples of this throughout the book, but it does not touch on references to the "beloved disciple" in this way. I have my own theories about it, but I would've loved to know Adam's take. Still it was a great read that I would recommend to anyone who wants to go a little deeper in one of *my* favorite books of the Bible.

We will be reading this book for our Bible Study. It was highly recommended and I am looking forward to studying it with my group!

Having attended several different studies on the Gospel of John and having read several different books on John by different authors, I was pleasantly surprised when I read this book ... thought I knew all about John's Gospel. I learned about it from a SS classmate who had volunteered to lead our class in a 5 week series on this book. I almost didn't buy the book thinking I would just "listen along." But I as so glad I did. The book is simple and absolutely awesome IMO. It has many new perspectives on John and his Gospel that I have never heard or considered before. I highly recommend this book for the every day lay person who wants to learn more about John the man, or the Gospel of John, or the differences between the Book of John and the other three Gospels. A great read too if you're not interested in a study ... thought-provoking and insightful.

Very readable and insightful commentary on the Gospel of John. We used this book for our small group discussion and found it encouraged lively discussion. The emphasis on explaining the differences between John and the Synoptic Gospels was especially interesting and valuable. The only minor problem we found was with the six part total reading of John that followed the chapters. The verses discussed in some chapters were not in the part that accompanied them which was a bit confusing. In general we found the commentary valuable but did not think the method of including the full Gospel very useful.