Meeting St. Paul Today: Understanding the Man, His Mission, and His Message

St. Paul may be the most misunderstood man in the New Testament. He is credited with writing 13 of the books in the New Testament, although scholars today believe that only seven were authentically authored by Paul. If Paul is the saint whom we love to hate, it's typically because of the things he purportedly wrote--but didn't.This is one of five books in a set written by the late Daniel J. Harrington, a Roman Catholic priest, prolific writer, and professor of the New Testament at Boston College's School of Theology and Ministry, that explain the four gospels and the Pauline letters in a succinct, easy-to-understand way.In addition to a brief commentary exploring who Paul was, the bulk of the book is an explanation of the 13 epistles credited to St. Paul with a special focus on how biblical texts can shape our modern Christian thinking and flow naturally into the spiritual lives of people of faith. Each epistle is examined using literary analysis, including context, words, images, characters, structure, and form.Harrington believes that St. Paul is a great figure not only of the past, but also for the present and future. He shows how Paul's problems are our problems, as well as how Paul's answers to those problems can be our answers today.One finding that may surprise you is how much Paul recognized the prominence of women in his mission and ministry and the high value he placed on collaborative ministry. The many negative comments Paul made about women—especially that they shouldn't speak in church, teach, or hold authority—are in the epistles that he likely did not write.Advice: To get the most out of it, read this book along with a copy of your favorite New Testament translation.

This is an excellent read which bring St Paul to life as a real person, and leads the reader to consider many facets of St Paul as a person, as well as looking at what he said in different contexts. For instance, Harrington points out that Paul's letters to the fledgling Christian churches were 'spoken', rather than written. That is, dictated, so having digested this information, understanding Paul's meaning begins to become clearer. And the fact that he and the other apostles are literally carving out a new faith, and have to take a step at a time certainly explains why Paul can say on the one hand, 'women must keep silent in the assembly' (ie not chatter), and then say that there is neither male or female - does not this one sentence make total nonsense of forbidding women to become priests, bishops - indeed anything, a female pope one day for instance! If Paul were alive today,he would be astounded at the prejudices that are perpetuated in his name, including the awful marginalisation and rejection of people with homosexual orientation. If we listen to anything at all that St Paul said it would be that we should 'study to know', and 'pay attention to reading'. Pity the members of fundamentalist groups (they are not in my view real churches), do not confine themselves to these pursuits, instead of dishing out fear and judgement.

i was looking for a balanced Catholic approach to unlocking the epistles of St. Paul. Daniel Harrington's, St. Paul Today, was exactly that. Daniel Harrington is well known for his scripture scholarship and skills as a teacher to "break open" the often difficult to understand writings of Paul. Father Harrington provides a brief historical background to Paul's life and times, explains in detail the reason why Paul authored each of his epistles and makes connections for Paul to our lives today.The author provides an in-depth explanation of each epistle along with an outline of each to assist the reader in understanding "the why and the what" is contained in each of Paul's epistles. In addition, the author provides a brief overview of how biblical scholarship examines the sacred scriptures in light of the historical and literary context in which they were written.I found this book most helpful in reading the author's explanation before the Sunday readings of Paul in the liturgical cycle.In my opinion, this book would be a great place to start a study group about St. Paul's writing. I thik this book is an excellent place for anyone who is looking for a place to begin understanding the writings of someone who has so greatly influenced development of Christian doctrine and theology. I highly recommend it.

It’s probably fine as a first book to read about Paul. I have a degree in theology so. I didn’t find it that interesting

If you like to read the letters the St Paul wrote in the Bible, you will find this great information and a look at his times. It is a story behind the letters.

Good

This is one in a series written by Daniel J. Harrington, SJ. It's a great companion when reading the Letters of St. Paul. I recommend it.