In answer to Pauline scholarship that tends to explain the origin of
Paul's gospel in Palestinian Judaism, Hellenistic Judaism, mystery
cults, or Gnosticism, Seyoon Kim here argues that the origin lies in
Paul's own testimony that he received the gospel from the revelation of
Jesus Christ on the Damascus road. Only when this insistence of Paul is
taken seriously, says Kim, can we really understand Paul and his
theology. Kim begins his investigation of Paul's interpretation of the
Damascus event by examining Paul's Rabbinic background. He then takes a
more detailed look at just what occurred on the Damascus road, and
follows this with a thorough discussion of Paul's gospel--the
revelation, its Christology, and its soteriology--keeping in mind at all
times how it relates to the Damascus event. To American readers this
title will be reminiscent of 'The Origin of Paul's Religion' by J.
Gresham Machen, published well over a half a century ago. As Dr. Machen
took full and critical account of Pauline scholarship in his day, so Dr.
Kim does today. The upshot of Dr. Kim's carefully argued study is that
all the main elements in Paul's gospel represent the logical outworking
of that 'revelation of Jesus Christ' which he received from God on the
Damascus road. Kim's book, then, does for this generation what Dr.
Machen's book did for his contemporaries. --F. F. Bruce, the late
Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis, University of
Manchester A most impressive thesis which goes right to the heart of
contemporary study of Paul's theology and can be unreservedly
recommended to students in this area. --I. Howard Marshall, Honorary
Research Professor of New Testament, University of Aberdeen, and author
of 'Witness to the Gospel: The Theology of Acts' Seyoon Kim received his
PhD (under the direction of F. F. Bruce) from the University of
Manchester, England. He is Associate Dean for the Korean DMin Program
and Professor of New Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary.
