Experience Paul's world-changing writings in the full, chronological context of his life story--from Pharisee and persecutor of the church to the most influential defender of the gospel of Jesus Christ. "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ..." So goes Paul's typical introduction, a modest title for one of Christianity's most authoritative figures. Unique among the apostles, Paul was well-educated and well-respected in the Jewish community of the day. His story is one of dramatic conversion and passionate instruction. His life's work was becoming a servant of Jesus Christ. From pastor and teacher Dr. John MacArthur, One Faithful Life is the first-of-its-kind harmony of Paul's message and life. As with One Perfect Life--which weaved the Gospels into the seamless narrative of Jesus' life--One Faithful Life walks us chronologically through the biblical ministry of Paul, tying together background information from the Gospels, the book of Acts, and Paul's epistles to the growing movement of Christ-followers. In this comprehensive storyline of the Apostle Paul's life, you'll find: Verse-by-verse explanations and section introductions from one of the most respected pastor-teachers of our time Introductory commentary of the major themes and purpose of each of Paul's letters A fresh perspective on the enduring truths of the gospel message

In this “compulsively readable exploration of the tangled world of Christian origins” (Publishers Weekly), religious historian James Tabor illuminates the earliest years of Jesus’ teachings before Paul shaped them into the religion we know today. This fascinating examination of the earliest years of Christianity reveals how the man we call St. Paul shaped Christianity as we know it today. Historians know almost nothing about the two decades following the crucifixion of Jesus, when his followers regrouped and began to spread his message. During this time Paul joined the movement and began to preach to the gentiles. Using the oldest Christian documents that we have—the letters of Paul—as well as other early Chris­tian sources, historian and scholar James Tabor reconstructs the origins of Christianity. Tabor shows how Paul separated himself from Peter and James to introduce his own version of Christianity, which would continue to develop independently of the message that Jesus, James, and Peter preached. Paul and Jesus illuminates the fascinating period of history when Christianity was born out of Judaism.

A stirring account of the life of Paul, who brought Christianity to the Jews, by the most popular writer on religion in the English-speaking world, Karen Armstrong, author of The History of God, which has been translated into thirty languages

Acts is the sequel to Luke's gospel and tells the story of Jesus's followers during the 30 years after his death. It describes how the 12 apostles, formerly Jesus's disciples, spread the message of Christianity throughout the Mediterranean against a background of persecution. With an introduction by P.D. James

It is a common—and fundamental—misconception that Paul told people how to live. Apart from forbidding certain abusive practices, he never gives any precise instructions for living. It would have violated his two main social principles: human freedom and dignity, and the need for people to love one another. Paul was a Hellenistic Jew, originally named Saul, from the tribe of Benjamin, who made a living from tent making or leatherworking. He called himself the “Apostle to the Gentiles” and was the most important of the early Christian evangelists. Paul is not easy to understand. The Greeks and Romans themselves probably misunderstood him or skimmed the surface of his arguments when he used terms such as “law” (referring to the complex system of Jewish religious law in which he himself was trained). But they did share a language—Greek—and a cosmopolitan urban culture, that of the Roman Empire. Paul considered evangelizing the Greeks and Romans to be his special mission. “For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” The idea of love as the only rule was current among Jewish thinkers of his time, but the idea of freedom being available to anyone was revolutionary. Paul, regarded by Christians as the greatest interpreter of Jesus’ mission, was the first person to explain how Christ’s life and death fit into the larger scheme of salvation, from the creation of Adam to the end of time. Preaching spiritual equality and God’s infinite love, he crusaded for the Jewish Messiah to be accepted as the friend and deliverer of all humankind. In Paul Among the People, Sarah Ruden explores the meanings of his words and shows how they might have affected readers in his own time and culture. She describes as well how his writings represented the new church as an alternative to old ways of thinking, feeling, and living. Ruden translates passages from ancient Greek and Roman literature, from Aristophanes to Seneca, setting them beside famous and controversial passages of Paul and their key modern interpretations. She writes about Augustine; about George Bernard Shaw’s misguided notion of Paul as “the eternal enemy of Women”; and about the misuse of Paul in the English Puritan Richard Baxter’s strictures against “flesh-pleasing.” Ruden makes clear that Paul’s ethics, in contrast to later distortions, were humane, open, and responsible. Paul Among the People is a remarkable work of scholarship, synthesis, and understanding; a revelation of the founder of Christianity.

A blend of the Gospels in the New King James Version, showing how Matthew, Mark, Luke and John fit together with verse-by-verse explanations.

The Apostle Paul's dramatic and much discussed conversion on the road to Damascus radically changed the course of his life - as well as the Christian religion. Can a new narrative, and a new perspective, be brought to this twothousand-year-old storyand centuries of critical thought and study? The writer and filmmaker Robert Orlando believes it can. 'Apostle Paul: A Polite Bribe' is a dramatic and challenging book, inspired by his controversial film of the same name. This ground-breaking look at Paul's life draws on extensive research into Paul's letters and the book of Acts to reveal his human attitudes and insecurities. Orlando constructs a fresh take on Paul's life, especiallyhis collection for the Jerusalem church, and proposes thatPaul, as one of Christianity's most celebrated converts, may have needed more than faith and fervour to convince the other apostles to accept his vision of ministry. 'Apostle Paul: A Polite Bribe' illustrates how a vision of promise eventually leadsto a hopeless prison cell and, ultimately, a new religion, challenging the traditional perspective and inspiring new thought about one of the best-known founders of the Christian religion.