Pamela Eisenbaum - Paul Was Not a Christian

I am a firm believer that scholarship is a corporate endeavor, not a solo enterprise. My debt to the scholars who have come before me is enormous, too many for me to name in entirety. But I would be remiss if I did not thank those who have played such a prominent role in helping me develop my thinking on Paul. The reader who looks to the notes at the end of this book will see that I am especially indebted to the work of four scholars: John Gager, Lloyd Gaston, Krister Stendahl, and Stanley Stowers. Without their pioneering work, this work would never have been possible. The same is true of three Jewish scholars who produced important scholarship on Paul: Daniel Boyarin, Mark Nanos, and Alan Segal. Their example inspired me to write this book. I thank all these scholars for their collegiality, support, and dialogue.

This book has taken me a long time to write. Over the years, I have shared parts of it with many of my colleagues, who have commented on my work and influenced it in various ways, but I must especially thank the colleagues who read parts of this manuscript as I was bringing it to completion: Neil Elliott, Dennis Haugh, Jonathan Klawans, Jeff Siker, and Amy Erickson. They read with great care, and in many cases they saved me from embarrassing errors. My long-suffering editor, Roger Freet, stuck with me when others would have given up and helped make this book more readable.

There are also organizations and institutions that have supported me in the writing of this book. The Association of Theological Schools Theological Research Fellowship, sponsored by the Lilly Foundation, supported research and writing on work that fed into this book in 200102. The Association for Religion and Intellectual Life gave me the chance to participate in the Coolidge Fellows summer seminar in New York in 2004, where I was able to interact with a number of other scholars working on a variety of interesting projects. The summer also enabled me to spend time working in Lowe Library at Columbia University and Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, where I was aided by the formidable reference skills of Seth Kasten.

I thank the faculty, students, and staff of the Iliff School of Theology, where I have taught for the past fourteen years. Iliff has always been a place supportive of the scholarly enterprise and I am extremely grateful. Many of my colleagues commented on this work, informally as well as formally in faculty colloquia. These conversations always resulted in the sharpening of my thinking. Deserving of special mention is Richard Valantasis, my colleague from 1999 to 2006. He supported me academically and personally throughout the development of this book. And I would be remiss if I did not mention the Scribbling Women, who gave me the support, energy, and advice I needed to finish.

The students of the Iliff School of Theology played a very important role in the development of this book. In every class I taught on Paul, I learned a great deal from their questions and insights. I especially owe a debt to the doctoral students of the University of Denver/Iliff Joint Doctoral Program. They are among the best I have taught anywhere and it is my privilege to be their teacher. Several students at both the masters and doctoral levels served as my research assistants at various points in the process: Megan Ramer, Ann Dunlap, Derek Krebiel, Selena Billington, Mark Maxwell, and Eric Smith, who was there with me at the end, and who labored hard to track down bibliographical references.

Finally, I wish to acknowledge my familyboth the Eisenbaums and the Georgeswith the kind of profound appreciation that is hard to articulate. Quinn and Ryan, my stepsons, had to endure the length and intensity of my work on this project to an extraordinary degree; I thank them for their patience. Finally, no one is deserving of thanks more than my husband, Mark. He read the entire manuscript with his keen editorial eye, but more important, he created the loving and supportive environment that enabled me to write it. I could not have done it without you, Mark. I love you, and to you I dedicate this book.

I regret that Professor Stendahl died before the completion of this book. He was my advisor when I was at Harvard, and in some sense my journey with Paul began with him over twenty-five years ago. I will miss him.

Pamela Eisenbaum
Denver, Colorado
April 11, 2009
Pesach, day 3
Jubilee year dedicated to St. Paul, declared by Pope Benedict XVI