It seems that such an interest would have pleased the Apostle Paul, since, contrary to popular belief, he saw his calling primarily in going to the "outsiders," to the "nations," to the Gentiles, to people who had never heard of the One God worshipped by the Jews, to those whose lives had been determined for many centuries by Greek, Roman, and other local cults. A significant part of our book consists of reflections on how Paul understood his (Jewish) apostleship among the Gentiles, and the search for an answer to this question allowed us to take a qualitatively different look at all of Paul's texts. Therefore, I felt it necessary to delve into some of the topics and, in particular, to speculate on the political consequences of the statement "Jesus is Lord", which in essence meant, among other things, that Caesar was an impostor. The reader can learn more about this in my commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, included in the tenth volume of the New Interpreter's Bible, 2002.

The interpretation of the Pauline texts is still controversial also because many Christians brought up in the Protestant and Reformed traditions tend to derive all the truths of the faith and church teaching from the way the great Reformers, especially Luther and Calvin, treated the Apostle Paul. I admire the brilliant Reformed theology and exegesis, and yet I am convinced that the Reformers themselves would most likely urge not to accept their words as immutable truths, but rather to follow their example, that is, to turn to the Scriptures again and again, to try to understand what God pleases us to reveal in the sacred Word. Scripture is inexhaustible; Paul's texts themselves call for a more complete and complete reading of them than Luther and Calvin did, and in this way the value of the discoveries of the Reformers is not only not abolished, but on the contrary made more apparent, just as a square appears when it becomes part of a cube, and disappears when it becomes a circle. Thus, I am convinced that the doctrine of justification by faith, so relevant to the Reformation, must be rethought in the light of a more attentive and historically sensitive reading of Galatians, which is what I am trying to do (see, in particular, Chapter Seven). Again, you can read more about this in the above-mentioned commentary on the Epistle to the Romans.

I was very pleased to learn that many colleges and seminars found my work to be a worthy introduction to the problems of the Pauline Epistles. Paul was a preacher, and his texts, if taken seriously, can undoubtedly grow up and form more than one generation of heralds of the word. I sincerely hope that the new edition of our book will contribute to this goal in its own way.

N. T. Wright

Preface

In the twentieth century, the Apostle Paul stirred the minds no less than in the first. Then, from time to time, he was stoned to death, but now words are preferred. Some stubbornly consider Pavel to be an annoying and dangerous eccentric. Others, no less stubbornly, continue to see in him the greatest teacher of faith after Christ. This entire spectrum of opinions can be observed not only in the mass consciousness, but also in theological literature.

Anglicans, for the most part, treated the Apostle Paul rather coolly. We did not want to get too carried away with it in order to avoid accusations of excessive Protestantism, but we did not want to refute it either: it would have been completely Catholic. We didn't want to take his every word too seriously, so as not to sound too conservative, but we didn't want to dismiss him altogether so as not to be known as liberals. Typically, we have a few favorite passages, a few "texts for all times" (e.g., the thirteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians, which is as popular as the eleventh chapter of the same epistle is unpopular), a few favorite topics (e.g., "life in Christ," a topic so all-encompassing that it works for almost every theological scheme), and a favorite epistle (most likely to the Philippians, because it is short, understandable, and life-affirming, in contrast to the long, mournful, and confused Second Epistle to the Corinthians, which is suitable only for preparation for Lent, which, however, was taken into account by the compilers of the lectionary, and in which, moreover, two whole chapters are devoted to money, which was completely confusing).

For about twenty years now, I have had to deal with the texts of the Apostle Paul more or less constantly, and during this time I have finally become convinced of the complete inconsistency of such approaches. Even after defending my doctoral dissertation on Romans, preparing commentaries on Colossians and Philemon, and a monograph on Paul's concept of Christ and the law (this is not counting a few articles on various fragments and themes of his epistles), I still feel that I am somewhere halfway to the top: there is so much to explore, understand and see. Often, reading the works of my colleagues on the Apostle Paul, I feel as if I am looking into a misty abyss, and not at the top of a mountain, although I understand perfectly well that I myself still have to go to it.

Thus, the book that we present to the reader is something like unfinished travel notes. A longer work, in which I try to talk about Paul in much the same way as I did about Jesus in Jesus and Victory of God (SPCK and Fortress, 1996),1 is still in the works. But in the last few years I have lectured in various places on various aspects of Pauline theology, and several of my listeners have persuaded me to share my thoughts with a wider audience. I am very grateful for all the opportunities I have been given—invitations to lecture at Lichfield Cathedral, to give an annual series of lectures at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, to present my research at the University of Exeter, and to give several public lectures at Asbury Seminary in Kentucky and at Canadian Theological Seminary in Regina, Saskatchewan. Everywhere the hosts who received me were incredibly hospitable, the listeners were attentive, and the "questioners" were inquisitive and meticulous, for which I am sincerely grateful to everyone.