PAUL: In Fresh Perspective by N. T. Wright, Fortress Press, 2005. Pp. 195 (Call no. to be determined Tue.).

Even though N. T. Wright is theologically right of Marcus Borg, Borg salutes him. "With this brilliant and thoroughly argued book, N. T. Wright has established himself as the leading British Jesus scholar of his generation.

N. T. Wright has taught at Oxford and Cambridge. His magnum opus is JESUS and the VICTORY of GOD, on Christian Origins and the Question of God. PAUL in Fresh Perspective is a recent acquisition.

In PAUL, the author addresses Paul's three worlds: his Jewish roots, the Hellenistic environment, and the Roman challenge. Wright then adds a fourth, the Messianic family of Christians in the ecclesia or church.

This is not a simple study of Paul. Monotheism, election, eschatology, modernity and postmodernity are a few of the subjects addressed. Wright's style is not for the reader who is in a hurry. Paragraphs can be a full page in length and a sentence may be as much as nine lines long. However, the outline of this work is clear and logical.

Summarizing Paul's world, the author states: "For Paul, to be 'in the Messiah', to belong to the Messiah's body, meant embracing an identity rooted in Judaism, lived out in the Hellenistic world, and placing a counter-claim against Caesar's aspiration to world domination…" (P. 6).

It is anticipated that this book will be used in one of the December 2006 Adult Formation classes. It is by a highly respected scholar. …The Library Committee