The Catholic Perspective on Paul – a New Book

Nov 24th, 2010 | By | Category: Blog Posts

We ain’t gonna lie. Many of us on Called to Communion were drawn to the Catholic Church after we had reassessed the “salvation issue” through the lens of the “New Perspective on Paul.”

Three years ago, a few friends of mine (including Sean Patrick of Called to Communion) were lamenting that there wasn’t a book that reexamined the Protestant claims about Saint Paul from a Catholic point of view. What we wanted was a book that demonstrated the “Catholic Perspective on Paul.” So I set to work on it. After three years, it’s finally finished and published…The Catholic Perspective on Paul.

If you’re looking for a complete and simple resource to equip you with the Catholic presentation of Paul’s view of salvation, faith and works, baptism, the Eucharist, the sacraments, the priesthood, celibacy, and redemptive suffering, then this new book is for you.

The Catholic Perspective on Paul intends to show once and for all that Saint Paul was thoroughly Catholic, and that Protestant and liberal prejudices against the Catholic perspective on Paul are unwarranted. If we read Paul in his words, we find none other than the great Catholic Apostle of Rome.

You can preview the book for free at amazon.com.

Please watch the book’s trailer on YouTube to get a feel for the book:

Both the new book on Saint Paul and my previous book The Crucified Rabbi: Judaism and the Origins of Catholic Christianity are available at amazon.com in paperback and Kindle formats. Please click here to view them.

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18 comments
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  1. Tim A. TroutmanNo Gravatar November 24th, 2010 11:18 am :

    Thanks for writing this Taylor. It is definitely a book long overdue.

  2. RyanNo Gravatar November 24th, 2010 11:49 am :

    I can’t find this book in Kindle or Apple iBook format. Can you link directly to the e-version?

  3. JohannesNo Gravatar November 24th, 2010 11:51 am :

    A suggestion to the article: I wouldn’t say that the book will equip us with “the Catholic RESPONSE TO Paul’s views”, but with “the Catholic straight understanding of Paul’s views”.

  4. Tweets that mention The Catholic Perspective on Paul – a New Book | Called to Communion -- Topsy.com November 24th, 2010 12:03 pm :

    […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Taylor Marshall, Amy Welborn. Amy Welborn said: The Catholic Perspective on Paul: https://www.calledtocommunion.com/2010/11/the-old-catholic-perspective-on-paul-a-new-book/ […]

  5. RyanNo Gravatar November 24th, 2010 12:13 pm :

    Oops, that was just the mobile version of Amazon that didn’t indicate a kindle version was available. Feel free to delete both of my comments. Sorry.

  6. markNo Gravatar November 24th, 2010 12:30 pm :

    Taylor,

    Congratulations on the book. Just purchased a copy.

    Cheers,
    Mark

  7. Ray StamperNo Gravatar November 24th, 2010 4:46 pm :

    I have found my Christmas break reading!!! – gonna pick up the Crucified Rabbi as well. Kudos Taylor!

    Pax et Bonum,

    Ray

  8. Taylor MarshallNo Gravatar November 24th, 2010 4:47 pm :

    Johannes,

    Good call. I modified the post a little.

    Godspeed,
    Taylor

  9. Jeremy TateNo Gravatar November 24th, 2010 4:56 pm :

    Thanks Taylor, I just purchased a copy as well. Do you spend much time engaging N.T Wright’s work on Paul? I guess I’ll find out in a few days.

    Peace in Christ, Jeremy

  10. francis beckwithNo Gravatar November 24th, 2010 8:19 pm :

    Congrats Taylor! I look forward to reading it.

    Frank

  11. EthirNo Gravatar November 25th, 2010 12:07 am :

    I love the promo but not the exaggerated claim that THOUSANDS of protestants are converting. What are the facts on this one? I believe it’s in the hundreds. Stop the triumphalism, it’s laughable at best, and a cause of mockery at worst. I too am a convert from Calvinism.

    Ethir

  12. Donald MacArthurNo Gravatar November 25th, 2010 2:00 am :

    I’ve already purchased mine via Amazon, and expect it to arrive on Friday. I’m excited to dive into this subject. Thanks, Taylor, for tackling these issues from a Catholic standpoint. God bless.

    Don

  13. BrianNo Gravatar November 25th, 2010 2:09 am :

    I just got my copy today and read the first 1/4 of the book. I am enjoying it and looking forward to reading the rest! Thanks for the hard work, Taylor!

  14. K. DoranNo Gravatar November 25th, 2010 11:21 am :

    Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

    Sincerely,

    K. Doran

  15. A.T.No Gravatar November 25th, 2010 4:38 pm :

    Just downloaded the book and am already loving it! Great work, Taylor! I especially love your passage entitled Paul’s Doctrine on Participation in Christ, your zero sum description of Protestant vs catholic approaches to devotion to our Lord is something I have struggled to put into words beyond a comparison of an overly safe “broth” like devotion to Christ versus the rich, “hearty soup” of sacramentals and devotions Catholics enjoy in their love for the Lord. thanks for a new analogy to use there.

    Looking forward to more great reading!

  16. Tim A. TroutmanNo Gravatar November 26th, 2010 2:35 pm :

    Ethir – the “thousands” claim is certainly appropriate. In just Anglicans alone, and just in the last year, there have been tens of thousands of documented conversions as entire Anglican churches converted to the Catholic Church. (Granted, these are small groups – but their numbers are still in the tens of thousands – certainly in the thousands!)

    But as for individual conversions, take our blog consisting of folks who were almost all PCA or OPC with one exception I think. There’s 16 of us. Now OPC & PCA together represent about 400,000 Protestants within the 740+million protestants in the world (according to adherents.org). That’s about half of one tenth of one percent. For every PCA/OPC member, there are 1,852 other Protestants. So assuming that the 16 of us represent all PCA/OPC conversions in the world and assuming that other denominations convert to Catholicism at about the same rate, that would mean about 29,640 worldwide. (Obviously there have been many more Reformed conversions. Taylor used to keep a list of the known conversions and the last time I saw it had to have at least a hundred on it). Certainly the term “thousands” is applicable … not laughable. Keep in mind that not every convert is a blogger – so the real number is doubtlessly much higher than that.

    Furthermore, in the Charlotte diocese alone, in 2009 there were 2,155 candidates who went through RCIA. Charlotte is a small diocese. In 2004, Charlotte ranked 109 out of the 193 dioceses in America. So without doing the math – the number of converts is most definitely in the thousands every single year. Not every RCIA candidate is a convert from Protestantism of course. But in my experience, almost every one of them were.

  17. RandyNo Gravatar November 26th, 2010 4:00 pm :

    I would say the reality is millions of protestants converts. I think the number is over 1,000,000 just in the US. But many convert because they are marrying a Catholic. That was common in the RCIA class I attended. Many convert because they want to send their kids to catholic schools. At least here in Canada that happens quite a bit. How many are converting based on some deep thinking? That is a much harder question. Sometimes several reasons go into it. So it is not as simple as putting every convert in a category. The Coming Home Network might have some stats. I am not sure if they are over 1000 pastors. They may well be. I think they are at least close. Since he did not just say pastors but included laymen as well saying thousands is modest.

  18. JohnNo Gravatar April 9th, 2011 10:37 pm :

    I was raised Baptist, became a Calvinist, am now a Lutheran, and have just read your book. Could Rome be in my sights? This book dispels the protestant tension between Paul and James and brings about a real biblical understanding of soteriology.

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