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  • Paul: The Pagans' Apostle by Paula Fredriksen
  • Ronald Charles
Paula Fredriksen. Paul: The Pagans' Apostle. New Haven, ct: Yale University Press, 2017. Pp. 336. Cloth, us $35.00. isbn 978-0-300-22588-4.

Paula Fredriksen's Paul: The Pagans' Apostle is an important book. It is dense, nuanced, pedagogical, patient, and provocative. It comprises five well-argued chapters that form a coherent whole. The main argument Fredriksen develops throughout is that Paul lived his life entirely within his native Judaism. This is not a novel argument, but the way she goes about demonstrating it is brilliant and elegant. After a brief introduction that situates Paul's letters within his social and scriptural contexts, the author goes on to address the matter of Israel and the nations by way of a good summary of the story between Israel and its god. Although this chapter is a helpful one, one may wonder about the audience targeted. This is one of the few issues this reviewer has with this book. Some materials are for a broad audience, members of which do not have to possess all the necessary backgrounds to understand some intricate discussions. Chapter 1 ("Israel and the Nations") is one of these chapters. Other chapters are so advanced in terms of materials covered, and the level of discussion so profound, that only individuals very familiar with the arguments within Pauline studies in particular can appreciate what the author is doing—hence the difficulty in placing the audience of this text.

Chapter 2 ("Fatherland and Mother City") is another clear and basic chapter that discusses the relations ancient Jewish communities living in the diaspora maintained with their mother city (Jerusalem). There were relatively free, although at times skeptical, if not tense, connections and cross-cultural fermentations between Jewish communities and others (whom the author identify as "Pagans") where they lived. The author reminds [End Page 136] us that "Diaspora Jews were neither unintegrated in society nor completely uninvolved with local gods" (200n30). Fredriksen explains her use of "pagan" thus: "In Paul's period, there was no such thing as a religiously 'neutral' ethnicity. For this reason—namely, that ancient people(s) were intrinsically in relation with their gods—I will use the (religion-specific) ethnic term 'pagan' rather than the (religion-neutral) ethnic term 'gentile' when speaking of first-century ethne#, that is, of non-Jews" (34). The author recognizes that the word "pagan" is not a first-century term (192n6), but she uses it as the best concept one can find to refer to those who are not Jewish. One may not be totally convinced by her argument, but this point of designation remains a real conundrum.

Chapter 3 ("Paul: Mission and Persecution") addresses the identity of Paul squarely by way of his apostolic mission and persecution. This is a very easy chapter to follow, as the author places Paul within his Jewish milieu and highlights Paul's activities and letters in the contexts of one who lived his life in proximity to fellow Jews, to the god of Israel, to the gods of the ethne#, and who negotiated the social realities of the larger Greco-Roman world. This reviewer would have preferred to see the word "community" (or "assembly") used instead of the overused/unnuanced term "church" to refer to the Jewish apostles representing the Jerusalem group of James in Galatians 2:12 (81). It would be equally useful for the author to distance herself from Goodman's understanding of the Gentiles conversion to "Christianity," as she was quick to do when the author used "gentiles" to refer to non-Jews by adding, "[I would say 'pagans']" (222n65). She is absolutely right in asserting that in trying to understand Paul's letters, one should not confuse the apostle's polarizing description with historical description (86). Chapter 3 is, overall, a very good chapter.

Chapter 4 ("Paul and the Law") is a very dense chapter. The author shows how Paul speaks both positively and negatively about the law, depending on his audience and the point he is making. Whatever Paul's remarks are concerning the law, "he says it first of all with reference to gentiles" (130; note...

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