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About Meditations on the Letters of Paul

Dr. Weiss’s book truly captures the spirit of the Apostle Paul. Paul comes alive in this text, which addresses the whole person and not just the intellect. Dr. Weiss invites the reader to experience Paul’s vision and understand the historical settings that inspired Paul’s Letters. Readers will discover a living Paul, imperfect yet insightful, mystical yet practical, activist yet contemplative, and evangelical yet universalist. This text is a creative addition to the literature on Paul. It is scholarly, yet accessible to the committed layperson. It deserves to stand in the company of Pauline texts such as those penned N.T. Wright, Marcus Borg, John Dominic Crossan, and Jouette Bassler. This text will inspire pastors, professors, seminarians, and educated laypersons.

– Bruce Epperly, PhD, author of Experiencing God in Suffering: A Journey with Job, Philippians: A Participatory Study Guide, and Process Theology: Embracing Adventure with God

Weiss has done more than summing up Paul’s theology under seventeen chapters, each titled after a fundamental Christian doctrine largely formulated by the Apostle. Having crystallized the complex network of thoughts in the Letters, and displaying thorough familiarity with the literature devoted to them, he draws his readers into these well-considered beliefs—in historical context and for our times. A must-read book even for those who have explained Paul’s understanding of Christ and the implications of the cross.

– Abraham Terian, PhD, St. Nersess Armenian Seminary

Dr. Weiss well named this book Meditations, for it is to be savored in small servings, not digested all at once. Have your Bible at hand, for you will be driven to reread it with new and refreshing insights. He lets Paul speak for himself. The chapters/themes build on one another so that each turns back upon itself to create a fullness that brings Paul fully to life. What ensues is a cohesive summary of his major themes, chapter by chapter. Weiss moves effortlessly from Paul’s apocalyptic worldview to our day making Paul relevant then and now.

Weiss does not restate tired observations, but recreates Paul as a man, a Jew of his time. In doing so, we are offered a side of Paul not often seen, one quite different from the traditional Pauline theology of the Reformation. He gives us a real man whose struggles to understand the Christ event pitted him against his own people, his churches, and even himself. The result broadens not only our understanding of the apostle, but of ourselves, and the meaning of our faith.

– Rev. Steve Kindle, Director, Clergy United

Author of I’m Right and You’re Wrong:

Why We Disagree about the Bible and What to Do about It

Paul the theologian was also Paul the pastor. He brought his deep theological convictions about Jesus and the gospel to bear on the pastoral concerns of his audience. Harold Weiss understands that and help us to understand it in this book.

I invite you to read the reflections in these pages to gain a new and/or renewed perspective on the great Apostle, who has been the most influential theologian/pastor of the Christian faith throughout the centuries.

– Allan R. Bevere, Pastor

Team Ministry and Professional Fellow in Theology, Ashland Theological Seminary, Ashland, Ohio

Herold Weiss’s meditations on Pauline thought are ideal introductions to this influetial, but complex and often misunderstood early Christian figure. Weiss is a steady, careful, and insightful guide who provides the pefect amount of background and attention to interpretive issues to help tease out Paul’s theology buried in his authentic letters. And as a bonus, the book is a pleasure to read.

– Ruben Dupertuis, PhD

Trinity University