Reading Paul Within Judaism

Reading Paul Within Judaism: The Collected Essays Of Mark D. Nanos, Vol. 1 
Cascade, 2017

Endorsements from the back cover:

“For over twenty years, Mark Nanos has been working on situating Paul and his thought within early Judaism. This volume brings together Nanos’s innovative arguments that Paul was not an apostate Jew, but a Second Temple Jew who sought to be faithful to the Jewish law and Israel’s God as he pursued a mission to gentiles. This is a must read for anyone looking to break out of traditional readings of Paul!”

Matthew Thiessen, McMaster University

 

“Mark Nanos has pioneered the historical reconstruction of Paul as native to his own time and place—a Paul, in brief, who stands entirely within the traditional hopes, beliefs, and practices of his own people, Israel. This exciting book conveys to the reader the thrill of a refreshed portrait, free of the later overlays of Luther, of Augustine, and of post-70 CE interpretations. If you want to meet Paul again for the first time, pick up Nanos’ Reading Paul Within Judaism.” 

Paula Fredriksen, Author of Paul:The Pagans’ Apostle

Table of Contents

Preface | ix

Part I: A New Approach to the Apostle: Paul as a Torah-observant Jew

1 Paul and Judaism: Why Not Paul’s Judaism? | 3

Part II: Exploring the Implications for Exegesis and Christian-Jewish Relations

2 How Inter-Christian Approaches to Paul’s Rhetoric Can Perpetuate Negative Valuations of Jewishness—Although Proposing to Avoid That Outcome | 63

3 The Myth of the “Law-Free” Paul Standing between Christians and Jews | 77

4 Paul and the Jewish Tradition: The Ideology of the Shema | 108

5 Paul’s Non-Jews Do Not Become “Jews,” But Do They Become “Jewish”? Reading Romans 2:25–29 within Judaism, alongside Josephus | 127

6 Reading Paul in a Jewish Way: “Oh be joyful all you peoples, with God’s people” (Rom 15:10): Who Are the People? | 155

Part III: A Jewish Contribution to Pope Benedict XVI’s Celebration of the Year of St. Paul

7 Paul and Judaism (Codex Pauli) | 173

Index of Ancient Documents | 179

Reviews

By Rebecca I. Denova, as an essay entitled, “The Continuing Problem of Rescuing Paul the Jew,” in Reviews of the Enoch Seminar May 6, 2019. [or Enoch Seminar website]

 

By Zev Garber, in Iggeret (National Association of Professors of Hebrew) No. 90 (Fall 2018): 13–14.

 

By Matthew V. Novenson, Studies in Christian Jewish Relations (SCJR) 14, no. 1 (2019): 1-2.

By Brian J. Robinson, in Review of Biblical Literature, Feb., 2020.