What Paul Meant 1

So the first chapter of Gary Wills book What Paul Meant discusses the distrust and sometimes hate directed at Paul. From Thomas Jefferson to Nietzsche; he has been called the 'great deceiver'. Wills tells us that part of the problem with Paul has been the randomness and inaccuracies in his letters. Only 7 can traced back to Paul- 1 Thess, Gal, Phil, Phlm, 1 Cor, 2 Cor, and Rom- the rest are believed to have been penned by followers of Paul.
Wills spends much time on the Resurrection of Jesus and Pauls expierence with that. I wont go into all the theology but in essence, Paul has been greatly misunderstood- partly because of Luke's account of Paul- and partly because Jesus has been interpreted through Paul, instead of the other way around.

What excites me about this book is that it is exploring new ways in which to approach the Bible. The Bible can trusted but for different reasons than what many hold to today. Being challenged in new ways is beginning to cause me to approach the Bible more humbly. Nothing kills understanding and wisdom like arrogance. I leave you with this quote from chapter 1:

Luke is a theological artist. He creates for a purpose, and the purpose can shift from one part of his story to the next. (31)