If you want to understand Christianity, you need to understand Paul. But with so many books on the apostle, where do you start?
Paul the Apostle is the ideal choice if you want a solid understanding of Paul’s life, ministry, and writings without getting weighed down with minutia. Author Robert E. Picirilli, who taught college courses on Paul for over twenty-five years, found that most books on the apostle were either too technical or too basic, so he wrote a book that strikes a happy medium. It offers:
A profile of Paul in his historical and cultural context
Outlines and explanations of his missionary journeys
Introductions and brief analyses of each of his epistles
Useful for individual study or as a textbook (as it is in many universities today), Paul the Apostle is a great one-stop study of the man who wrote half the New Testament, spread the gospel to the heart of the known world, and gave his life for the Kingdom.
My review:
Other than Jesus Christ, there is probably no one else who has helped shape Christianity than the Apostle Paul. This book intrigued me, as I have never read a book about him, only the books of the Bible that he has written.
I was surprised to find out this book has been around for a while. It was originally published in 1986, and Moody Publishing has just come up with a new edition of it, which is the one I am reviewing.
The book starts out with the earliest mention of Paul in the Bible and goes up through his last years. Packed in between those pages is a lot of information about him, his writing, and his missionary journeys. I did learn a little by reading it, and got a refresher course on a lot also. The book is well written, interesting, and the author does a great job of covering the life of Paul and his writings. Of special interest to me was the page listing the letters of Paul in chronological order. This was a very interesting read.
I was given a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
About the author:
ROBERT E. PICIRILLI is the former Academic Dean of the Graduate School at Free Will Baptist Bible College in Nashville. He began teaching in 1955. He is a member of the Research Commission of the American Association of Bible Colleges and served twice as chairman of the southeastern section of the Evangelical Theological Society. Dr. Picirilli is the author of a number of books including Paul The Apostle, The Book of Romans, and Time and Order in the Circumstantial Participles of Mark and Luke. Dr. Picirilli and his wife, Clara, have five daughters, all married.
Paul The Apostle: Missionary, Martyr, Theologian is available from Moody Publishing. Thanks to Moody for the review copy.
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