Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes
Kenneth Bailey's book has a key importance of understanding the view and culture of the most famous apostolic teacher: Paul.
... the main thrust of Bailey's approach has to do with his understanding of the rhetorical features of the book. Bailey places his methodological approach on the table when he states, “the basic presupposition of this study is that Paul's Hebrew literary heritage profoundly influences Paul's rhetorical style” (p. 53). Bailey, contrary to most traditional approaches, argues that the book is not so much addressing ad hoc issues and questions of a particular church as much as it is a theologically themed argument that is both coherent and highly sophisticated. While Bailey concedes that the structure of 1 Corinthians involves a Corinthian correspondence, Bailey argues that “some of the Corinthians' questions (oral and written) are worked into Paul's outline, instead of the other way around.
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