Fascinating exploration of Paul and his letters. If you've every struggled with Paul's writings or the religious use of Paul's writings to justify onerous practices -- consider what Wills writes. It is illuminating and entirely rational. Fresh understandings and insights. I listened to audiobook that Wills himself reads. Listened through twice to make sure I got it. Highly recommend.

I'm not sure that I agree with all of Wills' premises, but the book is an interesting read. I would recommend it for people who would like a different angle on the Pauline story. Other than that, I'm not sure that many people would find this book to be too interesting; and I think that many people would disagree with Wills' interpretations.

This is a fascinating examination of the thinking of Paul, and an eloquent scholarship-based description of the meaning and intent of the early Christians. I've now read it twice and I'm sure I'll read it again before too long.

This is a clear exposition of Paul's work that doesn't cover a lot of new ground for me, though for those familiar with other interpretive traditions of the Bible, it may be hard to accept. A fairly standard (to my read, anyways) historical-critical approach to the Pauline epistles.

This book is not for those with only a cursory knowledge of new testament theology and history. To best appreciate its contents, the reader should be familiar with the gospels, Paul's letters, and in particular, the book of Acts.
The book was for me a interesting and informative read. There were places when I temporarily lost track of what we were examining, but on the whole the material is clear and well-presented.

Fine defense of Paul--really changed my opinion. Apparently, according to Wills, he was not a misogynist, in fact was ahead of his times in egalitarian thinking. Fascinating discussion of transla-tion and mistranslation. I learned a lot, and found a spirituality I could relate to much more than the church as it often shows itself today. Anti-hierarchal, for one thing. And the revelation of love.

I love Garry Wills-

I wish we had more lay theologians like him who can pull the scholarship together.

I discovered Paul shortly after my Mormon mission - I fell in love with him and named our first son for him. He is nothing short of amazing, and this short bio is an excellent intro - and busts a few myths along the way.

Very thought-provoking, but as with all apologetic books, I would have found it more satisfying if it had more citations and evidence and less guesswork. For example, I'm not sure how I feel about the author saying of a contradictory passage, "oh that was probably added at a later date by someone else, so we don't need to worry about it," but not explaining why it was thought to be inauthentic.

By the end, I definitely felt more positive toward Paul, but also more disheartened about ever hoping to get a true understanding of the bible. A better name might have been "What I Think Paul Probably Meant".

I've been struggling with my faith and one of the reasons was Paul. Reading this showed me just how misread he was and how much of the early Christian teachings were attributed to him but really had nothing to do with him. I am still struggling but am happy that it was Timothy and others who wrote all the things I disagree with in the church.

Picked up at the ReUzit store, this is a pretty solid four star book. The amount of reading and cross-referencing required to write a book like this is staggering to imagine, and, for the most part Wills manages to infuse the facts with a sense of urgency and direction that read like a detective story. A couple of sticky points:
First, Wills jettisons (rightly, in my opinion) the Pseudopauline letters, which, though it simplifies the task of limning a portrait of the real Paul's beliefs, is a total non-starter for many believers. Without the Pastorals, for instance, it becomes much harder (though sadly not impossible) to use Paul to justify the subjugation of women, and the men in charge of things won't countenance that kind of thing.
Second, according to the blurbs, Wills taught Greek for many years, and he brings that knowledge to bear in frequent and lengthy block text excerpts from Paul's letters in which he has retranslated freighted churchy words and anachronistic terms. The appendix contains his rationale and gives examples of many of the terms he has rendered differently from tradition. Personally I like this approach (I bought David Bentley Hart's New Testament for his similar attempts at escaping the baggage carried by words like "justified" or "apostle") but he may have gone a little overboard with the sheer amount of text he presents.
Third, Wills seems hung up on the fact that Luke's account of Paul's deeds in Acts is wrong at just about every turn. He brings it up a lot. Like, a lot.
Finally a big shoutout to whoever it was at Penguin that decided not to proofread this book. Literally dozens of typos.

A lovely, concise review of what I learned in seminary.

wish there were more sources/was more academic...