Of the debate over Paul and the law, there is no apparent end-and like many scholarly issues, no apparent end in sight. This is an interesting book, because it attempts to introduce at a more popular and non-technical level most of the issues surrounding the recent re-assessment of Paul and his teaching regarding the law and justification, in the context of contemporary Jewish thought. The volume begins with a useful survey of the major monographs that have contributed to this debate, including those that introduced the ‘new perspective’ on Paul before it caught on in scholarly circles, the major proponents of the new perspective, and its major respondents. Then Kruse goes through the Pauline letters, one by one, exegeting them in terms of this recent debate. The book reads well, and the contextual approach is to be commended, but I think that this exposition could perhaps have been written in a more compact way to enable readers to keep a keener focus on the issues at hand. Kruse then concludes by summarising his major findings. His conclusion is a moderating position that recognises many of the insights of the new perspective but without abandoning a more traditional view of Paul’s beliefs in this area.

---