Paul, Then and Now

Journal for the Study of the New Testament Booklist
“This is a constructive project of Pauline interpretation, but it also develops an important metacritical challenge concerning the ways in which interpreters have engaged in ‘hermeneutical ventriloquism’ (p. 3), making the apostle speak for them.”

Religious Studies Review
“These studies have already made important contributions to the discussion of Paul and his letters. Scholars and students will benefit from having them gathered in one location.”

“Matthew Novenson has emerged as a leading Pauline scholar, and this fine collection of his essays indicates why. Through careful analysis of the sources, he insists on placing Paul honestly in the historical past, in all its strangeness from our point of view. But he has also thought deeply and clearly about the hermeneutical responsibility we undertake if we wish to activate Paul’s voice today. Lively, provocative, and self-aware, these essays are a rich resource for all who study Paul.”
— John M. G. Barclay
Durham University

“This fine collection of essays takes up a number of important issues in Pauline studies and displays at every turn Matthew Novenson’s remarkable capacity for astute questions and gracious engagement with the work of others. The results are insightful and instructive. This is must-reading for Pauline specialists.”
— Beverly Roberts Gaventa
Princeton Theological Seminary

“In this very interesting book, Novenson pursues his primary interest in the original historical situations of the Pauline letters and their meaning in those contexts. At the same time, he studies other, later readings to clarify the differences between them and what the apostle was up to. This is a fascinating and original approach, and its fruits are worth considering seriously.”
— Adela Yarbro Collins
Yale Divinity School

“These brilliant essays—with historical knowledge and theological awareness, with clarity and wit—advance our understanding both of Paul’s historical context and of how our own contexts influence our readings.”
— Amy-Jill Levine
Vanderbilt University