Book Review: TT Clark Handbook to the Historical Paul. Edited by Ryan S. Schellenberg and Heidi Wendt

In this wide-ranging collection of essays, Ryan Schellenberg and Heidi Wendt bring together a variety of perspectives on the historical Paul. Rather than worry about how much the historical Paul may be retrieved from the available evidence in the manner of some research on the historical Jesus, the essays primarily delve into different areas of Pauline studies. For the most part, these subdisciplines of Pauline inquiry are well established. Some, such as Paul’s homelessness, feel more recent.Several authors emphasize unusual texts for contemporary Pauline studies, such as the Derveni papyrus. Heidi Wendt compares it to the Dead Sea Scrolls in order to show how Paul might be displaying a similar impulse of exclusivity of understanding. Jennifer Eyl includes it with the Sibylline Oracles, books of Bacis, Chaldean Oracles, and Homer to show how Paul wields his pneuma in religious competition with super-apostles in 2 Corinthians. The structuring of the volume places Wendt and Eyl in succession, giving two different perspectives about Paul’s wish to be understood through his prophecy and wonderworking.