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Book Review: Paul

It is fitting that this new study of Paul should stand at the head of the publisher's series on 'Outstanding Christian Thinkers', and fortunate that its author should be one of the outstanding Pauline scholars of our era. As the subtitle of this volume suggests, its focus is Paul's thought (rather than his life); thus its heart is an 86-page chapter on Paul's theology. Nonetheless, Barrett is fully conscious that Paul's theology was hammered out as an expression of his mission and in the midst of multiple conflicts, so his analysis is well prefaced by chapters on Paul's career and his controversies. Of course, the fact that thought and controversy were so interwoven in Paul's case makes such division slightly artificial, and the arrangement might suggest a more stable system of thought than Barrett intends. Readers of the neatly arranged chapter on Pauline theology might forget, even with Barrett's reminder, that 'variety, mobility, spontaneity are so characteristic of Paul as to constitute part of the substance of his thought' (p. 56). But Barrett is right to insist (against some recent trends) that Paul's thought does have some thematic (even, in some senses, systematic) unity. The tone of his analysis is that of profound respect for Paul as a thinker, presenting the evidence in a way that requires no strained apologies for this standpoint. He is also concerned to make us think clearly about Paul. With his characteristic balance in historical judgement and his concern to represent fairly what is actually there in the text, Barrett guides us expertly through some complex terrain in lucid prose with no wasted words. Even those who will disagree with some aspects of Barrett's analysis will find that to read him is to gain an intellectual education in itself. Where might disagreement arise? Primarily in matters of emphasis and arrangement. The choice of starting-point crucially determines one's analysis of the multiple strands of Pauline theology. Barrett opts to begin with the human plight (under objective cosmic tyranny and in subjective existential rebellion) before considering the place of the law, grace and righteousness, Christ crucified, the Church, the Spirit and ethics. In outline and in some details scholars will observe some Bultmannian influence here and it is possible that the emphasis in this scheme on the individual human relationship to God underplays the significance of ecclesiology the role of Israel and the Church in Paul's understanding of salvation. Largely unimpressed by the 'new perspective' on Paul, Barrett takes Paul's critique of life under the law as an attack on self-satisfaction and legalism, though he is careful to leave open the question whether this adequately represents the Judaism of Paul's day. The centre of Paul's theology is taken to be solus Christus and justification by