Product Description

An exhaustive study of Pauline Christology by noted Pauline scholar, Gordon Fee. The author provides a detailed analysis of the letters of Paul (including those whose authorship is questioned) individually, exploring the Christology of each one, and then attempts a synthesis of the exegetical work into a biblical Christology of Paul.

The author's synthesis covers the following themes: Christ's roles as divine Savior and as preexistent and incarnate Savior; Jesus as the Second Adam, the Jewish Messiah, and Son of God; and as the Messiah and exalted Lord. Fee also explores the relationship between Christ and the Spirit and considers the Person and role of the Spirit in Paul's thought. Appendices cover the theme of Christ and Personified Wisdom, and Paul's use of Kurios (Lord) in citations and echoes of the Septuagint.

"Anyone who has read even a smattering of Paul's writings recognizes early on that his devotion to Christ was the foremost reality and passion of his life. What he said in one of his later letters serves as a kind of motto for his entire Christian life: 'For me to live is Christ; to die is [to] gain [Christ]' (Phil. 1:21). Christ is the beginning and goal of everything for Paul, and thus is the single great reality along the way."
--From the Introduction

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #414480 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 707 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781598560350
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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About the Author
Gordon D. Fee is Professor Emeritus of New Testament Studies at Regent College in Vancouver. He is the author of numerous books, including most recently New Testament Exegesis, Third Edition: A Handbook for Students and Pastors; To What End Exegesis? Essays Textual, Exegetical, and Theological; and Listening to the Spirit in the Text.

Customer Reviews

Gordon Fee Has Done It Again
I. H. Marshall's assessment of Professor Gordon Fee's new book is much to the point. "Gordon Fee has done it again! Having given us the standard work of Paul's understanding of the Holy Spirit, he has now filled a surprising gap in Pauline studies by writing a remarkably comprehensive and detailed account of Pauline Christology." To this Paul Achtemeier adds: "Thoroughly researched, comprehensive, and wide-ranging, this solid study is arranged in such a way that it is useful not only for its impact pointing as it does to the coherence of Paul's christological thought but also for its careful exegetical studies of individual passages" (both from the dust jacket).

As for methodology, while acknowledging that a narrative approach to Paul's christology possesses some benefits, Fee opts for the combination of exegetical Analysis of passages and a theological Synthesis of the materials, the same structure as his earlier work on the Spirit in Paul. The Analysis is discernibly more technical than that of God's Empowering Presence, and for that reason it is likely to be less appealing to non-specialists in the field. Consequently, some readers anyway may want to reserve this segment of the book as a commentary on the individual passages without necessarily poring over the details in a cover to cover reading. However, the Synthesis lightens up and makes for easier sledding. Indeed, this portion of the book is not only theologically rich but devotional in tone. In any event, as a specialist in Paul I value the attention to detail, along with the various chapter appendices serving as compendia of the relevant passages, especially the wisdom texts, which are not so readily available.

The investigation yields expected results from an evangelical scholar such as Fee, who is fully supportive of Paul's "high christology." In summary: (1) Christ is the preexistent and eternal Son of God (King of Israel). (2) As "equal with God," Jesus is Lord in the "fully loaded" sense of the term (= Yahweh). (3) He is the incarnate redeemer (savior). (4) He possesses divine prerogatives and attributes, such as God's glory and faithfulness. (5) He shares in divine activities and purposes, including creation, forgiveness and resurrection. (6) He is a member of the "proto-Trinity." (7) He has now been exalted on high at God's right hand and given the name above all names. (8) To him prayer may be addressed. (9) He is an object of worship, to whom Paul is completely devoted. (10) Ultimately, every knee will bow to him and every tongue confess that he is Lord. In contending for such theologoumena, Fee is not content to fall back on orthodox assumptions regarding Christ's person, but rather the materials are examined methodically and microscopically with the aid of the best of contemporary scholarship. And the aggregate of the evidence is overwhelming: Paul had a very high christology indeed!

The only really surprising aspect of Fee's book is his categorical denial of any wisdom christology in Paul. His motivation is laudable enough: as personified wisdom, Christ is not to be reduced to a creature. With this I thoroughly agree, but it is not necessary to dispense with every potential allusion to wisdom in order to maintain this conviction. As for the Jewish materials, I would concur that Paul does not derive his conception of Christ from Wisdom of Solomon or Sirach. Rather, any pre-Pauline precedents would be provided by the wisdom materials of the Old Testament. Nevertheless, the Second Temple texts do provide important context for Paul, a context which is not to be dismissed lightly.

All in all, the bottom line is that Professor Fee's book is the most thorough and compelling account of Paul's christology to date and is nothing short of a great achievement. It is sure to remain the standard in the field for some time to come, and I am certain I will return to it repeatedly in my own research.

Magisterial Pauline Christology
Dr. Fee has done it again. His scholarship is breathtaking: he examines all of the current literature, has a wide knowledge of the history of discussion on this topic, and has a nuanced understanding of the texts he examines. I was impressed by his work on Colossians, an area of my own research. For lay persons who are interested in this type of work, Dr. Fee has included English translations of the Greek and Hebrew which will make it more accessible to the non-specialist

I was sceptical about his claim about there being no major work dealing with this topic; upon further research, I am convinced.

Dr. Fee does a masterful job in demonstrating how kurios=YHWH of the Septuagint becomes kurios=Lord Jesus Christ in the Pauline corpus. His discussion of the echoes of the LXX in Paul is masterful and comprehensive.

Anyone doing work in this area will have to work with and respond to Dr. Fee. This is one of the works that every pastor as well as scholar should have on their shelves.

Deep Review of Paul's Christology
If you are looking for a detailed, deep review of Paul's Christology then this book is for you. It is not a light read but it is also not so technical and erudite that the average reader would find it too difficult. Dr. Fee has presented the material in an systematic and academic fashion. I suspect that this book will become the textbook for many college classes on the subject. This book and the new book by Bowman and Komoszewski "Putting Jesus In His Place" should end the critic's claims that Jesus wasn't thought of as divine until the 3rd or 4th centuries.