Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes - by Kenneth E Bailey (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

Christianity Today Book Award winner

Paul was a Hebrew of the Hebrews, steeped in the learning of his people.

But he was also a Roman citizen who widely traveled the Mediterranean basin, andwas very knowledgeable of the dominant Greek and Roman culture of his day. These two mighty rivers of influence converge in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians.

With razor-sharp attention to the text, Kenneth Bailey examines the cultural milieu and rhetorical strategies that shaped this pivotal epistle. He discovers the deep layers of the Hebraic prophetic tradition informing Paul's writing, linking the Apostle with the great prophets of the Old Testament.

Throughout, Bailey employs his expert knowledge of Near Eastern and Mediterranean culture to deliver to readers a new understanding of Paul and his world. Familiar passages take on a new hue as they are stripped of standard Western interpretations and rendered back into their ancient setting.

Review Quotes

"Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes is a necessary addition to the libraries of all scholars and pastors working in or preaching from 1 Corinthians. Bailey's writing is easy to follow, warm, and lucid. Though making some complex arguments and performing some deep analysis, the author never loses sight of the reader or of his goal to make Paul more accessible rather than less. This book is highly recommended for any serious reader of 1 Corinthians."

Ron C. Fay, Criswell Theological Review

"A veteran student and observer of the Middle East, Ken Bailey has distilled his knowledge and experience in this work of deep pastoral sensitivity, allowing the apostle Paul to come into his own in a way that a conventional reading of Paul does not allow or encourage. Bailey's work teems with learning and insight, and, buoyed by a clear, lively style, it instructs as well as it illuminates and elevates. The book is a model of biblical scholarship freed of the cobwebs of the study, and consecrated to the life-giving work of the church. It is a 'double-decker sandwich, ' to use Bailey's own figure, in which the sandwich is no less nourishing than the meat between the sandwich. I began reading it and couldn't put it down. Go and do thou likewise."

Lamin Sanneh, D. Willis James Professor of World Christianity, Yale Divinity School

"Bailey adds significantly to our understanding of Paul's style. Scholars are challenged to add a solid research footing to take up Bailey's interpretations in their own work. Pastors and teachers will find this an excellent supplement to be used next to several other good commentaries. It will enhance not only their exegesis but also their sermons as they learn both from Paul's theology and his rhetorical skill."

Jack Barentsen, Review of Biblical Literature, June 2012

"Bailey has done an important service in identifying these structures and the way in which they can help us understand in a deeper way Paul's intent in the letter. The book should be a rich resource for interpreters, and especially those who desire to see the rich theology underlying Paul's practical concerns."

Michelle Lee-Barnewall, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 55(3)

"Bailey helps us by giving a different and unique lens, a different vantage point, from which to view the traditional texts and interpretations."

R. Gregory Jenks, Trinity Journal, Spring 2013

"Ken Bailey is pure gold. No writer I can think of has been a greater help for teaching the Scriptures with freshness and clarity. What a gift to have his insights on Paul."

John Ortberg, Menlo Park Presbyterian Church

"Kenneth Bailey's new volume, Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes, is a refreshing reminder that for those willing to mine more deeply into the biblical text, precious gems can really be found. Bailey offers an impressive, and genuinely original, contribution to the study of 1 Corinthians that both New Testament scholars and pastors will appreciate. . . . [he] has produced a tremendous piece of scholarship that is intriguing, illuminating, and distinctive."

Michael J. Kruger, Southeastern Theological Review, Summer 2012

"New Testament scholars recognize Kenneth Bailey as that rare interpreter with intimate knowledge of Middle Eastern culture, ancient and modern. His latest volume now reveals rumination of the rhetoric that serves Paul's theology and ethics. Bailey's signal achievement is to rebut readings of 1 Corinthians as a haphazard document, obscurely reasoned. At once learned and deeply personal, this commentary will surely stimulate productive debate in the exegesis of one among Paul's weightiest letters."

C. Clifton Black, Otto A. Piper Professor of Biblical Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary

"There is absolutely no doubt that Bailey is a very skilled writer, that there is a wealth of cultural knowledge that he makes available through this book focusing on 1 Corinthians, and that future scholars can and should benefit from knowledge of Middle Eastern translations. . . . This is a worthwhile volume for students, pastors, and scholars to have in reference to Paul's first letter to the Corinthians."

Nijay K. Gupta, Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology, 67 (1)

"This scholarly yet accessible study is a helpful addition to any bookshelf--even those crowded with commentaries on First Corinthians."

Stephen M. Vantassel, BibleStudy Magazine, January February 2012

About the Author

Kenneth E. Bailey (1930-2016) was an acclaimed author and lecturer in Middle Eastern New Testament studies. An ordained Presbyterian minister, he served as Canon Theologian of the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh. The author of more than 150 articles in English and in Arabic, his writings include Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, The Good Shepherd, Open Hearts in Bethlehem: A Christmas Drama, and The Cross and the Prodigal.

Bailey spent forty years living and teaching in seminaries and institutes in Egypt, Lebanon, Jerusalem and Cyprus. For twenty of those years he was professor of New Testament and head of the Biblical Department of the Near East School of Theology in Beirut where he also founded and directed the Institute for Middle Eastern New Testament Studies. Bailey was also on the faculty of The Ecumenical Institute for Theological Research in Jerusalem.Traveling around the globe to lecture and teach, Bailey spoke in theological colleges and seminaries in England (Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol) Ireland, Canada, Egypt, Finland, Latvia, Denmark, New Zealand, Australia, and Jerusalem. He was active as a Bible teacher for conferences and continuing education events in the Middle East, Europe, and North America, and he taught at Columbia, Princeton, and Fuller Seminary.