Paula Fredriksen. Paul: The Pagans’ Apostle. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2017. xii + 319 pp.

Abstract

Reviewed by: Paul: The Pagans' Apostle by Paula Fredriksen Mark Reasoner Paula Fredriksen. Paul: The Pagans' Apostle. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2017. xii + 319 pp. doi:10.1017/S0364009419000989 Paula Fredriksen's Paul: The Pagans' Apostle seeks to correct the stereotype of Paul as the anti-Jewish inventor of Christianity by highlighting the Judaizing nature of Paul's gospel and mission. This book has the refreshing voice of a [End Page 192] breathless discoverer of a new Paul, and it advances the conversation on Paul especially in relation to Paul's very Jewish vision of Israel praising God in the resurrection, with the nations. Yet Fredriksen has ignored some parts of Paul, the "yes and no" man (2 Cor 1:17), who can be more negative on Torah—even with reference to Israel—than Fredriksen admits. Chapter 1, "Israel and the Nations," sets the eschatological stage of Israel's expectations, in which the nations praise the God of Israel alongside Israel: "The nations are partners in Israel's redemption" (28). Fredriksen helps readers to see the Pauline mission as one of several outreach attempts by Jews to bring the nations in by means of the Christ, all starting within twenty years after Jesus's death (30). Chapter 2, "Fatherland and Mother City," describes the first-century Mediterranean, in which each city and people had its own deity. Fredriksen compellingly shows how integrated Jews were in the Mediterranean world, where most of them were living by choice, though she does not mention enslaved Jews in the Diaspora (47–48). She clarifies that Jews did not expect pagans to keep the ritual law of Torah (52), thus preparing for her next chapter that explains why Paul argued that converts from paganism should remain uncircumcised. Chapter 3, "Paul: Mission and Persecution," asks why Paul was persecuted. Fredriksen clarifies that first-century Jews were not offended by crucifixion per se. She argues that Paul's point about the curse on anyone hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13) was rhetorically driven and did not reflect widespread Jewish belief (83–84). She denies that Paul was persecuted for being lax on Torah observance, noting the variety within first-century Judaism. For Fredriksen, Paul was persecuted by synagogue officials and Romans because his converts were perceived as shifting loyalties from their ethnic/municipal deities to a foreign god, thus disturbing the peace of the gods (87–92). This explanation is unsatisfying, because it is difficult to believe that synagogues comfortably situated in the Diaspora would be troubled enough by someone converting to Judaism to inflict the thirty-nine lashes. Fredriksen's appeal to variety in first-century Judaism, which she uses to dismiss the "Paul was loose on Torah" explanation, could just as well be used to say that some synagogues persecuted Paul for this very reason, as well as for the perception—as two of the damage-control sections of Romans indicate—that he was encouraging people to sin (3:8; 6:1). The persecution Paul experienced from synagogue, municipal, and imperial authorities may not be attributable to a single explanation. I am in qualified agreement with Fredriksen's strategy of reading Paul's letters as addressed to gentiles, a major pillar in her fourth chapter, "Paul and the Law." But many letters have more than a single audience. The evidence in Romans points to an audience more complex than a single group. Paul's positive statements on the value of Torah, his insistent identification as a Hebrew, and his engagement with Israel's destiny are evidence that he is writing with a concern for how fellow Jews will read his letters and understand his identity (Rom 3:1–2, 31; 7:12, 14; 9:1–3; 11:1). While Fredriksen cites Romans 11:13 as evidence that Paul is writing to gentiles, the abrupt placement of his "Now I am speaking to you gentiles" indicates another implied audience in the preceding context. [End Page 193] The reason why the implied audience matters is that if Paul wrote singularly to a gentile audience, it makes it much easier to explain away Paul's negative statements about the Law. Fredriksen asserts that Paul continues...