Apoštol Pavel, posel Božího království

The book is an excellent study of the ministry of the Apostle Paul and his times. In a highly accessible and readable style, the renowned American historian builds on her previous works on St. Augustine, Jesus Christ as a historical figure, and the period of early Christianity in general.

She aims to refute the traditional anti-Semitic stereotypes associated with the interpretation of St. Paul's texts and to situate his life, work, and missionary activity within the broader cultural and religious milieu of first-century Mediterranean civilization. In doing so, he devotes considerable attention to refuting the modern notion of the mutual exclusivity of the concepts of Christian and Jew and the relationship between Jews living in the Diaspora and their Gentile surroundings. He presents Paul as a full member of the Jewish religious tradition, not the first of the truly "non-Jewish" Christians. From her position as both an unbiased scholar and a skilled popularizer, she manages to engage both lay and professional readers.

Czech edition