Dictionary of Paul and His Letters

What Dictionary of Paul and His Letters is

The Dictionary of Paul and His Letters is a single-volume scholarly reference from IVP Academic, focused entirely on the apostle Paul. Published in 1993, it gathers in-depth, signed articles — far longer than the entries in a general Bible dictionary — on Paul's life and missionary work, each of his letters, the major themes of his theology, and the interpretive debates that surround them. Each major article closes with a bibliography that opens onto the wider scholarship.

It is the companion to the Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels in IVP's set of New Testament references known informally as the "Black Dictionaries," which together also cover the later New Testament and its developments and the New Testament background. The dictionary is a scholarly evangelical work: its contributors and editorial approach come from within evangelical biblical scholarship, and it engages the academic conversation around Paul seriously — including the major recent debates — while remaining accessible to motivated non-specialists. It is widely used in seminaries and by pastors as a standard reference for in-depth study of Paul.

Why students of Paul reach for this dictionary

The single biggest practical difference between this dictionary and a general Bible dictionary is focus paired with depth. Because the whole book is devoted to Paul, it can treat each topic at length — justification, the righteousness of God, the law, union with Christ, the body of Christ, the individual letters, contested phrases and titles — at a level a general reference has no room for. Open it to a Pauline theme and you get a real survey: the relevant texts gathered, the leading interpretations set out, the scholars associated with each, and an assessment of where the discussion stands, with a bibliography to take you further.

The second difference is how it handles the disagreement that defines modern Pauline studies. The reading of Paul has been reshaped by the New Perspective and related debates over justification, the law, and Second Temple Judaism, and the dictionary meets those debates head-on. Rather than flattening them to a single verdict, it lays out the major positions and the evidence for each, leaving the reader equipped to weigh the arguments instead of simply handed a conclusion. For a pastor or student who needs to understand not just what Paul is taken to mean but why scholars differ, that even-handed treatment is the dictionary's defining strength.

In-depth articles on Paul's theology and letters

The heart of the dictionary is its long-form entries on the major topics of Pauline study. Rather than the short identifications typical of a general Bible dictionary, articles here run to essay length and are organized to orient a serious reader: a theme like justification or the law, or a letter like Romans or Galatians, gets the relevant texts gathered, the leading interpretations set out, the scholars associated with each named, and the state of the discussion assessed. Entries on Paul's life, his missionary journeys, his use of the Old Testament, and his relationship to his contemporaries function as compact survey articles in their own right.

This depth is what separates the dictionary from a study Bible and makes it a genuine preparation tool rather than a quick-reference. A study Bible footnote tells you the consensus in a sentence; this dictionary shows you the consensus, the alternatives, and the reasons behind them, then points you to the literature. For a pastor building a series through one of Paul's letters or a student writing on a Pauline theme, that is the difference between a starting fact and a foundation you can actually build on — all without leaving a single accessible volume.

The New Perspective and the great debates, laid out fairly

A distinctive feature of the dictionary is how directly it engages the debates that have reshaped Pauline studies. The New Perspective on Paul — the body of scholarship that reconsidered Paul's teaching on justification, the law, and works against the backdrop of Second Temple Judaism — runs through many of the dictionary's central entries, as do the older and ongoing discussions about righteousness, the relationship of Jew and Gentile, and Paul's view of the Mosaic law. These are not relegated to footnotes; they are treated as the live interpretive questions they are.

Crucially, the dictionary presents these debates without taking a partisan line. It sets out the major positions, summarizes the evidence and arguments on each side, names the scholars who advanced them, and leaves the reader to weigh them. It writes from within evangelical scholarship and reflects that frame, but it represents alternative readings fairly enough to be useful to readers across the spectrum of Pauline interpretation. That willingness to map a contested field rather than settle it for you is a large part of why the volume is treated as a standard reference rather than a manifesto.

Part of the "Black Dictionaries": the companion to the Gospels volume

The Dictionary of Paul and His Letters is the direct companion to the Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, sharing its editorial philosophy, its level of pitch, and its house style. Together with the later volumes — on the later New Testament and its developments and on the New Testament background — they make up a set that covers the New Testament in a way no single book could, while each volume remains independently usable. A reader who knows the Gospels dictionary will find this one immediately familiar.

That set design is worth knowing when you buy. On its own, this volume answers Paul comprehensively but stops at the edge of the Pauline letters; questions about the Gospels or the rest of the New Testament require the companion dictionaries. For a reader focused on Paul, the single volume is exactly enough; for a reader doing broad New Testament work, this dictionary is best thought of as one acquisition in a set, and the bundles that pair the volumes can lower the effective per-volume cost considerably.

Pricing

Where Dictionary of Paul and His Letters falls behind

Narrow scope. The dictionary covers Paul and his letters and nothing beyond them. That focus is its strength, but it means the book is not a general Bible reference: for the Gospels, the rest of the New Testament, or the Old Testament, you need other volumes. A reader who wants one book to answer questions across all of Scripture should buy a general Bible dictionary instead and add this for Pauline depth.

Price for a single volume. Around $60 is a meaningful outlay for one hardcover, especially next to general dictionaries that cost less and cover more ground. The cost is justified by the depth, but a reader who only occasionally needs Pauline background may find a study Bible or a less expensive reference sufficient for their purposes.

Scholarly register. The articles assume a reader comfortable with biblical scholarship — critical methods, the shape of academic debate, some technical vocabulary. That is appropriate for the audience, but it makes the dictionary heavier going than a popular reference, and a reader who simply wants a quick, plain-language answer may find it more detailed than they were after.

Vintage. Published in 1993, the dictionary remains a standard, and the core treatment of its topics holds up well. But Pauline studies has kept moving, and a reader at the cutting edge of the debates the dictionary maps will want to supplement it with more recent monographs and journal work rather than treat it as the final word.

Dictionary of Paul and His Letters vs. Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels vs. The Anchor Bible Dictionary

These three references overlap in seriousness but differ in scope. The Dictionary of Paul and His Letters is the focused, single-volume IVP Academic reference on the apostle Paul — in-depth articles, accessible price, purpose-built for Pauline study, and notably even-handed on the New Perspective and related debates. It is the pick when your work is in Paul's letters and you want one book that goes deep on Pauline topics without a multi-volume commitment.

The Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels is its direct companion in the same "Black Dictionaries" set — the same format, pitch, and editorial standard, applied to Jesus and the four Gospels. Different subject, identical role. If your study moves from Paul to the Gospels, it is the obvious companion volume, and the two are frequently bought together. Neither one substitutes for the other; they divide the New Testament between them.

The Anchor Bible Dictionary is the broader, heavier reference. Different strengths. The IVP Paul dictionary is narrower, far more affordable, written from within evangelical scholarship, and targeted at exactly the reader preparing on Paul; the Anchor is six volumes, more expensive, academic and historical-critical, drawn from an international, ecumenical body of scholars, and comprehensive across the whole Bible and its world. For Pauline study specifically, the IVP volume is the more targeted and economical tool; for the deepest entry on almost any topic or for breadth beyond Paul, the Anchor is the reference to reach for.

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