New! 5 Online Courses Open for Enrollment Starting Today
Today we’re announcing five new online courses, covering a variety of subjects, and taught by first-rate scholars.
Whether you want to learn more about the life of Paul for a Bible study, improve your preaching, or understand the most difficult moral dilemmas of our time, these course are the perfect place to start.
To celebrate, all new courses are $20 off! Take advantage of this introductory pricing to jump-start your learning.
Thinking Through Paul: A Survey of His Life, Letters, and Theology
taught by Todd Still and Bruce W. Longenecker
Who was Paul? His early life, and why it matters
When you think of Paul, what comes to mind?
For as much as Paul wrote, and as influential as he was, there is still much we don’t know about Paul.
Paul describes his own life in Philippians 3:5–6, where he lists seven things ascribed to him or achieved by him:
He states that he was “circumcised on the eighth day.” He calls himself “of the people of Israel.” He says he is “of the tribe of Benjamin.” He tells his readers that he is “a Hebrew of Hebrews.” When he thinks of his life relative to the law, he calls himself “a Pharisee.” When he speaks of his zeal, he talks of “persecuting the church.” Lastly, he says that with respect to the…
“Thinking Through Paul” Is Distinct Among Pauline Resources in 7 Ways
(Can’t see the video? Watch it here)
In September we were pleased to release the monumental new book by Bruce Longnecker and Todd Still, Thinking Through Paul. The book is designed to help students grasp Paul’s life, letters, and theology, and it’s distinctive among Pauline studies resources because its scope is just as deep as it is wide.
In today’s video Longenecker describes 7 ways the book is distinct:
Covers Paul’s life, letters, and theology; Probes representative passages from each letter to show what it is trying to do; Holds the historical and theological dimensions in tension; Paints a complex, nuanced, and intricate picture of Pauline theology; Encourages students to think through Paul to analyze their own situations; Offers questions for class discussion or essays; Quotes leading historical and…
Thinking Through Paul: A Deep, Accessible, Visual Survey of the Apostle’s Life, Letters, & Theology
(Cant’s see the video? Watch it here)
On Tuesday we released a new survey of the Apostle Paul, Thinking Through Paul. As co-author Todd Still explains, his and Bruce Longenecker’s guide is a deep, visual, and accessible book.
A Deep Book
While the text is a survey, Still explains “It’s not superficial. We treat in some degree of detail the topics that we take up, be it Paul’s life, Paul’s letter, Paul’s theology.”
They look at Paul’s missionary strategy. They go deep into Paul’s letters. And they consider Paul’s theology in multi-faceted ways.
A Visual Book
Unique to this Pauline survey, Still shares “For those who are visual learners, Thinking Through Paul is their kind of text.”
The layout of the book is remarkable.…
3 Aspects of Paul’s Moral Ethos: Freedom, Responsibility, and Self-Giving — Excerpt from “Thinking Through Paul”
On Tuesday we examined the question, What kind of thinker was Paul? Today we extend that examination by exploring the end of Paul’s thinking. Because as Bruce Longenecker and Todd Still explain in their new book, Thinking Through Paul, that end isn’t thinking itself, but acting.
Paul’s theological discourse is intricately connected to his attempts to influence the character of Jesus groups and the Jesus-followers within those groups. For Paul, theologizing on the grand scale is never an end in itself, but it serves to inform the kind of people Christians should be and the kind of decisions that they should make in their individual and corporate lives. (pg. 350)
Paul’s theologizing was meant to inspire a moral ethos—an atmosphere which inspired the character of the church. The excerpt below explores three aspects of this…
What Kind of Thinker Was Paul? Less Theologian, More Theologizer
In the preface to his The Theology of Paul the Apostle, James Dunn writes affectionately of his “fascination with Paul” beginning forty years prior to its writing.
As a boy, he was fascinated “by Paul’s missionary achievements, particularly his extensive travels and his success in establishing Christianity in Europe.” (TAP, xv)
As a university student, Dunn’s fascination deepened as he began to appreciate Paul as a theologian. “The combination of profound theological reflection and sensitive grappling with all too real human problems, of out-spoken argument and pastoral insight, ‘found me’ at many points.” (TAP, xv)
As a lecturer, he has been “constantly drawn back to him” and has “probed more and more aspects of Paul’s theology.”
Dunn’s retrospective on his relationship with Paul mirrors the feelings…