Joseph A. Marchal leads a group of scholars who are also experienced teachers in courses on Paul. More than a series of how-to essays in interpretation, each chapter in this volume shows how differences in starting point and interpretive decisions shape different ways of understanding Paul. Each teacher-scholar focuses on what a particular method brings to interpretation and applies that method to a text in Pauls letters, aiming not just at the beginning student but at the tough choices every teacher must make in balancing information with critical reflection.

Joseph A. Marchal is Associate Professor of Religious Studies in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Ball State University and the author of The Politics of Heaven: Women, Gender, and Empire in the Study of Paul (Paul in Critical Contexts: Fortress Press, 2009) and a number of journal articles and essays concerning method and approach in interpretation.