Matthew Novenson – Paul, Then and Now

Episode: Erin sits down with Matthew Novenson for a lively conversation on the weirdness of Paul, theological and historical approaches, first-century Judaism, and a range of other topics covered in Matt's new book of collected essays, Paul, Then and Now (Eerdmans, 2022). This is Matt's second appearance on OnScript. You can also tune-in to an earlier OnScript conversation  on The Grammar of Messianism (Oxford, 2017).

Guest: Matthew V. Novenson holds a PhD from Princeton Theological Seminary, and is Senior Lecturer in New Testament and Christian Origins at the University of Edinburgh. He has published extensively on Messianism, first-century Judaism, and has emerged as a leading scholar in Pauline studies. Matt's other books include Christ Among the Messiahs, and The Grammar of Messianism. and he has also recently edited the very fine Oxford Handbook of Pauline Studies (OUP, 2022), which is an essential resource for students.

Book: (from the publisher's website: Reckoning with the hermeneutical struggle to make sense of Paul as both a historical figure and a canonical muse. Matthew Novenson has become a leading advocate for the continuing relevance of historical-critical readings of Paul even as some New Testament scholars have turned to purely theological or political approaches. In this collection of a decade’s worth of essays, Novenson puts contextual understandings of Paul’s letters into conversation with their Christian reception history.

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