Reading Paul Like a Rabbi

How to Keep Your Bible, Your Integrity, and the Jewish Apostle at Its Heart

By: James Hibbs Farris

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Paul’s letters have healed you, inspired you—and maybe hurt you. You’ve seen them quoted to silence women, defend slavery, shame queer people, erase Israel, or shut down hard questions with a single line: “But Paul says…” Somewhere along the way, the Jewish apostle who wrote crisis‑mail to struggling churches became the trump card that ends every conversation.

Most Christians feel trapped between two bad options: pretend Paul is simple and seamless, no questions allowed, or walk away from Paul (and maybe the Bible) altogether. This book argues you don’t have to choose.
Reading Paul Like a Rabbi offers a third way. Drawing on Jewish traditions of “arguing for the sake of heaven,” James shows how to wrestle with Paul the way his own people wrestled with Scripture: honestly, in community, and without weaponizing the text. You’ll see why Paul’s quiet line in 1 Corinthians 7—“I, not the Lord”—is not an embarrassment to hide but a gift that unlocks a healthier way to read the whole New Testament.

Inside, you’ll learn how to:

• Use a simple “Paul File” method that treats each passage as a case to be weighed, not a trump card to be slammed down
• Tell the truth about disputed letters and interpolated verses—without losing your Bible
• Read Paul’s hardest texts on slavery, women, sexuality, law, and Israel in their real historical and pastoral context
• Recognize when “Paul says” is being used as a weapon—and answer in ways that are both honest and faithful
• Practice holy argument in your church: preserving minority views, making wise rulings, and refusing to confuse winning with being right

If you’re a Christian who loves Jesus but feels uneasy about how Paul gets used, a pastor who has to preach the hard texts, or a weary believer who wonders if you must choose between faith and integrity, this book is for you. It will help you keep all three: your Bible, your integrity, and the Jewish apostle at its heart.

Reading Paul Like a Rabbi will not give you a thinner, safer Paul. It will give you a thicker, more Jewish, more complicated apostle—one you can argue with, learn from, and finally, in good conscience, keep.