Most of the Jesus-followers in Rome would have been familiar with socioeconomic hardship. Suffering was a daily reality either for themselves or for someone they knew. Many lived below or just above subsistence level. Some were slaves, homeless, or chronically sick. Followers of Christ might have experienced persecution because of their refusal to take part in the local religious festivals. Suffering is, of course, a significant theme in Rom 5:1-11 and 8:17, 18-39. Paul mentions various types of affliction many times in these texts. How might Pauls audience have understood them? In Suffering...

St. Pauls epistle to the Galatians offers a fascinating window into the life of the Christian church in its earliest days. We see in this letter a pastor guiding his people through questions of salvation, theology, and ethics. The more we read, the more we realize that many of the same questions facing the Galatian Christians continue to face us today: Are we still under the Old Testament Law? What happened to the Law when Jesus came? Who are the people of God?
From Law to Logos: Reading St. Pauls Epistle to the Galatians is a primer for reading Galatians for all it is worth. The focus of...

Even as this book celebrates and commemorates what Garland has already done, it anticipates scholarship yet to be received.--Michael F. Bird, Lecturer in Theology, Ridley College, Melbourne, Australia

But if readers follow the Apostle to the Gentiles as he wrestles with ultimate questions of God's purposes in his own anguish over kith and kin, then wisdom will be found.--Susan Grove Eastman, Associate Research Professor of New Testament, Duke Divinity School