This is a great book for anyone who is truthfully looking for an account of the new testament, especially on Paul, in light of Judaism. The book is a compilation of a few essays in which Mr. Stendahl, a bishop from Sweden, displays an unusually gifted insight and discernment between Paul and the introspective Western conscience, which unfortunately plagues Christianity in America today. Anyone who reads this book will definitely be enlightened and will acquire a new, authoritative way of looking at Scripture.

Not for the casual reader or those unfamiliar with historical-critical method, this collection of essays provides remarkable insight into the most recent work in Pauline exegesis. Unfortunately, like some of Professor Horsley's other texts, this book is sufficiently techinical so as to effectively limit itself to the academic community. Once again, Horsley has failed to reach the masses.

In Paul And Politics: Ekklesia, Israel, Imperium, Interpretation, Richard Horsley has assembled an impressive collection of contributors arguing against the traditional thinking of the past and dealing in original and provocative fashions with several interrelated issues running through Paul's letters and their subsequent interpretation within the context of Christian history. These issues include Paul and the politics of interpretation; Paul and the politics of the Roman Empire; Paul and the politics of Israel (with reference to the relations of Jews and Gentiles); Paul and the politics of churches)with respect to relations of men and women, slaves and freemen). Very highly recommended for personal and academic Christian history and theology reference collections and reading lists, Paul And Politics is a seminal and scholarly work that will prove an admirable springboard for group study and seminar discussions.

Stendhal is well-known to New Testament students for his provocative article on 'The Apostle Paul and the Introspective Conscience of the West' (1963) and here at last is his book-length reflection on Paul's letter to the Romans, where he works out that article at greater length and tied to the text.

It is succinct (around 80 pages of text) and written with a superb lightness of touch. This is 'the big picture' of Paul at his most excited, guiding the perplexed reader through the tangled maze of the argument with humour and yet a serious concern to grasp the same vision of God which motivated Paul.

If there is a complaint, it is perhaps that Stendahl makes such short work of the intricacies of Romans that one wonders if he is perhaps a little more straightforward than Paul himself. Never the less, he nuances well known positions with clarity (notably rejecting simplistic ideas of '2 covenants' sometimes attributed to him) and he reminds us of just why we ever bothered with the New Testament in the first place.

Highly recommended.