1) Preface

PREFACE

The way up and the way down are one and the same. The real climax of the book is Part III (chapters 9–11), where I have offered a fresh account of Paul’s theology, using as controlling categories the three main theological themes within the Jewish world both of his day and of our own, and proposing that his entire theology is best understood in terms of his reworking of those themes in the light of the Messiah and the spirit. But for that to make the sense that it made to Paul we have to understand him historically, that is, within the complex and confusing world of his day. Or rather, worlds. I have tried in Part I to give as reasonably detailed a description of Paul’s multiple contexts – Jewish, Greek, Roman – as I can within the space available. That I regard as essential. Without it, too many generalizations creep in, too many hostages are given to fortune. I have some particular arguments to make in relation to his Jewish world in chapter 2, but for much of chapters 3, 4 and 5 I am not proposing any very novel ideas (though the idea of a Roman Heilsgeschichte is not normally drawn out as such). But if we are to understand Paul within his own actual context there are certain features which have to be put in place...