Meet Paul Again for the First Time: Jewish Apostle of Pagan Redemption

This bold, new look at the apostle Paul will challenge longtime thinking about the “apostle to the gentiles.” Unfortunately, common misperceptions and outdated characterizations continue to prevail in mainstream teaching and preaching about Paul. Meet Paul Again for the First Time introduces readers to a brand-new Paul which, as it turns out, was the original Paul all along. With clarity and purpose, Clausen rejects unfounded preconceptions about the apostle. For example, he did not teach a “law-free gospel,” he did not reject Judaism or the law, and he did not see himself as a miserable sinner who found forgiveness only in Christ. Based on a reappraisal of first-century Judaism, recognition of the pagan targets of Paul’s mission, and an appreciation for Paul’s skill as a Greco-Roman rhetorician and interpreter of Jewish scripture, Meet Paul Again brings consistency and clarity to critical Pauline concepts including the new covenant, works of the law, preservation and deliverance, the future of Israel, and the status of gentiles in God’s family. Paul’s was a mission of inclusiveness. His primary objective was to preserve sinning gentiles from God’s wrath, and welcome them in worship beside their Jewish brothers and sisters, before the imminent arrival of the great and terrible Day of the Lord.

David Christian Clausen is Adjunct Lecturer of New Testament studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He is the author of The Upper Room and Tomb of David: The History, Art and Archaeology of the Cenacle on Mount Zion (2016).