Paul with Helen Bond, John Haldane and John Barclay (In Our Time)

Melvyn Bragg's In Our Time (Radio 4) held a discussion on St Paul and his significance with Helen Bond, John Haldane and John Barclay (May 2009). Included in the discussion are assessments of the reliability of the New Testament epistles and Acts; the role of Paul in the new Jesus movement; Paul's Pharisaic background and education in Tarsus. It's anachronistic to speak of Paul's persecution of early Christians, of course, since all were Jewish, and the growth of churches rather than communities or assemblies. There's a tiny assessment of Paul from a Jewish perspective with an emphasis on the grace of God's spirit falling freely on the most unlikely people. This is not quite enough given recent scholarship.