Paul the Convert: The Apostolate and Apostasy of Saul the Pharisee

by Alan F. Segal

Book Overview

Although Paul's writings have been intensively studied by Christian theologians, they have been dismissed by Jewish scholars as the meditations of an antagonistic apostate who broke completely with... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0300045271
• ISBN13: 9780300045277
• Release Date: May 1990
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Alan Segal's Paul The Convert

Alan F. Segal's Paul the Convert is absolutely brilliant. It is an invaluable book for any serious student of the Apostle Paul and the Pauline epistles, and it will be of considerable interest to those interested in rabbinical Judaism. The information provided about Judaism and its influence upon Paul's writings is most informative and provides tremendous insight into Paul's theology and writings. The scope and depth of the material presented in this book is amazing, and Alan Segal presents this material in a manner, which is clear, logical, and convincing. I only regret that I did not have this book when it was first released, in 1990. -Barry C. Gaynor, M.Div., M.S.W.

Understanding Paul the Apostle

Alan Segal gives us a whole new perspective of the Apostle Paul from a Jewish scholar who is well versed in first century Judaism. By placing Paul in his own time and culture rather than trying to identify him with the church which canonized him as a saint hundreds of years after his death, we get a much better understanding of a man who, although a prolific writer, remains an enigma. Segal tries to understand Paul as a fellow Jew and neither lionizes him as the hero of Christendom nor disparages him as a self seeking adventurer who turned Christianity into a Hellenistic mystery religion. Segal describes Paul as a Pharisaic Jew who converted to an apocalyptic form of Judaism (primitive Christianity) based upon his revelation of the risen Christ and his years spent in Syria living with a community of gentile believers who enabled him to interpret the meaning of his revelation. Segal claims that it is a mistake to identify Rabbinic Judaism with the first century Pharisees and to use the Mishnah and the Talmud to understand the Jewish opposition to Jesus. In Segal's own words, "it is a pity that few Jewish writers have attempted to understand Paul" and "Paul is, ironically, one of the most fruitful and reliable sources for first century Jewish religious life." Paul's revelation can be understood in the same light as what was known later as Jewish Merkabah mysticism which, in the first century, was linked with apocalyptic beliefs (ie Qumran). Paul's risen Christ can be identified with the human figure on a throne acting as a heavenly mediator who carries the name of the Lord and reflects the glory of God which was inspired by the books of Ezekiel, Daniel, and Enoch. This figure was known by various titles such as Son of Man, Melchizedek, and Metatron. Like Enoch, Paul claims to have gazed upon the glory of God and was thus transformed into a spiritualy resurrected being. It was the gentile community in Syria which helped Paul understand the meaning of his revelation. To Segal, Paul's writings are important evidence for the existence of first century Jewish mysticism. Years later, Rabbinic Judaism repudiated the idea of two powers in Heaven (ie a divine heavenly mediator) which is why Jewish Christianity was branded as a heresy in the synagogue. Even though the inclusion of gentiles was an anathema to other Jewish apocalyptic groups like the Qumranites, Paul's theology parallels many ideas found in the Dead Sea Scrolls. The idea of justification, whereby all humans are sinful and require God's grace for salvation is practically mirrored in a passage of 1QS11. Paul's dualism of flesh versus spirit is similar to the Sons of Light versus the Sons of Darkness. Segal suggests that Paul may have been aware of Essene teachings prior to his conversion. Paul believed that believers who were baptized into the body of Christ would be transformed into the image of Christ as he had been. As an apocalypticist, Paul believed in the imminent return

Paul; a Jew in a Hellenistic world

If you are interested in Paul then I would highly recommend this book; it's another stone for the foundation. This book does a good job examining Paul's conversion and his experience in a Hellenistic social setting.

Book on Paul the Apostle

I love this book!! This was an assignment for World Civ, but it was the best book I think I have ever read as an assignment. I wouldn't have read it had it not been brought to my attention by the instructor. Boy, I would have really missed some good stuff. Read this book.

Excellent exegesis of Paul's influence.

Let me say at the outset that I am not a scholar and have no academic credentials. However I am reasonably well read in the history of the birth of Christianity. I bought this book because it had been well-mentioned in reviews in Anglican journals I receive. I was not disappointed. This is an excellent work written from a Jewish perspective, and as such it brings a new and exceedingly important dimension to the understanding of first century Judaism and the influence of Paul in the growth of the Christian church which had begun life as a sect within then (as now) heterodox Judaism. I think, as does Mark Stover in The Library Journal and the first reviewer, that Professor Segal has done a superb job in explaining to us what first century Judaism looked like and the birth pangs of the early Christian church and how it eventually separated itself from Judaism and Paul's role in this. The book is not easy to read, but the subject matter is difficult. It is not something easy or cut and dried. I think Professor Segal writes exceedingly well, and that anyone seeking an understanding of Judaism and Christianity in our own time will find this book extremely rewarding. I urge potential buyers to pay no attention to the previous review. It is valueless.