Paul through the Eyes of the Reformers

“In this outstanding volume, Stephen Chester brings his extensive knowledge of the Protestant Reformers to bear on the vexed question of the relationship between Paul’s understandings of justification and union with Christ. The result is a model of gracious exposition both of the Reformers and of contemporary exegesis. This is a must-read for students of Paul’s letters at all levels.”
—Beverly Roberts Gaventa, Princeton Theological Seminary
 
“For anyone interested in the history of Pauline theology on a host of crucial issues—justification, sin and original sin, the law, grace, faith and works, union with Christ—Chester provides an education in one volume, exemplary in its clear, concise exposition. He focuses on the connections and disconnections between the Reformers both with earlier theologians and with contemporary Pauline scholarship (particularly the New Perspective on Paul). Few can be the readers who will not learn much from his careful study.”
—Stephen Westerholm, McMaster University
 
“In this eminently readable book, Chester navigates the Reformers’ readings of Paul with nuance and clarity. In addition, he puts them in conversation with more recent trends in Pauline scholarship, disentangling similarities and differences. His approach is refreshingly irenic, fair, and charitable as he disentangles the complexities of differing points of view. The result is a brilliant reclamation of the Reformers’ liberating insights into the all-encompassing grace of God in Christ. This book is a treasure that belongs on the shelf of every scholar and pastor who cares about Paul’s gospel.”
—Susan Eastman, Duke Divinity School
 
“Stephen Chester has a welcome habit of exposing the uninformed judgments that mar Pauline scholarship, especially in relation to the Reformation. Here he both shortens and supplements his earlier work, developing his key points with sparkling clarity. Students and teachers who are grappling with the central themes of Paul’s theology will be enormously grateful for Chester’s deep understanding of the Reformers and his critical dialogue with them.” 
—John M. G. Barclay, Durham University
 
“Paul through the Eyes of the Reformers is a grand tour. The stops and sites focus on the sixteenth-century Reformers, but the tour includes the history of reading Paul’s letters from Augustine to the medieval era, and from the period after the Second World War to the present. Placing the Reformers in conversation with their interpretative ancestors and (often critical) heirs, Stephen Chester facilitates a patient, not uncritical, but finally appreciative understanding of Reformation interpretations of Paul. Through Paul’s letters, the Reformers encountered the surprising grace of God; by reading Paul with the Reformers, this book also announces the surprising grace Paul calls the gospel.”
—Jonathan A. Linebaugh, Beeson Divinity School