Hearing Paul's Voice

M. Eugene Boring

Exegetical soundings in Pauline texts, illustrated by probes into 1 Thessalonians, Romans, Ephesians, and the Pastorals. Until we grasp the meaning of the text on its terms, Scripture is little more than a sounding board echoing the religious interpretations readers, all the while supposing this is "what the Bible says." Gene Boring offers those who preach and teach methods of understanding Scripture contextually in Hearing Paul's Voice. He begins by placing the reader in the position of a first-century believer, demonstrating how such a reader would understand the church and the letter we now call 1 Thessalonians. Our own culture, combined with familiarity of the Bible and church life, has conditioned us to suppose we already understand what the Thessalonian believer had to learn. Hearing the Bible through ears of a Thessalonians opens up the possibility of hearing it afresh in our...