Thomas R. Schreiner - Paul, Apostle of God’s Glory in Christ : A Pauline Theology

WRITING THE SECOND EDITION OF A BOOK is a trip down memory lane. Reading the first preface reminded me of precious friendships and the wonderful help I received from friends as I wrote the book. Dan Reid, who has recently retired from InterVarsity Press, invited me to consider a second edition, for which I am grateful. Anna Moseley Gissing has picked up Dans mantle and has been encouraging and helpful in the process. We can self-publish books today, but having professionals like those at InterVarsity Press edit and proof a book is a great benefit, and one for which I am grateful. Special thanks go to Rebecca Carhart and her team for her excellent editing, for catching mistakes, and for making this book better than it would have been otherwise. I am grateful to Richard Blaylock, one of my PhD students, who did an excellent job in compiling the indexes.

Many significant books on Pauline theology and the apostle Paul have appeared since the first book came out. It isnt my goal to list them all, but readers should be acquainted especially with the following: John Barclays celebrated Paul and the Gift has come out, Many other monographs on Pauls writings have been written on particular texts or themes, and we resonate with Ecclesiastess words, there is no end to the making of many books (Eccles 12:12 CSB).

As in the first edition, it is not the purpose of this work to interact deeply with the many secondary sources. My goal isnt to make the book longer but to keep it as a textbook that interacts mainly with Pauls own writings. I have carefully revised the entire book, however, adding notes here and there to interact with more recent work. I hope readers are inspired, not by my book, but by Paul, and especially by the one to whom Paul devoted his life with such energy and passion, Jesus Christ.

MY GOAL IN WRITING THIS BOOK was to write a textbook on Pauline theology for students at both the college and seminary level. I do not intend, therefore, to interact extensively with other scholars, though I dialogue enough with them to demonstrate that I am conversant with what is happening in Pauline studies. Some books provide a genuine service by sketching in the landscape provided by secondary sources. My aim, however, is to explain the biblical text since students need to see that the primary sources are foundational for doing Pauline theology. My intention is to set forth and defend my particular understanding of Pauline theology. I acknowledge at the outset that I have not written the definitive Pauline theology, but I hope that others can profit from my own wrestling with the text.

When one compares my work with the recent and excellent Pauline theology by James Dunn, at least three major differences are evident. First, Dunns theology is a mammoth work that both examines the biblical text and interacts with the secondary sources. Such an enterprise is extremely helpful, but because I do not dialogue as extensively with secondary sources, I limited the size of my book. Second, I have tried to organize my book in a fresh way. Dunn uses Romans as the template to organize Pauline theology, and this is a valuable way to proceed. Yet I do not believe that there is only one way to structure a Pauline theology. I think my approach opens some new windows into Pauls theology by focusing on Paul as a missionary and on his apostolic sufferingstwo topics that are often neglected in Pauline theologies. I also argue that Gods work in Christ is the foundation and goal of Pauls theology. I think it is a mistake to identify some aspect of salvation, whether it is justification or salvation history, as the key to Pauls thinking. Third, Dunn excludes Ephesians and the Pastoral Letters from his study, and he thinks Colossians was written by Timothy while Paul was still living. I am persuaded, however, that all thirteen letters are authentic. I do not argue the case for authenticity in my theology; instead I refer the readers to others who have made the case effectively. The Pauline theology offered here is distinctive in that all thirteen letters ascribed to Paul are mined to decipher his theology.

Finally, I want to thank those who have assisted me in the writing of this book. I am grateful to Dan Reid, the academic reference editor at InterVarsity Press, for his encouragement and assistance in the writing of this work. Dan is himself an expert in Pauline studies, and hence he made numerous suggestions that have been incorporated into the book so that it is better than it would otherwise be. Frank Thielman, professor of New Testament at the Beeson Divinity School, read the entire manuscript, pointed out some deficiencies that needed correction and was a great encouragement to me. Boyd Luter, the dean at Criswell College, offered to read the entire work in a short time period, corrected a number of mistakes, and commented helpfully at a number of places. Justin Taylor read the entire manuscript, corrected a number of errors, and made many helpful suggestions. Five students at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary helped me significantly. My Garrett fellow and longtime friend Philemon Yong chased down references, copied needed articles, and proofed the manuscript carefully. Jeff Evans and Jim Hamilton proofed the book under a tight deadline, and I am thankful for their help in spotting errors. I also am grateful to Randall Tan and Brian Vickers, who serve as editors at The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology. Randall Tan read the manuscript with a sharp eye and made many suggestions for improvement. A special thanks goes to Brian Vickers for his labor of love in reading the manuscript so diligently and for his numerous stylistic suggestions. Every reader made the book better than it was before, for which I am thankful. I also want to thank my wife, Diane, for her love. Her faithfulness to me over twenty-five years of marriage has been a wellspring of life to me. I dedicate this book to our childrenDaniel, Patrick, John, and Anna. They have been sources of unspeakable joy to me. Finally, I pray that God would be magnified and praised through Jesus Christ by what I have written here. The grace of our glorious God sustained me as I wrote.