John McRay, Paul: His Life and Teaching (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007), Pp 479, $29.99.
John McRay (Ph.D., University of Chicago), is professor emeritus of New Testament and Archaeology at Wheaton College Graduate School. He has written this particular text as an introductory college textbook, and not for the scholar or New Testament critic. In fact, his references to contemporary critical views are limited to footnotes and are summarized in chapter eighteen (the last chapter). Within this text, McRay provides a compendium of forty-five years of teaching about Paul, as well as researching about him.
The book is divided into two main parts: the first part provides a detailed examination of Paul’s biography that uses a historical-archaeological approach to complement references in Acts and Paul’s own letters; the second part treats Paul’s main theological ideas (e.g., atonement, justification, the Law, etc.) as found in his letters. Within this second part, McRay grounds Paul’s ideas in the Jewish religious thought of the time. McRay emphasizes that Paul was not the founder of Christianity, that he never ceased being a Jew (in the proper sense), and that Christianity is not merely a Gentile religion. As a result of these emphases, McRay’s text is successful in demonstrating that, according to Paul, all of humanity is one in Christ Jesus. Moreover, he highlights that if the contemporary world appropriated Paul’s teachings, the impact would be revolutionary.
It would be beyond the scope of this review to elucidate each chapter’s contents in detail, so in the remainder of this review, salient points shall be mentioned that might have significance to readers of Pneuma Review. For example, McRay highlights that the single most important element in understanding the life and ministry of the apostle Paul was his initial commission at the time of his conversion, a commission which (post)modern Christians also possess. Moreover, McRay provides an informative – but tentative – chronological outline of Paul’s life and journeys in chapter three, which is worthy of note. Perhaps the most valuable contribution in this text is the situating of Paul’s life and ministry within its own cultural context, which is elaborated in detail in chapter four. McRay provides detailed analysis, also, of Paul’s world in regard to Apocalyptic thought and Demonology in chapter ten. While McRay covers eschatology and the work of the Holy Spirit in Pauline theology in chapter seventeen, it is my humble opinion that more robust pneumatology would have added greatly to this text.
However, as a specialist in archaeology, the author draws on his forty-five years of teaching experience as well as knowledge gained from extensive travels to the places Paul visited. In sum, this textbook is a comprehensive and readable presentation of Paul’s ministry and theology that weaves together historical backgrounds, archaeological discoveries, and theological themes. While McCray’s book succeeds in contextualizing Paul and his teachings, James D.G. Dunn’s The Theology of Paul the Apostle is a more detailed book concerning the theology of the apostle.
Bradford McCall
Regent University