Theology Today - Vol 51, No. 2 - July 1994 - BOOK REVIEW

307 - Paul: Apostle to the Gentiles

Paul: Apostle to the Gentiles
By Jürgen Becker
Louisville, KY, Westminster/John Knox, 1993. 513 pp. $30.00.

The Professor of New Testament and Judaic Studies at the ChristianAlbrechts-Universität in Kiel, Jürgen Becker, presents in this book a fresh full-scale study of Paul, his letters, and his theology. It is a translation of Paulus: Der Apostel der Völker (Tübingen: Mohr [Siebeck], 1989) and an excellent comprehensive discussion of all aspects of Pauline study, unencumbered by footnotes, endnotes, or references to secondary literature. Yet, Becker copes with all the modern problems associated with the Pauline corpus. His only references, in parentheses within the text, are to Pauline writings, other New Testament writings, or other ancient literature.

Fifteen chapters treat early testimonies to Paul, chronological questions about his life, the life of Paul the Pharisee from Tarsus, his call as apostle to the Gentiles, his role as Antiochene missionary and theologian, the beginning of his independent missionary activity (Thessalonica and Corinth), Paul in Ephesus and Asia, the Spirit of freedom and the theology of the cross (Corinthian letters), missionary churches as house churches, his last visit to Macedonia and Achaia, the Galatian churches, the church in Philippi, the letter to the Romans as Paul's testament, an outline of Pauline theology, and Paul as a martyr.

As the major sources of such a study, Becker recognizes Paul's seven uncontested letters and Acts, admitting occasional details from the deutero-Paulines (2 Thessalonians, Colossians, Ephesians) and the pastorals. He has assessed well the Lucan material in Acts and by-and-large judged rightly about it, giving credence sometimes to Lucan details that others would query. In particular, he deals well with Paul's origin and education in Hellenistic Tarsus, the correlation of Galatians 2 and Acts 15 on the Apostolic Council, and Paul's appearance before Gallio, about which only Luke tells us. Concerning this last event, Becker dates Gallio's proconsulship "from spring A.D. 51 until spring A.D. 52 (possible error: one year earlier)." This I would contest. He is dependent on studies that have not reckoned adequately with an important Carian inscription

308 - Paul: Apostle to the Gentiles

published long ago, which, when duty considered, makes the year of proconsulship A.D. 52-53. Consequently, though Becker's "Dates of Paul's Life" agree somewhat with my own, they are by and large two years earlier than those I would use. This is a minor issue, but of greater concern is his failure to see that Galatians 1:21, 23b (and possibly Phil. 4:15) lends support to Luke's account of Paul's first missionary journey (Acts 13:1-14:28). There, Paul admits (while insisting that he was still unknown in Jerusalem) that he had been "preaching the faith" in "the regions of Syria and Cilicia," hence prior to the Council.

Becker's brief synthesis of Pauline theology follows his analysis of the Pauline letters, which he presents in the course of his reconstruction of Paul's missionary career. This analytic treatment enables him to reckon properly with development in Pauline theology, from election to the theology of the cross to justification by faith. This is a major asset of this book, for many studies of Pauline theology refuse to reckon with this problem, or even deny that there is development. This, too, accounts, in the long run, for Becker's analysis of Romans as Paul's "Last Testament," a view inherited from Bornkamm but still too dominated by the Lutheran perspective of justification. That view is also dictated by the order of the Pauline letters he uses. It is difficult, however, to agree that the Corinthian correspondence preceded the letter to the Galatians, for 1 Corinthians 16:1 tells against that. Where to locate Philippians and Philemon has always been a problem. This is the one major fault I find with the book: Becker has not sufficiently justified the order of the Pauline letters that he uses, and this affects his presentation of the letters and his mode of explaining the development of Pauline theology. Yet, if one preseinds from this problem, there is much in the presentation of each letter that is well done and can be used even with another ordering.

Theology students, pastors, and even professors will find much in Becker's treatment of the Pauline letters to stimulate their own study, research, and preaching.

Joseph A. Fitzmeyer
The Catholic University of America
Washington, DC