Perspectives of Jesus in the Writings of Paul

Book excerpt: 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.