What Paul Meant by Garry Wills

From the Publisher

All through history, Christians have debated Paul’s influence on the church. Though revered, Paul has also been a stone on which many stumble. Apocryphal writings by Peter and James charge Paul, in the second century, with being a tool of Satan.

In later centuries Paul became a target of ridicule for writers such as Thomas Jefferson ("the first corruptor"), George Bernard Shaw ("a monstrous imposition"), and Nietzsche ("the Dysangelist"). However, as Garry Wills argues eloquently in this masterly analysis, what Paul meant was not something contrary to what Jesus meant. Rather, the best way to know Jesus is to discover Paul.

Unlike the Gospel writers, who carefully shaped their narratives many decades after Jesus’ life, Paul wrote in the heat of the moment, managing controversy, and sometimes contradicting himself, but at the same time offering the best reflection of those early times.

What Paul Meant is a stellar interpretation of Paul’s writing, examining his tremendous influence on the first explosion of Christian belief and chronicling the controversy surrounding Paul through the centuries. Wills’s many readers and those interested in the Christian tradition will warmly welcome this penetrating discussion of perhaps the most fascinating church father.

The New York Times - Gary Wills

With this bracing book, Wills, who continues to call himself a Catholic, further cements his reputation as one of the most intellectually interesting and doctrinally heterodox Christians writing today. By argument or by implication, he manages to reject the legitimacy and authority not only of the papacy and the rest of the Catholic hierarchy but also of the early church councils, the church fathers and even, in many instances, the Gospels themselves. In their place he substitutes spontaneous devotion to God and neighbor — and commitment to the politically subversive view that “love is the only law.” So much for Christianity necessarily serving as a handmaiden of conservative politics.

Publishers Weekly

Wills builds on the popularity of his bestseller What Jesus Meantin this audio version of his newest book. The apostle Paul's teachings have caused controversy almost from the minute he penned the letters to the first-century churches he helped found. His influence on church history and doctrine is incontrovertible, but his words have often provoked anger and dissension. Wills, who writes from the Catholic tradition, carefully reveals Paul's meaning by taking listeners back to the teaching of Jesus Christ to prove that Paul's words didn't contradict, but in fact explain and expound on Christ's. Wills's precise diction and preacherlike narration add to the listening experience. He sometimes moves too quickly between chapters and sections—listeners need a bit more time to adjust—and he occasionally reads quickly as well. But haste aside, listeners can't help appreciating Wills's voice, his scholarship and his conclusions. Simultaneous release with the Viking hardcover (Reviews, Sept. 11). (Dec.)

Library Journal

Pulitzer Prize winner Wills (history, emeritus, Northwestern Univ.; Lincoln at Gettysburg) is a popular Catholic observer of religion. In What Jesus Meant, he ventured to spell out his reading of Christian origins. His new work follows on that book's heels, presenting Apostle Paul as the earliest and most reliable witness to the historical Jesus and his mission and constructing a chronology that views the New Testament Book of Acts as deeply flawed historically. For scholars, there will be few surprises, and the arguments for Wills's positions are too sketchy to be always persuasive. But for the general reader who wants to know what scholars are saying about Paul and early Christianity, the most important themes are highlighted the Jesus Movement's complex place within first-century Judaism; the pitfalls of harmonizing the Acts with Paul's letters; the ways Catholic/Protestant polemics have misread Paul's letter to the Romans and there are newer approaches to Paul's views on women and slavery. Wills hones in on what is at stake in complex arguments, makes the issues clear, and presents a compelling case for reading Paul with historical attentiveness. Recommended for all libraries. Steve Young, McHenry Cty. Coll., Crystal Lake, IL Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

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