How to Read Paul

Of all conversion stories, St. Paul’s is surely the most famous. As a zealous Pharisee, Saul was a tortured soul persecuting his fellow Jews for their dangerous faith in a failed Messiah. Starting in Jerusalem, this band of messianic Jews proclaimed a message that was catching like a plague. And just as with plagues inflicted on Israel in the past, God’s people needed a righteous man to rise up and put an end to it. Once disciplined, these wayward Jews would come to see the light. They would give up their nonsense about a crucified King; they would return to strict observance of God’s Law; and God’s punishment of his people would come to an end. ...As Thiessen admits, he does not answer every question or interpret every relevant verse. And he doesn’t think that anyone who disagrees with his perspective must be anti-Jewish. The truth matters, and if a scholar honestly believes that Paul ceased to keep Torah or harbored antipathy toward his fellow Jews, then she should say so and say why. Nevertheless, Thiessen’s book should push gentile Christians to reconsider their inherited view of Paul. He was indeed the great envoy of Christ to the nations. But first and always he was a Jew, just like the Lord he served. We forget this at our peril.