Paul

In Fresh Perspective

By: N. T. Wright

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

For me," says N.T.Wright, "there has been no more stimulating exercise, for the mind, the heart, the imagination and the spirit, than trying to think Paul's thoughts after him and constantly to be stirred up to fresh glimpses of God's ways and purposes with the world and with us strange human creatures."

Wright's accessible new volume, built on his Cambridge University Hulsean Lectures of 2004, takes a fresh look at Paul in light of recent understandings of his Jewish roots, his attitude toward the Roman Empire, and his unique reframing of Jewish symbols in relation to his experience of the risen Christ. Then Wright attempts a short systematic account of the main theological contours of Paul's thought and its pertinence for the church today.

©2009 N.T. Wright (P)2009 christianaudio.com

Subtle, difficult in places and worth it

Book great. Narrator needs to brush up on pronunciation of Hebrew words. Doesn’t cut it to have a snotty English academic accent and mispronounce common Hebrew words from the Bible.

Powerful and concise

This book by Wright is one of the most, if not the most, powerful yet condensed readings of the apostle Paul. In it Wright proposes new categories for a theology of Paul’s letters built around a reworking of monotheism, election and eschatology. Not by Wright but by Paul. For those who would take this to heart, everything in those letters becomes more and more clear and comprehensible when viewed within these reworked categories. The narration is also superb.

Refreshing

Start here if you're new to NT Wright, refreshing take on Paul and the biblical story.

Acessing Recent Scholarship on Paul

Where does Paul rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Audio books are great means of accessing information. This is a technical book on that deals with the search for the historic Paul and attempts to reframe Paul away from the superational deconstruction that led to the idea that Paul was the founder of Christianity and not Jesus. N.T. Wright is a reputable scholar and his material is very accessible and understandable for those wanting an introduction in this NT issue.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

n/a

What does Simon Vance bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Great voice and pace

chapters mistaged, otherwise great!

I've read a chunk of Wright's Jesus stuff, including his academic stuff. This book was really a really good"big picture" book for his Pauline stuff. I also like to narrators accent, very appropriate.. the only thing was that the book Is 8 chapters, but this is divided into 7 that aren't even close to where the actual chapters are..

Book version of lecture

This is a formal academic lecture in book form. I found it pretty straightforward, but I’ve read his stuff before.

I particularly like his point that apocalyptic does not mean dualist in Paul.

Lots of good nuggets, but not a tome - therefore a good audiobook.

Not a New Perspective, But a Fresh Look at Paul

As a seminary tudent, I'm often required to read heavy works as part of my education. Although this is not light and easy material, it is accessable to anyone who want to go deeper into Paul's writings.

Good Material

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This was a good book - the only down side is that the reader obviously did not know how to properly pronounce some of the words - especially when the original languages were referred to. It took me a few times to hear certain Greek words in the context of how he was using them to put together what he was talking about.

What did you like best about this story?

NT Wright's scholarship is top notch.

Which character – as performed by Simon Vance – was your favorite?

N/A

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

A Refreshing Reading of Paul

Any additional comments?

N/A

Great book.

great book. The timer is off though, so it doesn't line up with the chapter breaks.

Chapter Boundaries Are Garbage (urgh!)

Hey there fine people! Here is the actual cue data, fueled with coffee.

The TOC mentions only seven chapters. In fact, there are eight. And all of the timecodes are meaningless.

Please keep in mind that these timecodes *include* the 2.5-second header that has the guy declaring, "This is Audible (and our Table Of Contents is totally mental)".

0:00:00 Introduction
0:10:40 Part 1: Themes; Chapter 1: 1) Paul's World + Paul's Legacy
0:39:36 2) Fighting Over Paul's Legacy: Perspectives Old, New, And Different
0:59:04 Chapter 2: Creation And Covenant 1) In The Old Testament
1:13:33 2) Three Central Passages
1:15:04 a) Colossians 1:15-20
1:18:16 b) 1 Corinthians 15
1:21:24 c) Romans 1-11
1:36:40 3) Evil And Grace; Plight And Solution
1:46:04 4) Conclusion
1:49:56 Chapter 3: Messiah And Apocalyptic 1) Introduction
1:56:36 2) Jesus As Messiah In Paul
2:17:07 3) Apocalyptic In Paul
2:40:33 Chapter 4: Gospel And Empire 1) Introduction
2:50:04 2) Caesar's Empire And Its Ideology
2:57:29 3) Jewish Critique Of Pagan Empire
3:07:43 4) Paul's Counter-Imperial Theology
3:35:09 5) Conclusion
3:36:50 Part 2: Structures; Chapter 5: Rethinking God 1) Introduction
3:44:55 2) Monotheism
3:57:33 3) Monotheism And Christology
4:15:07 4) Monotheism And The Spirit
4:29:20 5) Scriptural Roots, Pagan Targets, Practical Work
4:42:59 6) Conclusion
4:43:55 Chapter 6: Reworking God's People 1) Introduction
4:45:23 2) Election
4:51:07 3) Election Reshaped Around Jesus
5:25:04 4) Election Reworked Around The Spirit
5:30:54 5) Redefinition Of Election Rooted In Scripture
5:39:00 6) Conclusion
5:41:42 Chapter 7: Reimagining God's Future 1) Introduction
5:41:42 2) Jewish Eschatology In The First Century
5:56:24 3) Eschatology Reimagined Around The Messiah
6:22:11 4) Eschatology Reimagined Around The Spirit
6:37:08 5) Eschatology In Context
6:43:37 6) Conclusion
6:45:48 Chapter 8: Jesus, Paul, And The Task Of The Church 1) Introduction
6:46:46 2) Jesus And Paul
7:05:02 3) The Work Of An Apostle
7:30:22 4) Conclusion
7:41:03 Closing Credits

Please forgive any typos. I have the jitters, because: coffee.