In 1927 C.A.A. Scott, while commenting on the apostle Paul's Christology, remarked that the "history of the word Glory in the Bible has yet to be written." By using methodology developed in semantics, semiotics, and, more generally, literary theory, Newman examines the origin and rhetoric of Paul's Glory-Christology. The investigation involves three distinct tasks: (1) to plot the tradition-history of Glory which formed part of Paul's linguistic world, (2) to examine Paul's letter, in light of the reconstructed tradition-history of Glory, in order to discern the rationale of Paul's identification of Christ as Glory and, (3) to map out the implications of such an identification for Paul's theological and rhetorical strategy. On the basis of this study, four conclusions are reached for understanding Paul. First, Paul inherited a symbolic universe with signs already "full" of signification. Second, knowing the (diachronically acquired) connotative range of a "surface" symbol (e.g. Glory) aids in discerning Paul's precise contingent strategy. Third, knowing the "surface" symbol's referential power defines and contributes to the "deeper structure" of Paul's theological grammar. Finally, the heuristic power within the construals of the Glory tradition coalesce in Paul's Christophany and thus provide coherence at the "deepest" level of Paul's Christology.

How should students of Scripture engage with discerning the shape of Paul's thought? In this second edition of a trusted resource, Thomas R. Schreiner seeks to unearth Paul's worldview by observing what Paul actually says in his writings and laying out the most important themes and how they are connected. While thoroughly informed by contemporary Pauline studies, Schreiner offers an accessible account of Paul's theology.

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.

Using Paul's letter to the Romans as the foundation for his monumental study of Paul's theology, James D. G. Dunn describes Paul's teaching on God, sin, humankind, Christology, salvation, the church, and the nature of the Christian life.

There is now a substantial scholarly consensus for the emergence of a high or divine Christology very early and from a Jewish context, but the questions of "how" and "why" need further study. Within the framework of traditional Jewish monotheism, Paul and other early Christians used the language of deity to describe Jesus. To investigate their view of Jesus, the author examines Paul's discourse in 2 Cor 3:16–4:6, employing insights from rhetorical criticism and Oneness Pentecostal Christology. He explains how early Christians proclaimed the deity of Jesus within their monotheistic Jewish context. He then identifies socio-rhetorical reasons for and practical consequences of the monotheistic deification of Jesus.

In Pre-Nicene Christology in Paschal Contexts Dragoş A. Giulea re-examines the earliest texts related to the festival of Easter in light of Second Temple traditions. Commonly portrayed as sacrificial lamb, the key actor of the paschal narrative is here designated as heavenly Kabod, Divine Image, King of the Powers, celestial Anthropos, Demiurge, Son of Man, each of these divine names implying a corresponding soteriological function. Dragoş A. Giulea indicates as well that the Greek philosophical vocabulary and certain idioms of the mystery religions inspired new categories which reshaped the traditional way of describing the nature of celestial entities and the epistemological capacities able to access these realities. Thus, the King of the Powers, or the Son of Man, is several times described as a noetic Anthropos, while initiation and noetic perception become the appropriate methods of accessing the divine.

Guy Williams beleuchtet die Rolle der Geistwesen in den echten paulinischen Briefen. Entgegen der weit verbreiteten Ansicht, Geister und spirituelle Wesen seien für Paulus unbedeutend und trivial gewesen, vertritt Williams die These, dass diese inhärente Merkmale der Briefe darstellten. Die Berücksichtigung ihres historischen und kulturellen Hintergrundes zeigt, dass die Vorstellung von den »Einwohnern der paulinischen Geistwelt«, den Engeln, Dämonen, Kräften und Satan, denen des allgemeinen Gedankenguts entspricht.Schließlich bezieht Williams die Ergebnisse seiner Untersuchung auf drei Bereiche: Paulus Christologie, seine Soteriologie und seine Vorstellung von Gemeinschaft. Sein Ansatz erlaubt einen frischen Blick auf Ort und Bedeutung von spirituellen Wesen bei Paulus, nicht im Sinne einer neuen Doktrin, aber als allgemeines und kulturelles Idiom der paulinischen Texte.

The critical question of the relationship between Jesus and Paul has been well established in New Testament studies for over 150 years and it needs to be addressed with all the tools of historical criticism that scholarship has developed. So states GerrySchoberg at the beginning of this new and important work that does just that. By coupling comparative instances in the gospels and the works attributed to Paul, Schoberg invites the reader to enquire more profoundly than in past studies as to the nature of the relationship between Jesus and the most dramatic of Christian converts. At the heart of this study is not only the question of whether the New Testament truly gives a unified vision of the Christian movement, but also how the early followers of Jesus felt able to draw such insightful conclusions about him? Answering such questions through the study of Jesus and Paul offer an insight as to how one is to make theological sense of the many details experienced from day to day and thereby live a life inChrist.