Paul Was Not a Christian - by Pamela Eisenbaum (Paperback)

About the Book

A New Testament scholar reveals the historical Paul, not as the founder of a new Christian religion, but as a devout Jew who believed Jesus was the Christ who would unite Jews and Gentiles and fulfill God's universal plan for humanity.

Book Synopsis

Pamela Eisenbaum, an expert on early Christianity, reveals the true nature of the historical Paul in Paul Was Not a Christian. She explores the idea of Paul not as the founder of a new Christian religion, but as a devout Jew who believed Jesus was the Christ who would unite Jews and Gentiles and fulfill God's universal plan for humanity. Eisenbaum's work in Paul Was Not a Christian will have a profound impact on the way many Christians approach evangelism and how to better follow Jesus's--and Paul's--teachings on how to live faithfully today.

From the Back Cover

The True Identity of the Bible's Most Divisive Apostle

Paul is not the founder of Christianity or a zealous convert from Judaism, as is often claimed. Nor did he contend that Jesus superseded the Torah. Paul, Eisenbaum persuasively argues, remained a devout Jew who believed Jesus would unite Jews and Gentiles and fulfill God's universal plan for humanity. Meticulously researched and far-reaching in its implications, this is a much-needed corrective to misconceptions held by Christians and Jews, liberals and conservatives, alike.

Review Quotes

Eisenbaum shows the implausibility of the common interpretation of Paul that pits a Christian essence against a superficial or rejected Jewish hull. The book's great accomplishment is to show us a historically plausible picture of a fully Jewish Paul who was also fully committed to Christ. - Dr. Stanley Stowers, Chair of Religious Studies, Brown University, and author of A Rereading of Romans: Justice, Jews and Gentiles
Although contemporary scholarship on Jesus has restored him to his proper Jewish context, the apostle Paul remains an enigma, a Christian mind in a Jewish body, even in much of the "New Perspective." Pamela Eisenbaum's is one of a few important voices drawing our attention, acutely and consistently, to the continuing tensions and contradictions in Christian readings of Paul. In Paul Was Not a Christian she presents a lucid and compelling portrait of Paul as a Jew, correcting common misunderstandings of ancient Judaism along the way. This book will do more than challenge and inform: it will change the way we think about Paul, early Judaism, and the origins of Christian faith. - Neil Elliott, Author of Liberating Paul: The Justice of God and the Politics of the Apostle
'We're seeing a more widespread, popular lay interest in Paul, ' says the Rev. Victor Paul Furnish, an eminent Pauline scholar and emeritus professor of New Testament at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. 'Indeed, next to Jesus, many consider the apostle Paul the second most important figure in Christianity. ' - United Methodist Reporter
"According to traditional teachings, Paul rejected his Judaism for the new, improved version: Christianity. Bible scholar Pamela Eisenbaum says this interpretation of Paul is not only wrong, it's dangerous." - Interfaith Voices
"Professor Eisenbaum offers the general reader the most realistic first-century portrayal of the Apostle Paul ever written." - Jewish Book World
Eisenbaum's is one of a few important voices drawing our attention . . . to the continuing tensions and contradictions in Christian readings of Paul . . . This book does more than challenge and inform: it changes the way we think about Paul [and] the origins of Christian faith. - Neil Elliott, Author of Liberating Paul: The Justice of God and the Politics of the Apostle
Pamela Eisenbaum's Paul Was Not a Christian is a clear and effective presentation and extension of the view (originated by Lloyd Gaston and John Gager) that Paul remained fully identified with Judaism and the Torah throughout his life and mission and that his remarks about the Law were addressed to Gentiles and not Jews. It will repay careful reading by interested layfolk and by scholars as well. - Dr. Daniel Boyarin, Jewish Theological Seminary, UC Berkeley
Pamela Eisenbaum's Paul Was Not a Christian is a clear and effective presentation and extension of the view. . . that Paul remained fully identified with Judaism and the Torah throughout his life. . . It will repay careful reading by interested layfolk and by scholars as well. - Dr. Daniel Boyarin, Jewish Theological Seminary, UC Berkeley
"In this provocative book, biblical scholar Eisenbaum points out that the traditional Christian portrait of Paul as a former Jew who converted to the Christian religion and transformed himself into a zealous proponent of Christianity is a misreading of Paul's life and religious work. Drawing on the seven authentic Pauline letters, she recovers Paul for Judaism by showing convincingly that Paul did not have a conversion experience on the road to Damascus. Rather, he experienced a call from God to try to reunite God's people in much the same way that the prophets of the Hebrew Bible received their calls to perform the same tasks. Eisenbaum carefully uncovers the many layers of Christian myth that have falsely imprisoned Paul the Jew, reclaiming Paul as a Hellenistic Jew within a historically plausible image of Judaism and demonstrating that Paul's apparently contradictory writings make sense when this worldview is understood. Eisenbaum's lively prose and meticulous scholarship provides a compelling new portrait of the apostle. " - Publishers Weekly
"In this provocative book, biblical scholar Eisenbaum points out that the traditional Christian portrait of Paul as a former Jew . . . is a misreading of Paul's life and religious work . . . Eisenbaum's lively prose and meticulous scholarship provides a compelling new portrait of the apostle. " - Publishers Weekly
"Paul was not a Christian is well worth careful reading. It is a serious and very clear exposition of what changed and what stayed the same in Paul's religious life. This book is very highly recommended to both scholars and laypersons as all will gain from it." - Alan F. Segal, Professor of Religion and Jewish Studies Barnard College, Columbia University, Author of Paul the Convert