Paul and the Power of Grace

John M. G. Barclay is Lightfoot Professor of Divinity at Durham University, England. His previous book Paul and the Gift was awarded Book of the Year by Jesus Creed in 2015. He was elected to the Fellowship of the British Academy in 2020.

"This book’s larger forerunner, Paul and the Gift, was packed full—full of both content (early Jewish texts, the history of interpreting Paul, readings of Romans and Galatians) and full of significance (it recalibrated the study of Paul even as it proclaimed the apostle’s revolutionary and merciful surprise: God gives Christ to the unworthy). Paul and the Power of Grace, somehow, is much shorter and still offers all the goods. And more. With fresh material on other Pauline letters and considerations of the theological and social ramifications of God’s christological and unconditioned gift, this book does what its title promises: it studies and isn’t ashamed to speak the gospel that is the power of God—the gospel of God’s grace."
— Jonathan A. Linebaugh
University of Cambridge

Praise for Paul and the Gift:

"Pauline studies and the church will be indebted to Barclay’s Paul and the Gift for decades, and those who read and ponder will never be the same again."
— Scot McKnight in Books & Culture

"One of the more important books on Paul to appear in many years."
— C. Kavin Rowe in First Things

"Technical, learned, and masterful, this book could prove to be the most rewarding and influential exposition of Pauline theology written in nearly two decades."
— Matthew L. Skinner in The Christian Century

"Barclay’s distinctions regarding various perspectives on grace illuminate much of the ongoing controversy over what constitutes grace. In doing so, he interacts with a wide range of scholarly literature without getting lost in scholarly detail. . . . Recommended."
— P. K. Moser in Choice

"Paul and the Gift is a brilliant book. It is not just a big, important book—an opus from a senior scholar with which anyone working in the field is obliged to interact—although it certainly is that. . . . A model of surefooted use of theory, devastating criticism of previous interpretation, thorough command of relevant classical and Jewish sources, and critical but empathetic exegesis."
— Matthew V. Novenson in Review of Biblical Literature

"One of the most important books on Paul’s theology in years. . . . Truly a gift."
— Douglas J. Moo in Themelios

"John Barclay reveals just how little we have grasped the multitude of ways in which grace—’the gift’—was parsed among Paul’s contemporaries, including questions of reciprocity and the worth of recipients. The resulting bold proposal for reorienting Pauline theology is a landmark in New Testament scholarship. A must-have, must-read, must-ponder book!"
— Beverly Roberts Gaventa, Baylor University

"A deeply impressive study by a superb scholar from whom all will learn a great deal. Indeed, future Pauline scholars are now significantly indebted to Barclay for this superabundant scholarly gift."
— Douglas A. Campbell, Duke Divinity School

"Barclay’s magisterial analysis results in a powerful and compelling new understanding of Paul’s theology of grace that cuts across traditional debates and disciplinary categorizations, remaps Paul’s location among his fellow Jews, and manages to be both historically sensitive and theologically rich."
— David G. Horrell, University of Exeter

"A watershed in Pauline studies."
— Stephen Westerholm
McMaster University