Publisher's Synopsis
Fresh insight into Christianity's earliest teachings can be a guide for your own spiritual journey. The Apostle Paul, who wrote many of the books in the New Testament, was a fearless and revolutionary religious innovator. In a society where slaveholding was commonplace and women were little more than servants, he preached a groundbreaking equality founded on a new spiritual identity. In an imperial political system that demanded unquestioning allegiance, Paul told his readers they were citizens of heaven. Yet Paul diverged from many of Jesus's own teachings about the world and God's kingdom, and his writings have been used to justify slavery, defend violence toward women, and vilify followers of other religious paths. With fresh translations from the original Greek and insightful yet unobtrusive commentary, Ron Miller guides you through the complexities of Paul's writings. He explores Paul's limitations and sometimes harmful legacy, bu