Paul: A Biography (2018) - 2021 Book #15

On Tuesday I finished reading the 15th book toward my goal of 50 for 2021 – Paul: A Biography by N.T. Wright. It’s the story of Paul the Apostle and his strong 1st century advocacy for the view of Jesus Christ as the messiah.

I got the idea to read about Paul from an interview Tim Ferriss hosted with Richard Koch, the author of The 80/20 Principle, in September 2020. I remember Mr. Koch saying of all the successful people he’s studied in human history, he thinks Paul is the most successful. That anecdote has stayed with me. My year of reading gave me a great opportunity to dive into the story of Paul for myself, which was a great experience.

Paul: A Biography was published in April 2018. According to Amazon, the print length is 476 pages. I started it on Tuesday, April 27, and finished it on Tuesday, May 4. Finally I got back to my book per week pace. I still have some serious ground to make up. Last week was the 17th full week of the year. I’m already two books behind. I’ve lost my margin for error.

I got a huge kick out of Paul. I read it as part of a book club I’m in with two very close friends of mine. Paul was my suggestion. I’m really glad it panned out.

What Paul is about

Paul is the story of Saul of Tarsus, who eventually came to be known as Paul the Apostle. It’s fascinating. Saul is first a zealot in defense of traditional Judaism. Then, after he has a vision of Jesus while traveling along the road to Damascus, Paul becomes an equally zealous advocate of Jesus as the crucified and resurrected Messiah. As you might imagine, some interesting stories ensue.

Why did I choose Paul

I mentioned above that Richard Koch, the author of The 80/20 Principle, claimed that of all the successful people he has studied, he thinks Paul was the most successful. At once, the claim seemed both preposterous and plausible. Preposterous because Paul’s name is rarely invoked in that kind of context, when talking about the most impressive secular human endeavors. But when you think about, translating the deeply personal revelation he experienced on the road to Damascus into the successful launch of one of the modern world’s dominant religions…yeah, Paul was profoundly successful.

Late last year, a couple of close friends of mine and I started a book club between the three of us. We chose 4 books that we would read together over the course of 2021. We each submitted a list of recommendations. Paul was one of my recommendations, again with Mr. Koch’s claim firmly in my mind. I’m really glad we chose it. I had a great time reading it.

Why you would like Paul

If you’re interested in Christianity or Christian theology, you would like Paul. If you’re interested in the history of the Roman Empire, you would probably like Paul. If you like assembling the relatively few puzzle pieces we have managed to collect from ancient history into a full fledged narrative, you would like Paul.

Why you would not like Paul

If you have no interest in Christianity specifically or religion generally, you would not like Paul. If you get turned off by the ambiguity of ancient history, where a lot is left to modern interpretation, you would not like Paul. The story revisits many of the same theological themes over and over again. If you don’t like that kind of repetition in your storytelling, you probably would not like Paul.

Specific passages that captured my attention

This first excerpt was particularly helpful to me, as someone who never undertaken a serious study of theological history. It’s useful context for Paul’s beliefs and actions:

People still speak of Paul and the groups of Jesus-followers who sprang up through his work as offering a new kind of “religion” comparable to or in competition with something called “Judaism”. This is misleading on several counts. There was nothing called “Christianity” in the first century, only groups of people who believed that Jesus of Nazareth was Israel’s Messiah and the world’s rightful Lord. There was nothing corresponding to what we now call “Judaism” in the first century (the word then, as we saw, had an active force meaning “the zealous propagation of the Jewish way of life”), only the many communities of Jews around the world, praying to Israel’s God, studying the scriptures, focusing on Temple and Torah.

The second excerpt is both interesting trivia – look at some of Paul’s famous contemporaries – and further assertions in favor of Paul’s towering intellect:

[Paul] was, after all, one of the half dozen most intellectually sophisticated first-century persons for whom we have evidence, up there with Seneca, Plutarch, and a select band of others.

The last excerpt I’ll share was one of the more powerful ones I found. It’s about love. And particularly today, with so much hatred, fear, anger, and resentment in the air, I find it refreshing to think about the opportunities for embracing love (emphasis in original):

Love is not just a duty. Paul’s point is that love is the believer’s destiny. It is the reality that belongs to God’s future, glimpsed in the present like a puzzling reflection, but waiting there in full reality for the face-to-face future. And the point is that this future has come forward into the present time in the events involving Jesus and in the power of the spirit. That is why love matters for Paul – more even than “faith”, which many have seen as his central theme. Love is the present virtue in which believers anticipate, and practice, the life of the ultimate age to come.

My overall impression of Paul

I loved reading Paul. I haven’t read much, if any really, theological history. I definitely have an interest in Christian theology. I spent a year in graduate school reading The Bible cover to cover. I’ve read some long form magazine articles here and there in this space. But I’ve never sat down with something as deep as Paul, from someone who’s thought as much as N.T. Wright has about the subject.

I recommend it strongly, assuming you have at least a moderate interest in Christian theology. If not, you won’t enjoy it. It lingers very close to the scripture. If that’s not your cup of tea, you won’t enjoy the book.

It definitely satisfied my curiosity for knowing more about someone we could include on the short list of the most successful human beings in recorded history. I feel like I have a much better sense of who Paul was, and why he was able to make so much progress in spreading the message about Jesus.

I’m always game for reading and learning about someone who has dedicated their life to a specific mission, and then following them as they pursue that mission against all odds. Paul’s tale definitely qualifies here. It was a great read.

Now I’ll turn back to Foodopoly by Wenonah Hauter. I started it before jumping into Paul. I plan to post a short of review of Foodopoly next week.

As always, thanks for stopping by.