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Companions for Paul—feminist and others!

That Paul was not a lonely individual traveller on this planet in the first century is evidenced from the openings and greetings in his letters. Moreover, he also got company, good or not so good, throughout the centuries as the vivid interaction with and reception of his letters demonstrate. Recently, this company was joined by two edited ‘companions’ to Paul which fit well into the tradition of Pauline companionship over the centuries. The Feminist Companion to Paul is the sixth volume in the series of Feminist Companions to the New Testament and Early Christian Writings edited by Amy-Jill Levine, which is the sister series to the Feminist Companions to the Bible edited by Athalya Brenner. This volume contains 10 contributions by new as well as established scholars and presents both previously published essays as well as new ones, preceded by an introduction. The focus of most of the essays lies on Paul’s statements concerning gender and sexuality. Amy-Jill Levine in her excellent introduction sets out what this companion aims to do: it addresses the question of Paul’s statements about gender and sexuality, demonstrating awareness of the hermeneutical presuppositions which impact on any exegesis of this Pauline material. Paul’s letters have strongly influenced Christian history and thought and thus western cultures are heirs of Paul’s legacy. The consistency or inconsistency found in Paul’s statements about women and sexuality thus may have less to do with Paul than with