The Imitation of Paul: An Exegetical Study

"All of Christendom has heard of the imitation of Christ. Few within Christendom have heard much of the imitation of Paul. Perhaps there is nothing extraordinary about such a state of affairs. After all, Christ fills a far more significant role in Christianity than the Apostle Paul does. And yet, when one looks at the matter purely statistically, it is striking to find that the thought of the imitation of Paul comes to literal expression in the New Testament five times, while the thought of the imitation of Christ is found literally expressed only twice." -From the Introduction

Willis Peter De Boer grew up in Grand Rapids and graduated from Calvin College Seminary with a three-year interruption to serve in the US Army Air Corps in Europe during World War II. He pastored the CRC Church in Washington, DC for four years; he then served as CRC Home Missionary in Bradenton, Florida for two years. After a four-year break to earn a graduate degree in theology (in Amsterdam, The Netherlands) he returned to teach in the theology department at Calvin College for twenty-six years, retiring in 1988. For the next fifteen years he was available to serve in an interim capacity for churches without a pastor, and he enjoyed being back in the pastorate. --Grand Rapids Press