Book Review: “Paul: Apostle and Fellow Traveler”

Paul: Apostle and Fellow Traveler by Jerry L. Sumney
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Paul Apostle and Fellow Traveler by Jerry L. Sumney is an excellent work offering an overview of recent scholarship on Paul and the epistles in the New Testament written by him and/or attributed to him. The issues of authorship of each epistle is discussed in clear and easy to understand terms.

The book itself is divided into three main sections: the first part is a historical, cultural, and theological overview of the New Testament era; the second part discusses the undisputed Pauline epistles; and the third part discusses the disputed ones.

The writing is simple and clear; in fact, it took me a few chapters to get used to it because of its style - short sentences and very simple style. I guess I expected a more heavy, complicated writing given the topic. The content is not superficial in any way, however.

The first part that discusses the overall environment of the Pauline churches is quite informative and provides necessary background for understanding how to read, interpret, understand, and apply each of the epistles that are discussed in the remainder of the book.

The second and third parts discuss each epistle. Most chapters discuss one epistle, but a few of the shorter epistles are discussed together in a single chapter. The discussions include the use of rhetoric, literary features, the possible issue(s) addressed, the historical setting and context, the theologies, and what it reveals about the author.

When discussing the disputed epistles, Jerry provides clear reasons why the material for each is disputed and why Paul most likely could not have been the author, but also why the early chose to accept it as authoritative.

To be clear, this is not a liberal Christian work. It takes the incarnation, the crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ as historical. However, it is not hold to the conservative (and certainly not fundamentalist) Christian tradition of the historicity of Pauline authorship of all of the epistles attributed to him. It accepts recent, sound, mainstream Christian Pauline scholarship in both authorship and theology.

I think Paul Apostle and Fellow Traveler is a worthwhile book to have on my shelf (or e-shelf) as a quick and concise reference to the Pauline epistles and their time and place.

(This review is based on ARC through NetGalley and the publisher.)

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