c. 2005 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) There has been a flurry of recent scholarly analysis on the apostle Paul.

Here is a summary of three books published within the past year:

_ “In Search of Paul: How Jesus’ Apostle Opposed Rome’s Empire with God’s Kingdom,” (HarperCollins, 445 pp., $29.95) by John Dominic Crossan and Jonathan L. Reed. Reed, an archaeologist, and Crossan delve heavily into the ancient geography of the lands that Paul visited and explore textual evidence for the customs and beliefs in the Roman empire at the time of Paul’s missionary journeys. The authors compare America, as the greatest post-industrial civilization, to Rome, the greatest pre-industrial civilization.

_ “The Gospel According to Paul: The Creative Genius Who Brought Jesus to the World,” by Robin Griffith-Jones (Harper San Francisco, 527 pp., $26.95 hardcover). Griffith-Jones opens with maps of the journeys of Paul and takes an everyday tone in explaining the apostle. “His thought has shaped the western world,” Griffith-Jones writes.

_ “Rabbi Paul” by Bruce Chilton (Doubleday, 335 pp., $21 paperback). Chilton, a professor of religion at Bard College, provides an overview of the life of Paul that reads easily and gets to the point. “Paul did not invent the message he died for,” Chilton writes. “Jesus remains the genius and founder of Christianity.”

MO/JL END RNS

Editors: This story accompanies RNS-APOSTLE-PAUL.