Paul: His Life and Teaching

The apostle Paul and his significance for the New Testament and Christianity is a perennial topic of interest, but few evangelical surveys of his life offer a truly holistic picture of the man and his world. Now available in trade paper, John McRay's Paul explores the apostle's preconversion days, missionary travels, and theological contributions. A specialist in archaeology, the author draws on his more than forty years of teaching experience as well as knowledge gained from extensive travels to the places Paul visited. Paul is a comprehensive and readable presentation of Paul's ministry and theology that weaves together historical backgrounds, archaeological discoveries, and theological themes.

Library Journal

As the culmination of 45 years of teaching and researching Paul, McRay (Wheaton Coll. Graduate Sch.) has written an introduction to Paul's life and thought aimed at an undergraduate college audience. The book, which faithfully treats Paul in his own time and place, is divided into two parts. The first part provides a detailed examination of Paul's biography that uses a historical-archaeological approach to complement references in Acts and Paul's own letters. New insights into the difficult problem of Pauline chronology are offered, as the author situates each Pauline letter in historical and social context. The second section deals with Paul's main theological ideas (e.g., atonement, justification, the Law, etc.) as found in his letters and grounds these ideas in the Jewish religious thought of the time. While McCray's book succeeds in contextualizing Paul and his teachings, Jerome Murphy O'Connor's Paul: A Critical Life provides a better chronology and James D.G. Dunn's The Theology of Paul the Apostle a more detailed look at the theology. Recommended for academic libraries only.-Charlie Murray, C.S.S., Fordham Univ., New York Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

John McRay (Ph.D., University of Chicago) is emeritus professor of New Testament and archaeology at Wheaton College Graduate School. He is the author of Archaeology and the New Testament and coauthor of Bible Archaeology. Also a professional photographer, the author includes many of his photos in this book.