Have you noticed how often the Apostle Paul refers to thanksgiving in his epistles? How does this frequent theme reflect on his theology? How is Paul's thought influenced by the Old Testament, Jewish tradition, and Greco-Roman culture?
This is the 4th book I've read in the New Studies in Biblical Theology, and thus far it's my favorite. There are 57 books in this series, written by different authors.
The other three I've read usually take a chronological look at Scripture developing the book's theme, and in the final chapter the author offers practical applications. This book takes a different approach. It breaks the theme into the past, the present, and the future, and in each section looks at the foundation in the Old Testament before examining the subject in Paul's writing.
The author assumes that the Scripture gives the application. Instead of closing the book with how to carry the ideas out, he has a chapter on the positive, upbuilding topic of ingratitude, and has an appendix comparing Paul's theology to the Greco-Roman patronage model.
I did find this book uplifting, and my hunch is that this will be the first book of the series I'll reread.
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