Interpreting the Pauline Epistles

by Thomas R. Schreiner

Book Overview

The nature of first-century letters, background sources, and a word-study method all help show students with some knowledge of Greek how to trace Paul's reasoning through difficult texts. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 080103812X
• ISBN13: 9780801038129
• Release Date: May 2011
• Publisher: Baker Academic
• Length: 182 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.6" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Very Good Book

This is an excellent resource for those interested in digging into the New Testament. It is a small book and not intended to be exhaustive but in its 167 pages of very readable print it covers a great deal. For example, chapter 5 covers "diagramming and conducting a grammatical analysis"; I love this chapter! In less than 20 pages Schreiner teaches nearly everything one might wish to know about understanding the sentence structure and function of the words in the sentence by building a "blueprint" of the sentence by dissecting and rebuilding it with "stick" diagrams. On the other hand I got very little out of chapter 6 (the reason I did not give the book 5 stars). Its 30 pages are devoted to "tracing the argument" primarily through "arcing", a weak-sistered system of analysis that falls quite short of the system taught in chapter 5. Each of its nine chapters has helpful references for the student who might want to further their studies in a particular area. One caution though, the reader should have some basic understanding of ancient Greek or the book will be of diminished value.

Comments on this volume, its series, and other guides to exegesis

Unfortunately, I think the reviewer who gave this book a one-star rating was a bit confused about the purpose of the book. This volume is not intended to be a commentary; it is intended to help students of the Bible to interpret it for themselves. This book and the other volumes in the 'Guides to New Testament Exegesis' series are certainly good beginning points, but it would be good if new editions were printed as the current ones are becoming a bit dated. While the exegetical approaches remain sound, it is the bibliographies - which are useful when current - that need to be updated from time to time; that way these guides would also continue to be helpful in directing students to other important sources. Those who intend to pursue serious exegesis have probably already invested in the standard, which is Gordon Fee's "New Testament Exegesis;" it is used at many seminaries. For those who want to advance both their Greek and exegetical skills, I recommend "Biblical Greek Exegesis" by George H. Guthrie and J. Scott Duvall. For the average lay reader who wants to become more proficient at interpreting and understanding the Bible, without necessarily wanting to take an in-depth and scholarly exegetical approach, I recommend either (or both) of the following: "How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth" by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart and "A Basic Guide to Interpreting the Bible" by Robert H. Stein. Lastly, for those seeking good commentaries (like the unfortunate negative reviewer) and as a more up-to-date supplement to the bibliographies in the series of which "Interpreting the Pauline Epistles" is a part, I recommend D.A. Carson's "New Testament Commentary Survey," which is updated regularly; it is currently in its fifth edition, which was published in 2002, but a new, sixth edition is scheduled for release in January 2007.

From Beginner to Expert this is a GREAT Tool for any Exegete!

Schreiner does a wonderful job of taking any student of biblical exegesis through the process of developing an accurate exegesis of any Pauline Epistle. His reliance on grammar clues and diagramming make this an extremely helpful book for theologians who wish to allow Scripture to speak for itself. If you are seeking to better understand Scripture...this book is a MUST!

Excellent Intro to the Pauline Epistles

Schreiner here provides an excellent overview of the key interpretive issues surrounding the Pauline Epistles. He covers genre, intent, coherence, and much more.Perhaps the most helpful chapters are 5 and 6, where he outlines an exegetical method based on analysis of the sentence structure and the structure of the discourse as a whole.His method of tracing the argument is fine for those just beginning Greek exegesis, but more advanced students will want to consult Cotterell and Turner's work on Linguistics and Biblical Interpretation. Schreiner's categories are too limited and not sufficiently nuanced. His understanding of syntax and semantic structure is limited compared to more recent advances in the field.Still, on the whole, a great introduction to exegetical method with a view to the Pauline Epistles.