The Apostle of God: Paul and the Promise of Abraham

John White thanks a number of fellow scholars at Loyola University, and he interacts with some of the current thinking on Pauline theology, but he goes very much his own way in this book. White argues for a dual background (Jewish and Greco-Roman) to Paul's family metaphors, but for a mainly Roman background to his images of Christ's lordship. Despite practices that are friendly to students and lay readers (quoting rather than merely citing biblical passages; good explanatory footnotes; a lucid style), this book may be too advanced for most seminary students, at least as regards critically assessing the "Roman" thesis. The level of the narrative, however, will be accessible to students. There is some inconsistency in the use of Greek. Frequently, relevant terms are discussed (even the origins of qeo/jand ku/rioj- pp. 174, 178), but there is a reticence to cite Greek in other places. There is no mention of Greek in the discussion of "become" and "know" (p. 148). When White asserts that "teleological" would be a better term than "apocalyptic" to describe Paul's theology (pp. 58, 156), no Greek is used to strengthen the argument. Although the opening paragraph announces an intention to answer two questions "What prompted Paul's radical new understanding of the God of Abraham, and what was that understanding?" (p. 3)–the book only tackles the latter one. There is no searching out of Paul's psychology. [Full Review]