Understanding Paul and his conversion to Christianity is imperative for a thorough knowledge of the New Testament. In "Paul and the New Perspective" Seyoon Kim develops his argument that the origin of Paul's gospel lies in two placeshis radical conversion at Damascus and his usage of the Jesus tradition in light of Damascus.
This new way of looking at Paul further explains how Paul made strong distinctions between the Spirit and the flesh/law, with further implications for his doctrine of justification. A departure from the New Perspective School represented by James D. G. Dunn, Kim's...

The slogan -Paul and the Empire- is much in vogue in New Testament scholarship today. But did Paul truly formulate his gospel in antithesis to the Roman imperial cult and ideology and seek to subvert the Empire? In Christ and Caesar Seyoon Kim first examines five epistles of Paul exegetically and shows how the dominant anti-imperial interpretation is actually difficult to sustain.Next he examines the Lukan writings (Luke-Acts) to see how Luke talks about the encounters of Paul and other gospel preachers with Roman imperialism. Kim explores why it is that Luke makes no effort to present...

Critical studies of the two 'test cases' for James D.G. Dunn's 'New Perspective on Paul, ' Paul's Damascus experience and Gal 3:10-14, reaffirm the Reformation interpretation of Paul's doctrine of justification and confirm that Paul obtained that doctrine from his Damascus experience. The discovery that Isaiah 42 influenced Paul's interpretation of his apostolic call helps explain how Paul developed his antithesis between the Spirit and the flesh/law and why he insists on the impossibility of justification by works of the law. Contrary to the assumption of the 'New Perspective School', Seyoon...