Why Paul’s Argument Against ‘Erga Nomou’ was not Against Doing ‘Works of the Law,’ But Instead Based on Faithfulness to What Torah Taught About Circumcision

New Essay Published: Re-Framing Paul’s Opposition to Erga Nomou as “Rites of a Custom” for Proselyte Conversion Completed by the Synecdoche “Circumcision” In The Journal of the Jesus Movement in its Jewish Setting (JJMJS) 8 (2021): 75–115 In Galatians, Paul challenges some Christ-followers who are not circumcised but interested in undertaking this “rite” (ἔργον) from the premise they have failed to recognize that, according to Torah, they cannot do so because

Did Paul Declare “All Israel Will Be Saved” or “Will be Safed”?

How Making Better Sense of Paul’s Historical Argument Can Advance Better Christian-Jewish Relations Today I am delighted to announce that my paper for a conference in Bratislava, Slovakia in September of 2019, which was entitled, “‘All Israel Will Be Saved‘ or ‘Kept Safe‘? (Rom 11:26): Israel’s Conversion or Irrevocable Calling to Gospel the Nations?,” is now available in the conference volume entitled, “Israel and Nations: Paul’s Gospel in the Context

We Need a New Translation of Romans 11 to Achieve the Goodwill Aims of Post-Shoah Christian-Jewish Relations Re-Reasoning

The English version of my conference paper, entitled in English, New Fruit from a Familiar Olive Tree? Problems and Prospects for Post-Shoah Appeals to New Insights from Romans 11, is now available as a pdf herein, by permission of the publisher, under essays in journals and books (or click HERE). This essay is being translated into German by Carla Weitensteiner and Hermut Löhr, with the title, “Neue Früchte von einem

Paul – Why Bother? A Jewish Perspective

   “Paul – Why Bother?: A Jewish Perspective,” has been published by Svensk Teologisk Kvartalskrift (STK), also known as Scandinavian Theological Quarterly 95, no. 4 (2019): 271–87. This is an essay version of my Honorary Doctorate lecture at Lund University in May, 2019. The online version in the journal is available HERE. They permit distribution of the pfd, which you can download HERE. I would value your comments here or by email through

Welcome to my new Mark D. Nanos website!

Hi! I am pleased to announce my new website for “Mark D. Nanos,” with special attention to the “Paul within Judaism” perspective, is now live. The original website design this is replacing was from 2003, so it was time to update for a number of reasons. There are still a few details to complete, and I hope to finish these very soon. In the meantime, you will find information on

Four Views on Paul

Four Views on The Apostle Paul by Michael F. Bird, Stanley N. Gundry, Douglas A. Campbell, Mark D. Nanos, Luke Timothy Johnson, Thomas R. Schreiner Zondervan, 2012 Purchase from Zondervan or from Amazon Book Summary:Recent years have seen much controversy around the apostle Paul, his religious and social context, and its effects on his theology. In the helpful Counterpoints format—Four Views on the Apostle Paul, four leading scholars present their views

Reviews by Mark D. Nanos

Kathy Ehrensperger, ed., Searching Paul: Conversations with the Jewish Apostle to the Nations, Collected Essays (WUNT 429; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2019): Review of Biblical Literature (RBL)  02/2024. Paula Fredriksen, When Christians Were Jews: The First Generation (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2018): Journal of Theological Studies (JTS) 70, no. 2 (2019): 835–39. Panelist review of The Real Paul: Recovering His Radical Challenge, Bernard Brandon Scott; Salem, OR: Polebridge Press, 2015 (Westar Institute at

Paul within Judaism

Paul Within Judaism: Restoring The First-Century Context To The Apostle  Co-edited with Magnus ZetterholmFortress Press, 2015 Amazon Description: In these chapters, a group of renowned international scholars seek to describe Paul and his work from “within Judaism,” rather than on the assumption, still current after thirty years of the “New Perspective,” that in practice Paul left behind aspects of Jewish living after his discovery of Jesus as Christ (Messiah).  After

Videos

Interview with Mark D. Nanos about Reading Paul within Judaism: The Collected Essays of Mark D. Nanos, Vol. 1 (Cascade, 2017) Mark Nanos on new book, Reading Paul within Judaism (interviewed by Kurt Willems, The Paul Podcast), March 23, 2018 “Paul’s Relationship to Jews and Judaism in First-Century Context: Revisiting the Translation of Romans 11,” at Westmont College, March 24, 2014 Skype interview with David Burnett on October 12, 2012, for a class at Criswell