The Amazing Doctrines of Paul As Midrash: The Jewish Roots and Old Testament Sources for Paul's Teachings

This work by Edward J. Vasicek was an very good written answer to the foundation of Paul's writings being found in the Tanakh, that Paul, a writer of "the Second Testament" as Vasicek puts it, draws much of his theological answers from midrash-ing the Tanakh's foundational theology with the revealing of the Lamb of God coming to us in Bethlehem and impaled on a tree on Golgotha and how this coming of Messiah was foretold in the Torah and the Prophets. Just as he states in the title of his book it is about the Amazing Doctrines of Paul as Midrash.

I'm about half-way through "The Amazing Doctrines of Paul as Midrash" and I'm enjoying it. Sometimes scholars are overly passionate about Christians returning to Jewish customs, practices and viewpoints. This book is not. It has been insightful and helpful to deepen my understanding of certain NT sections and see how they're tied to OT key passages. I'm sure these nuggets will wind up in an upcoming message. Helpful and useful resource for bible studies, sermon preparation and general study.

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The Old Testament is, well, old school, and modern Christians don't need it. Right?Um, no. Not really. The Amazing Doctrines of Paul as Midrash by Edward J. Vasicek proves that the Old Testament is the decoder ring for much of the New Testament. Without the Old Testament, Vasicek posits, we lose the context for the New Testament and the doctrines found there. In addition, ignoring the Old Testament leaves us clueless about the mindset of those who wrote the New Testament and those who first read its gospels and letters.Until I read this book, I didn't realize just how scandalous some of Paul's writings would have seemed to those reading them for the first time. Take, for instance, Paul's declaration in Philippians 2:10-11 that "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow . . . and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord." In this statement, Paul is actually referring to what Vasicek calls a "mother text"; in this case, a passage in Isaiah 45:23-25 in which God says of Himself that "to me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance." The passage in Philippians would have inflamed unbelieving Jews, who understood that Paul was equating Jesus with God, and it would have comforted those new Christian believers tremendously. For me, understanding this concept was a "you are there" moment.Vasicek is conversational and even kind in his teaching. After introducing each section, he writes, "See if you agree." He pulls in many references from ancient and modern Jewish sources to help readers understand the Jewish thinking of the time.Use his decoder ring and become a detective for your Christian roots!Other fascinating articles on this topic can be found at http://www.midrashkey.com/. You can find his first book on this topic here: The Midrash Key

What we have here from Edward J. Vasicek, a self-confessed conservative evangelical, is another fascinating undertaking that follows on the heels of his 2010 volume entitled The Midrash Key: Tracing Jesus’ Teaching to Their Old Testament Jewish Roots.Vasicek, the Midrash Detective, takes us on an exciting adventure into the ways in which some of the Pauline texts in the New Testament were draw from the Old Testament. By illuminating the Old Testament roots of Paul’s teaching, Vasicek’s work does exactly what he claims, “We increase context. Increasing context makes for better, fuller interpretation” (p. 13). Too often in these days, which are marked by a paucity of expository preaching and teaching, the Biblical text is abstracted from its setting, thus leading to misconceptions and misunderstandings. The Amazing Doctrines of Paul as Midrash cut against the grain of this lamentable trend by pulling our attention back into the text and its historical setting. Vasicek is to be commended for taking this line. Instead of another perhaps marketable but unfulfilling topical treatment we are served a rigorous but readable book that deepens our faith and further substantiates the fundamental doctrines of evangelical Christianity.I am somewhat disappointed by the fact that footnotes disappeared from the present work. The removal of footnotes is due to Vasicek’s responding to lay readers desiring an easier to read and comprehend text. I also wished at points for greater critical engagement with the sources quoted. Again though, Vasicek is trying to achieve the ever so difficult balance between an intimidating scholarly tome and a lay accessible book. Thus these are very minor quibbles in what is overall an outstanding piece of research and its presentation.Buy them both, they are worth it for the serious Bible student.