Paul's Letter Chapter Summary

Paul's letters to the church, also known as epistles, are considered some of the most important documents in the New Testament. Paul's writings continue to shape and forge church even today. His letters were written in some of the darkest, most intense moments of Paul's life, but they also celebrate the grace, love, and life changing power of Jesus. Paul's journey in faith is shown in raw, unapologetic honesty, and inspires Christians to maintain a forward momentum, and to run the race Paul speaks so passionately about in Hebrews 12:1. Paul is able to write with both confidence and humility as he writes about the Christian journey.

Wacaster’s book, which is (as the title suggests) centered on Paul’s epistle to the Galatians, is very obviously intended to the common-level, “average” audience. Wacaster does not delve into complex conversations of textual variants, manuscript discrepancies, and disputations of authorship, nor does he use vocabulary or phraseology that is above the understanding of most individuals. Rather, Wacaster is simple, straightforward, and effective in communicating his points on the wonderful book of Galatians. With many commentaries that are written at a graduate and scholarly level, a more basic approach is much appreciated and needed.

Paul’s letter to the Romans can be broken down into four major sections. Within each of these sections there is a single compelling issue. Within the context of these respective issues, several interpretive questions can be answered through the interpretative process. These answers help us to understand how to apply the spiritual principals to our lives, as well as, help us compel other individuals to apply these spiritual principles within their lives.

The purpose behind this paper is to offer a brief review on a book called “Reading Romans in Context: Paul and Second Temple Judaism” . This review will focus on four major components, first being the editor’s information. The editor’s information will cover education, any positions they hold today, and whatever scholarship information that is currently available. The second thing that will be reviewed will be a concise summary of the major theme of the book followed by the third, an honest and courteous evaluation of the book. The fourth thing that will be added is a bibliography at the end of the paper for reference of the book.

The Lost Letters of Pergamum is a book by Professor Bruce W. Longenecker, is a fictional book of letters that are exchanged between the fictional characters Antipas, a benefactor of Rome, and Luke, a physician and writer of the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. This book is artfully written to give the modern reader a glimpse into the context and culture of the first century church. Longenecker presents a stunning display of Christ’s life through these letters and also the effects of his life in his culture.

The chapters of the book under consideration are chapters one thru five. The book in its’ entirety deals with Luke as well as Paul, but for our study, but we will only deal with the writings of Paul. Kim’s desire is to critically examine scholars and theologians who ascribe to an anti-imperial interpretation of some of Paul’s letters.

A literary analysis is the practice of looking closely at small parts to see how they affect the whole. Literary analysis focuses on how word techniques are used by the author to create meaning. One of the reasons that Paul penned his letters in Ephesians was to bolster areas that were weak in the church. In addition to that, Paul wanted to clarify central beliefs that may not have been well-defined. Probing Paul’s letter with such a supposition, reveals several frailties among the Ephesian that Paul needed to encourage and reinforce. One of these weaknesses are amalgamated with the word riches, which is present throughout the letter in Ephesians. In this portion of the essay I will break a portion of the text down into parts, in order to examine the different elements of this piece of literature, by analyzing a portion of the text.

In the book of Philemon about 61 A.D, Paul writes a letter from prison to Philemon, who was a slave owner in Colossae and a leader of in the church which was held in Philemon’s home. Paul’s reason for writing this letter to Philemon was a plea to request forgiveness for his runaway slave Onesimus, who became a new believer in Jesus Christ.

B. I found Carter’s comparison of the three communities founded by Paul to be of particular interest. Carter’s explanation of the three communities in Thessalonica, Corinth, and Philippi demonstrated how each city had a unique culture, thereby requiring Paul to adapt his letters accordingly. For example, the community in Corinth imported the imperial culture into the church (59). Paul expresses his disapproval of this culture in his letter by urging cultural distance and distinctiveness from the imperial culture that he believes is immoral (60). This culture was vastly different from that of the community in Philippi. The community in Philippi had issues with wavering faith, unity, and fear (61). Paul then adapts his letter accordingly, encouraging this community to stand firm, be united, and not be

Paul’s output was thin in this year of loss and as we do not know precise dates of his published work the three items we have might have been executed before her

Our source of knowledge of the apostolic work of Paul comes first from the Book of Acts. The epistles written by Paul serve to further our knowledge of his mission. These letters were written to churches that he had founded or churches that were known to him. Luke’s account of Paul introduces us to the basic facts about this important biblical figure. A more complete understanding of Paul’s journeys can be gleaned from his letters. These epistles were written almost at the time they occurred and they comprise some of the earliest works contained in the New Testament.

One of the most hotly debated and crucial historical questions that emerges in a study of Galatians is its correlation to the book of Acts. Some scholars take a positive view of the historical reliability of Acts and have no difficulty in seeing it as a framework for the life and times of Paul’s ministry (J. B. Lightfoot). Others, have a far more skeptical approach fuelled by differences between Acts and the Epistles (Tübingen). The dominant inclination of the scholars who remain unconvinced of the contextual value of Acts has been to downgrade the

Jackson began both books with concise introductions. Though brief in length, these introductions are full of rich and important information. Standard details such as authorship, background, and the date of writing are all adequately discussed. However, Jackson also included material on topics including the history of Corinth and the occasion for writing that help build an important foundation to understanding the Corinthian letters. The introductions are well-suited to these books, as they cover all pertinent information without delving into anything overly-scholastic that would alienate Jackson’s target audience.

Thus leading into the text. The literary context is thought to be easily identified. The target text is part of a letter which is written in the same genre as the rest of Paul’s letters. “The style of Romans fits with Paul’s other letters that are accepted as authentic...

This argument does not, however, decisively remove the possible use of ‘conversion’ for Paul, as Stendahl’s view that conversion must mean abandonment of a previous religious system is certainly not a necessary condition. In addition to this, to remove the language of ‘conversion’ from Paul’s experience is to remove its decisiveness; its absolute alteration of Paul’s thinking and being that can be seen in Gal 1:12-14. In these passages we see Paul speak of the risen Christ, who gave him his teaching and drew him away from his life in the Law, and as a Pharisee, in which he excelled (Gal 1:14) and which had led him to persecute the Church (Gal 1:13). When this Christocentric language is placed against his former understanding, which had caused him to persecute the Church, one cannot simply speak of a ‘call’, but rather must move to language of radical turning, of ‘conversion’. As this shows, while Stendahl’s argument that Paul should not be considered a ‘convert’ is not strong enough to warrant abandonment of the term, his exposition of Paul as ‘called’ should not be ignored, as, from a missional point of view, he certainly was. This leads us to the conception of Paul’s experience as encapsulating both ‘call’ and a ‘conversion’ dynamic, more fully expressing the reports he and others gave of this time.