The Logos Academic Blog
Colossians is an underappreciated jewel in the Pauline corpus, often sidelined from academic conversations because of its debated authorship. It is a beautifully-crafted meditation on the cosmic-and-crucified Christ.
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This short Pauline epistle has long fascinated scholars, especially the so-called “Christ Hymn” (2:6-11), offering the possibility that Paul embedded here a piece of liturgy or tradition from earliest Christianity (or Paul proves himself here a poet as well as a theologian). More recently, attention has turned to Paul’s shaping of Christian identity, his attitude towards his own Jewish identity and his pre-Christ past, and how he teaches the Philippians to navigate their life together in a potentially hostile context. Exegetical and theological wisdom is widely available in existing commentaries.
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Ephesians is widely considered one of the most beautifully composed texts of the New Testament. And yet, because some scholars argue that Paul did not write the letter, it is often left out of academic conversations about Paul, his ministry, and his theology. Since the authorship question is so crucial to how Ephesians is interpreted, we will note where each commentary writer lands on the matter.
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Like Romans, Galatians has been at the center of theological debate concerning Paul’s theology. At the heart of the issue is Paul’s view of the Law. Thankfully, several excellent commentaries are available, a few written in the last year or two.
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One scholar has referred to 2 Corinthians as the “sleeping giant” of Paul’s letters—often under-appreciated but packing explosive theological power. I wish all Christians would commit themselves to studying this rich text carefully. Nevertheless, even in scholarship it has been widely neglected.
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Scholars have long been fascinated by the window that 1 Corinthians provides into life of the early Christians. In this letter we also have creedal information, gender relationship teachings, and—what’s up with “baptism for the dead” (15:29)? Thankfully, there are many excellent 1 Corinthians commentaries available.
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Nijay K. Gupta, associate professor of New Testament at Portland Seminary (PhD, University of Durham) is beginning a blog series at theLAB on biblical commentaries on the Pauline epistles. Dr. Gupta has written three commentaries (Colossians, 1-2 Thessalonians, Lord’s Prayer), and he has another commentary in production (Philippians, Cambridge University Press, co-written with Michael F. Bird), and is currently writing the Galatians volume for the Story of God commentary series. You can follow Gupta’s personal blog @ www.cruxsolablog.com
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