Paul of Tarsus

By Joseph Holzner

In Paul of Tarsus, Joseph Holzner weaves together the New Testament's often sketchy information about the life and mission of St. Paul into a unified and inspiring biography. With a novelist's ability... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0906138612
• ISBN13: 9780906138618
• Release Date: December 2002
• Publisher: Scepter Publishers
• Length: 539 Pages
• Weight: 1.76 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Comprehensive treatment of St. Paul

A favorite genre of Catholic authors through the years has been biographies or fictionalized historical novels on the saints. You can find a plethora of works on St. Francis of Assisi, St. Ignatius Loyola or even St. Maximilian Kolbe. Thus, I find it odd that so few biographies or novels exist on those considered the foundation of the Church - the apostles. It is true that one is hard pressed to find many historical details on apostles such as Bartholomew or Simon the Zealot, but the few scriptural details plus the lively traditional accounts of their lives leads one to believe that this would be a burgeoning field of literature. What is most shocking is that even the two greatest apostles, Peter and Paul, founders of the Church of Rome, have had very few Catholic biographies or novels written on their lives. This book, "Paul of Tarsus" by Rt. Rev. Joseph Holzner, is a rare exception to this rule. Written in the 1940's, it is a lengthy (over 500 pages) biography on the great convert apostle. In many ways, it is an admirable book - Holzner leaves out nothing that is known about Paul, and fills in many details using an extensive knowledge of the 1st century culture in which Paul lived, both Roman and Jewish. By reading this book, one is able to "fill in the gaps" that sometimes occur when reading Paul's letters - who was he writing to? What was the situation of that local church? How did Paul get from this city to that city? When was Paul in prison? Who are all these people he references - Timothy, Titus, Luke, etc.? All these questions and more are adequately answered in the pages of "Paul of Tarsus." However, there are a number of flaws in this book. First, Holzer seems to be unclear as to whether he is writing a strict biography or a novel. Before reading it, I was under the impression that it was a novelized account of Paul's life. Although it had parts that had a novelized "feel," it more often than not read like a strict biography. It would have been more readable if Holzer had stuck to one style throughout. Second, I found Holzer's synopses of Paul's letters to be cumbersome and tedious to read. Holzer takes each letter and makes it a chapter in the book. He then goes through the major points, trying to write it like Paul is thinking these thoughts and ideas. But anyone who knows Paul's letters even a little bit know that they are difficult to summarize easily, as Paul has a tendency to address multiple subjects in one letter and can quickly change directions within a letter. It would be been better if Holzer had just given a quick overview of each letter, instead of trying to rewrite them. Leave it to the reader to read the actual text of the letter itself. Finally, as this book was written in the 1940's, it is a bit dated. The most glaring example of this is in Holzer's comments on the Jewish people. He has a tendency to speak of them as was typical of the time for many Christians: cursed as a people for rejecting Christ. Whereas these

Outstanding Historical and Theological Work.

I loved this book. It brought St. Paul and the scriptures alive. It has great historical descriptions of his cultural era and the geographic area of his travels. It is at the same time a great window into the early church.

Perfect Reading for the Year of St Paul

Pope Benedict has declared June, 28 2008 through June 29, 2009 to be a Pauline Year. Joseph Holzner's Paul of Tarsus is a great resource to deepen our understanding of the life of the Apostle of the Gentiles. The book is in the same vein as Fulton Sheen's Life of Christ, Frank Sheed's To Know Christ Jesus, and Alban Goodier's The Public Life Of Our Lord Jesus Christ and The Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ, but focused on Paul rather than Christ. He draws on historical records and knowledge of ancient Jewish and Roman life to put flesh on the bones of the New Testament record of Paul's life. While Holzner provides footnotes to historical documents, he would have done us a further service by cross referencing the text to the relevant New Testament passages.

Brings early Christianity to life!

Paul of Tarsus is a deeply moving account of the Apostle's life. I appreciate the author's care in researching the details and making frequent references to Holy Scripture and the Fathers of the Church. It really brings to life the reality of the early Christians. This book is a must-read for any modern-day Christian.