Reading Paul with the Reformers: Reconciling Old and New Perspectives

John M. Barclay "In this remarkable book, the fruit of many years of reading and reflection, Stephen Chester has made a decisive intervention into Pauline scholarship that significantly alters the terrain. His deep historical research will be honored and admired on all sides, and the rich materials he feeds back into the stream of theological interpretation will surely fertilize Pauline scholarship for many decades to come.". G

He relates their insights to contemporary debates in Pauline theology about justification, union with Christ, and other central themes, arguing that their work remains a significant resource today. Bridges major gaps in Pauline interpretation In debates surrounding the New Perspective on Paul, the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformers are often characterized as the apostle's misinterpreters in chief. Being published in the five-hundredth anniversary year of the Protestant Reformation, Reading Paul with the Reformers reclaims a robust, contemporary understanding of how the Reformers really read Paul.. In this book Stephen Chester challenges that conception with a careful and nuanced reading of the Reformers' Pauline exegesis. Examining the overall contours of early Reformation exegesis of Paul, Chester contrasts the Reformers with their Roman opponents and explores particular contributions made by such key figures as Luther, Melanchthon, and Calvin