Paul

A Biography

By: N. T. Wright

Narrated by: James Langton

Length: 15 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

In this definitive biography, renowned Bible scholar, Anglican bishop, and best-selling author N. T. Wright offers a radical look at the apostle Paul, illuminating the humanity and remarkable achievements of this intellectual who invented Christian theology - transforming a faith and changing the world.

For centuries, Paul, the apostle who "saw the light on the Road to Damascus" and made a miraculous conversion from zealous Pharisee persecutor to devoted follower of Christ, has been one of the church's most widely cited saints. While his influence on Christianity has been profound, N. T. Wright argues that Bible scholars and pastors have focused so much attention on Paul's letters and theology that they have too often overlooked the essence of the man's life and the extreme unlikelihood of what he achieved.

To Wright, "The problem is that Paul is central to any understanding of earliest Christianity, yet Paul was a Jew; for many generations Christians of all kinds have struggled to put this together." Wright contends that our knowledge of Paul and appreciation for his legacy cannot be complete without an understanding of his Jewish heritage. Giving us a thoughtful, in-depth exploration of the human and intellectual drama that shaped Paul, Wright provides greater clarity of the apostle's writings, thoughts, and ideas and helps us see them in a fresh, innovative way.

Paul is a compelling modern biography that reveals the apostle's greater role in Christian history - as an inventor of new paradigms for how we understand Jesus and what he accomplished - and celebrates his stature as one of the most effective and influential intellectuals in human history.

©2018 Nicholas Thomas Wright (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers

An important read for church leaders

I love N.T. Wright, but I was confused when I first saw the title of this book. Was Wright trying his hand at fiction and trying to tell back the story of Paul from a first person view? If not, how much could he really say in a biography of Paul based off of the information we have today?

It ends up that there is a lot you can say about a person’s life by reading their mail and by working with all the other sources and studies out there. Wright takes us deep into Paul’s life, noting what we can firmly understand and what we can at times only speculate upon. It makes for a great read—in fact, an essential read for church leaders to truly understand the author that wrote so much of the New Testament.

Beautiful retelling of the life of St. Paul

N.T. Wright did a wonderful job of taking us back into time and (re)introducing us to the Apostle Paul, tying together the witness from the Book of Acts and Paul's epistles. And the narrator's performance made it all read like a compelling tale of high adventure (which, of course, it is)!

While Wright does not answer every question I had as I listened, he did something remarkable: he made the Apostle, the Christianity, the Church and the Messiah whom I have known for nearly thirty years, new again. Further, and perhaps most eye-openning, is the vetter appreciation I have gained for the Jewish roots which informed all of Paul's ministry, and the new society that formed from its fulfillment and its welcoming in of all the nations.

When one finishes this book, one may feel that the Church has lost, abandoned, or forgotten much that made us such a transformative power in the world God so loves. However, we might also, I hope, feel newly empowered to reawaken those lost things in our own faith communities.

Wonderful

An excellent historical and theological work that endeavors to bring us into Paul’s time, helps us contextualize his writing, and ultimately his service and sacrifice. Beautifully written, beautifully read.

Get to know the Apostle Paul

Bishop Wright brings the apostle to life as he delves into the writings of Paul. This biography is for those wanting to get to know more about Paul and the world in which he lived. It is well worth your investment of time to give this a listen. It will "bust" soem of those old myths about Paul that are not even close to accurate. Paul did not hate women!

Great

Awesome biography! It can be difficult to fully understand some of the details, but that makes for deeper learning.

This bio is insightful and descriptive.

It helped me put Paul's letters in a historical context. Wright also developed Paul's motives for his behavior and his missionary work based on Paul's own statements. Of course, Wright was faithful to the biblical account.

Interesting Look at the Life of Paul

Overall this was an insightful look at the life of Paul, following his travels and story through Acts while interjecting accounts and moments from his letters. I wouldn't call this an exhaustive account, but I did appreciate how N.T. Wright addressed much of the speculation around Paul's life and areas of his life where the New Testament and recorded history isn't clear.

Pros: a great high level summary and biblically accurate account of the life of Paul.
Cons: a bit dry in places and without following along using a map it can feel disorientated at times.
Bottom line: I'd recommend for anyone interested in a great narrative on Paul's life.

This will revive your interest in the Bible

I loved this book and listened to the chapters more than once before moving on to the next ones. He humanizes all the ppl in the history. Paul becomes a living person who struggles with his own humanity even though he had been called by God. This is a fresh look at the gospel writer and by default the messages he wrote. I believe anyone who thirsts for more of the scriptures would enjoy this. It isn’t a novel but it tells a story of the love that consumed and projected a mans life into the future to be shared by all.

Paul made human.

NT Wright’s book takes probably one of the most interesting and yet enigmatic characters of the Bible and makes him human, understandable, and solid. Wright’s treatment of the subject is deep and yet approachable, I was not taken aback by unnecessary scholarly quotations and sourcing, but he does take the relevant scholarly research and boils it down into concise and clear statements.

Excellent book. For me however the audio distorted often, not sure if this is a universal problem but reducing treble on whatever I was listening on helped.

An excellent recording and history

This is quite a book. There’s very little raw speculation, and Wright goes to gracious pains to avoid shoe-horning history into the modern theological (including secular) views of what Paul is about.

Speaking as a modern western Christian, I found this historical view of what Paul was about to be revelatory and surprising. If your theological view of salvation is something like “Jesus came to save us from our sins so that we can escape to heaven rather than be destroyed along with the world,” and if your view of religion is that Christianity is something other than Judaism, Paul’s own views on these subjects might be a shock.

A good shock, for me. Paul’s theology turns out to be corporeal and concrete—quite unlike the Platonic dualism many of us grew up believing in. Paul believed that Jesus had come to save the world (not destroy it) and would rule the world one day—and that in the interim those who believe enjoy the freedom of a new way of being human—bound not to self-centric pagan fear and violence but to selfless love as a worldwide family without ethnic, social, or even gender divisions. A less corporeal, tangible theology fails to make sense of Paul’s behavior and words. I hope I am accurately representing Wright’s view of Paul. It may be a poor summary. Worth deciding for yourself!