My new book, released at the beginning of summer by Isaac’s Press, is available from Amazon (US here; Canada here; UK & EU here).
There are eight lessons, each suitable for use in one or more class sessions (with discussion questions included).
A preview of what’s in the book, along with comments by numerous reviewers (both inside and outside Community of Christ), can be found here.
A review by former Kansas City Star religion writer Bill Tammeus appeared in early July on his influential “Faith Matters” blog.
Here is the complete introduction as it appears in the book.
Introduction
People tend to either love Paul or hate him. Even after two thousand years he’s a polarizing figure. There’s something in his writings that endears or offends readers—and it’s possible to love him some of the time and despise him at others, depending on the topic under consideration.
The familiar and traditional approach to Paul credits him with co-founding the Christian church along with Jesus Christ. Today this thoroughly Gentile religion is widely considered not only separate from Judaism but, in fact, supersedes it as God’s new covenant people. Meanwhile, when many Jews revisit two thousand years of Christian anti-Semitism they follow the trail directly to Paul.
Feminists home in on the parts of his letters that offer guidelines for the place of women in the church (most notably, being subservient to men and remaining silent in classes and worship). And yet, Paul’s Romans letter concludes with specific reference to two women (Junia and Phoebe) identified respectively as an apostle and a deacon. Gay-rights opponents and proponents argue over other passages and debate just what they meant in the culture of the first century of the Common Era—and exactly what that means in the twenty-first.
So, who’s right and who’s wrong?
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