Dad, you write like a theologian. Or, a historian. Or worse yet, like a lawyer.
So said my eldest daughter, herself a poet and free lance writer, upon reading the first pages of my first draft.
Tag Archives: Apostle Paul
Writing my novel: Part 3 (learning craft)
Book Review: The First Paul by Borg and Crossan (Part 3)
In part 1, I introduced co-authors Borg and Crossan, and in part 2, I discussed their majority view treatment of authentic Pauline letters vs pseudo-Pauline writings that came later as “correctives” to the radical Paul, in the authors’ view. Today, in part 3, I will discuss their less orthodox view that the Roman Emperor and the Empire were Paul’s veiled enemies in his writings, and this discussion will include links to a number of discussions of this issue.
Borg and Crossan are first and foremost Jesus scholars who offer a low christology that is less divine and more human, less other-worldly than here and now, more about a social reformer than an end-times avenger. Whether one agrees or disagrees is not relevant to this book, but what is important to note is their attempt to have Paul fit the same mold. This is where they part company with their scholarly peers.
Book Review: The First Paul by Borg and Crossan (Part 2)
Tell slaves to be submissive to their masters and to give satisfaction in every respect; they are not to talk back, not to pilfer, but to show complete and perfect fidelity … Titus 2:9-10a NRSV
How can these words of Paul that were used to justify slavery a century and a half ago be excused as part of “Reclaiming the Radical Visionary”?
Book Review: The First Paul by Borg & Crossan (Part 1)
Original members and leaders of the Jesus Seminar, Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan have settled in as very popular authors, reaching beyond the academic community into the pews.
Writing my novel: Part 2 (the research)
In an earlier post, I summarized a few events of my life that brought me to 2006 and the decision to write the historical novel that had long been fermenting in my mind. Around Labor Day in 2006, the time was right – I closed an online business and began to devote full time efforts to the novel.
“Few born Angels” and Paul the Apostle
Paul will be a frequent guest/contributor/subject in this blog. Next to Yeshua of Nazareth, Paul is undoubtedly the most important person in the history of Christianity. And, apart from his importance, the apparent complexities and conflicts in his personality, as suggested by his writings, are fascinating subjects for speculation. I will indulge my own speculations in my forthcoming novel, A Wretched Man, which features Paul as the main character.
Writing my novel: What time and place would you visit?
What three historical persons would you invite to a dinner party? Here’s a variation on that theme. Is there a historical event or period you’ d like to visit?
Writing my novel: Part 1 (the impetus)
The Minnesota Twins first pennant, water-skiing, falling in love for the first time. That was the stuff of my seventeenth summer, 1965. And reading Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables, my first real novel.