Nijay Gupta has posted the following list of books that he considers essential reading for Pauline research and scholarship.
E. Kasemann, Perspectives on Paul (London: SCM, 1971).
Krister Stendahl, Paul Among Jews and Gentiles (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1974) paperback, $12. This includes his classic essay, “Paul and the Introspective Conscience of the West.”
E.P. Sanders, Paul and Palestinian Judaism: A Comparison of Patterns of Religion (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1977) paperback, $30. A landmark study.
Gerd Theissen, The Social Setting of Pauline Christianity: Essays on
Wayne Meeks, The First Urban Christians: The Social World of the Apostle Paul (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983) paperback, $18. A widely-acclaimed social analysis of the early Christian movement.
J. Christiaan Beker, Paul the Apostle: The Triumph of God in Life and Thought (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984)
Abraham Malherbe, Paul and the Popular Philosophers (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1989).
Morna Hooker. From Adam to Christ: Essays on Paul.
Jerome H. Neyrey, Paul, In Other Words: A Cultural Reading of His Letters (Louisville, KY: Westminster / John Knox, 1990) hardcover, $23.
Wright, N. T. The Climax of the Covenant : Christ and the Law in Pauline Theology.
J. Louis Martyn, Theological Issues in the Letters of Paul (Nashville: Abingdon, 1997) hardcover, $40.
J.P. Sampley, ed. Paul in the Greco-Roman World: A Handbook (Continuum 2003).
J.D.G. Dunn, The New Perspective on Paul (
My main quibble with this list is that it basically ignores Evangelical contributions to the study of Paul. A more well-rounded list might include such works as:
Gordon D. Fee, Pauline Christology: An Exegetical-Theological Study (
Thomas R. Schreiner, Paul, Apostle of God's Glory in Christ: A Pauline Theology. (