Eavesdropping on Paul: Reading Others' Biblical Mail

If there were only one Paul in the Christian Bible (New Testament), it would not be so difficult to understand him. However, there are three faces (and maybe more) of Paul found in the Bible. In biblical book order, there is the Acts-of-the-Apostles Paul; this Paul is generated by the same author--whoever he was--who wrote Luke's Gospel. Second, there is genuine Paul, the author of seven letters. Third, there are the multiple faces of second-generation Paul; these faces represent believers who updated Paul for their world long after Paul passed from recorded history. This book is based on the seven undisputed Pauline letters. It offers reflections on genuine Pauline theology with meditation/journal questions for developing genuine Pauline understanding and spirituality. The seven chapters in this book reflect upon the theological highlights in a genuine Pauline letter. Modern readers of Paul's letters are eavesdropping, since not a single letter in the stack of Pauline letters is addressed to them. They are reading others' biblical mail which requires knowledge of who the original addressees were, where they lived, when they lived, their culture, and the same about the sender of the letter. This book supplies that information.