Joseph A. Marchal, ed., Studying Paul’s Letters: Contemporary Perspectives and Methods (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012), 248 pages, ISBN 9780800698188.

Introduction: Asking the Right Questions by Joseph A. Marchal.

This provocative book has been formatted by Joseph Marchal to make available the latest and most relevant critical perspectives on Paul to students in seminaries, small liberal-arts colleges, and universities. To achieve this goal, he has put together a remarkable group of outstanding Pauline scholars, and begins by posing and addressing the question of why anyone would study Paul. Traditionally, people have sought answers from Paul to questions about widespread issues such as women in leadership, slavery, gays, Jews, foreigners, pagans, the poor, children, and even the government. Marchal proposes to challenge readers to think in different ways about how to approach Paul, not only within the context of his own time, but in relation to our own world. According to Marchal, these critical perspectives can make us more savvy about the dynamics of our world and our application of Paul’s letters to it (2).

Marchal limits his study of Paul to what he calls the “authentic” letters of Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, and Philemon (3). Thus, he does not address why these are authentic and the others are not. He also accepts these letters as reflecting the linguistic influences of Hellenization with its widespread cultural practices, rhetorical presentations, and argumentation (4). Also assumed is that Paul’s letters were written at specific times, in response to particular situations, rather than being theological treatises or historical records (4-5).

Marchal’s goal is not simply to pass along information, but “to encourage a more critical and creative formation and even a transformation in how people negotiate their contexts” (8). This book certainly includes the latest trends in Pauline studies (9). Some approaches overlap, resonating and conversing with one another. Taken together, they clearly present the relevant issues, concepts, and practices for the various methods, and at the end of each chapter, include a demonstration of the application of amethod to a particular Pauline passage. Each chapter concludes with annotated selections for further reading.

Each chapter is written by a scholar who is both an expert in a selected method and an excellent teacher.

The individual essays begin with Melanie Johnson-Debaufre’s Historical Approaches: Which Past? Whose Past? She considers the nature of current biblical studies as characterized by “multiplicity and possibility,” and frames three basic principles which help to “reorient how we might approach history in relation to the letters of Paul” (15):

1. “Language does not describe or reflect reality, it creates and shapes reality” (15).
2. “What we see depends on where we stand” (16).
3. “History is an interpretation of the past, not the past itself” (17).

Johnson-Debaufre also suggests three corrective trends in Pauline studies which should be taken into account:

1. Paul should be de-Christianized, that is, he should be considered as a Jew within Judaism (18) rather than a convert to Christianity.
2. Paul should be politicized, that is, he should be read in terms of politics and economics rather than religion (20).
3. Paul should be de-centered, that is, he should be seen as only one part of the history of the early church rather than as the center of the movement (22-3).

In Chapter 2, Rhetorical Approaches: Introducing the Art of Persuasion in Paul and Pauline Studies, Todd Penner and Davina C. Lopez show the significance of understanding rhetorical strategies of ancient times when reading Paul: rhetoric pervades every aspect of our lives as well as those of ancient times. Arguments are persuasive depending on their relationships within the contexts and world-views of the times in which they were written. Hence, only by understanding how Paul’s arguments operated in the broader philosophical, social, and cultural environments of his time can the reader hope similarly to engage and apply these arguments to our world (49). Studying Paul is ultimately not about recovering a theology or an ideology, rather it is about “studying ourselves”, about using rhetorical analyses to better understand our world, not his. (50).

C. Peter Wagner and Joseph Thompson, eds., Out of Africa: How the Spiritual Explosion Among Nigerians is Impacting the World (Ventura, CA: Regal, 2004), 219 pages, ISBN 9780830732920.

Every once in a while, I get to review a “must read” book and this is one that every sensitive person in Christendom must read. I was challenged from the moment I began to read the introduction, and I did not halt my reading until I had reached the end of the book.

Peter Wagner has partnered with Joseph Thompson, a Nigerian born minister who is part of Ted Haggard’s New Life Church in Colorado Springs, to produce this short book that describes a move of God that most of us in America know little about.

Wagner starts this inspiring book with the introduction that sets forth some numerical statistics that are necessary preparation for what follows. I have been to West Africa, Northern Africa and my engineering firm had a good-sized project in Cape Town, South Africa. I had acquaintances in both construction and missionary efforts in Nigeria including Sam Odunike, who at one time was a local leader in my denomination’s efforts in his country. I have read about the “success” of Christianity in Nigeria and news accounts about the rivalry between the Muslim and Christian populations there. Even with all of that background, I was astonished by what I read.

I did not know that half of Africa’s people live in Nigeria or that one of every five black persons in our world lives there. I learned of the comparison that Nigeria is two and one half times the size of Texas. I knew that Africa is producing Christians every day and that it was a large number. Wagner’s introduction cites David Barrett who believes that each day in Africa 24,500 souls are added to the Kingdom of God. We add 5,000 a day in the United States.

The church in Africa grows at 2.62 percent per year. In Nigeria, half of the population professes Christianity. That means right now that there are 75 million people who claim to follow Jesus and next year there will be 86 million that say so. In ten years, Nigeria will be as Christian as any nation can become. No other nation has achieved the depth of belief that Nigeria possesses today. Peter describes his astonishment at his own experiences during his travels to this country, starting with a pastoral training session ten years ago to which 13,000 pastors came.

Joseph Thompson writes the first chapter which he titled “Rising from the Mediocre to the Miraculous.” Pastor Thompson chronicles the period in his country following the Second World War and the utter despair his people faced not many years ago—despair which can still be found. Corruption and every type of evil were pervasive as Nigerians found themselves without income and without hope. Out of this despair, Christians began gathering for annual and then more frequent prayer gatherings. These gatherings were led by a number of professionals, Nigeria’s lawyers, engineers, doctors, and architects. These leaders quickly became a force for a difference in their country—a prayer force—and our God responded.