167 - Jesus According to Paul

Jesus According to Paul
By Victor Paul Furnish
New York, Cambridge University Press, 1994. 135 pp. $29.95.

This small book, packed with information, is one of the series of six books on "Understanding Jesus Today," published by Cambridge Press. The author, The University Distinguished Professor of New Testament at Perkins School of Theology in Dallas, writes effectively and eruditely, giving clear evidence that he is abreast of the latest in Pauline scholarship. He traces, as best one can, the sources of Paul's knowledge of Jesus. He shows Paul's knowledge of the "sayings of Jesus," either quoted directly or alluded to in Paul's writings, as paralleled in the Gospels, at a time, Furnish reminds us, before the Gospels were written. Paul's martyrdom occurred before the earliest Gospel, Mark.

Chapter 4 of this book, "Jesus in Paul's Gospel," where Furnish deals with Jesus' death and resurrection as saving events, and with "Jesus who is to come," I found to be especially perceptive and helpful. The experience of "knowing Christ" is for Paul (and us) an ongoing relationship, sharing in Christ's sufferings and resurrection power, always within a community of faith. A final chapter considers how several writings in the Pauline tradition (Colossians, Ephesians, 2

168 - Jesus According to Paul

Thessalonians, and the Pastoral Epistles) variously continued and altered the apostle's own interpretation of Jesus.

Jennings B. Reid
Matthews, NC.