It was a great honor to be interviewed by Brian LePort who is doing a series of fun interviews with biblical scholars. These videos, which you can find on his blog, Google-Hermeneutics and Wiki-Exegesis, are being recorded for his students, who are taking their courses online during this quarantine period, but they are also intended for broader audiences.
Here I got to speak about Paul and, in particular, Paul, A New Covenant: Rethinking Pauline Theology (Eerdmans, 2019), the book that I recently co-wrote with Brant Pitre and John Kincaid.
These are the questions he asked:
- Tell us why I’m talking to you about the Apostle Paul. What does Paul have to do with your research?
- Can you provide a short biography of Paul? Who was he? Why is he important? What does he have to do with the eventual shape of Christianity?
- A couple weeks ago my students encountered the Resurrection Narratives of the Gospels. Soon they’ll read Paul’s explanation of the resurrection from his First Epistle to the Corinthians. Additionally, they have a basic understanding of Jewish apocalypticism. Can you connect Jesus’ resurrection, apocalypticism, and Paul’s worldview together for us?
- Many of my students have spent time learning about the Abrahamic and Mosaic Covenants. As you explain in your book Paul, a New Covenant Jew (co-authored with Brant Pitre and John A. Kincaid), Paul values these covenants but he interprets then in relation to the ‘New Covenant’. What’s this New Covenant and what does it have to do with the Abrahamic and Mosaic Covenants?
- What’s central to Paul’s theology? What’s the the core of his thought?
- While I teach at an Episcopal high school the religious-majority is Catholic. You’re a Catholic scholar. What’s one thing you wish Catholics understood better about Paul? And then let’s flip it around and tell me what’s one thing you wish Protestants understood better about Paul?
- Finally, what’s the relevance of Paul for my students who aren’t religious or who come from religious traditions other than Christianity? Is there anything in Paul’s thought that they can find valuable?
Thank you, Brian! I hope your students find the interview helpful!
Thanks for having me on, Brian! This was a lot of fun!
Dear Dr. Barber, Did you know that there are only 3 videos of you on the internet?? This is a crying shame that really needs to be remedied. How oh how can we get you to do more videos?! They are all amazing and you provide so much insight and scholarship in your offhand remarks. Plus you have an engaging and humorous personality. All the more reason to do some more videos since it’s such a fitting format, plus it’s relatively easy to do in between writing papers and a great way to share what’s on your mind.