Paul: An Outline of His Theology

In this newly translated volume, Michael Wolter (University of Bonn, Germany) outlines the architecture of the Apostle's theology. Wolter contends that it is indeed possible to discover Paul's core theological commitments, despite the fact that the sources for Paul's theology—his letters—are diverse, contextually dependent snapshots of the Apostle's thinking at a particular moment in time.

Wolter frames Paul's enterprise as a theology of mission and conversion—a mission that accounts for the life and preaching of Paul and a conversion that highlights the experience of Christ shared by all believers. Pauline theology finds expression in the phrase "faith in Christ," which refers to the complete reorientation and exclusive new identity of the Christian.

Wolter places Paul's theology into a narrative context, often referred to by Paul himself, that emphasizes the time before Paul's conversion, Paul's encounter with the risen Christ, and the complex events leading to the Antioch incident. Wolter then explores the theology of Paul's Gospel and the response to this good news—faith—before detailing eleven interlocking and overlapping elements of Paul's thought.

Wolter's outline successfully delineates a theology common to all of Paul's letters, and does so without collapsing the texts into a timeless whole. By using the language of Paul himself, Wolter reveals the unity of Paul's theology while simultaneously unpacking it via categories drawn from modern scholarship. Wolter's Paul is as vibrant as it is careful—as compelling as it is relevant.

• Preface to the German Edition
• Preface to the English Edition
• Translator's Preface
• I. Prologue
• II. From Tarsus to Damascus
• III. The Period in Antioch
• IV. The Gospel
• V. Faith
• VI. The Salvific Reality of Jesus' Death
• VII. Baptism
• VIII. The Holy Spirit
• IX. Hope
• X. "Christ Mysticism" and "Participation in Christ"
• XI. The Community of Believers
• XII. Ethics
• XIII. Justification on the Basis of Faith
• XIV. And What Becomes of Israel?
• XV. Epilogue
• Works Cited
• Index of Biblical Texts
• Index of Subjects
• Index of Greek Words

Michael Wolter is Professor Emeritus of New Testament at the Faculty of Protestant Theology at the University of Bonn in Germany.

Robert L. Brawley is Albert G. McGaw Professor of New Testament Emeritus at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago.

Exceptionally incisive and thorough

Wolter is to be gratefully commended for this formidable achievement: a presentation of Paul's theology that is comprehensive in scope, measured in judgment, and illuminating in insight.

For a fresh, thoughtful, and by today's standards relatively brief introduction to Pauline theology, this work is definitely worth chewing on and digesting. It challenges us to see Paul's theology as ultimately consistent and eminently practical.

This book on the theology of the Apostle serves as a milestone of Paul interpretation to which all future scholarly work must pay attention. The author is due grateful respect and high recognition for the outstanding achievement that he has rendered.

Whoever searches for Paul under the theologians rather than under the philosophers strikes it rich with Michael Wolter...For Wolter, Paul the theologian stands clearly in the foreground--and why not, when a theologian writes a book for theologians?

Wolter offers a careful and magisterial overview of Pauline theology in a readable and relatively concise form. There is much that is rich and insightful in this treatment. It is also only fair to acknowledge the translational skills of Robert Brawley who has created accurate and accessible English prose. This is an important work that will be consulted frequently and with much reward.