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Rating: 
Summary: Paul the Jewish Theologian
Review: All of Dr. Young's books are wonderful, and great for reading as well as for in-depth Bible study groups. This book is more then interesting, its a must read! Too long has the Church looked with "Greek eyes" at "Jewish things." Dr. Young teaches that the allegorical interpretations of the parables of Yeshua (Jesus) as taught by early Church fathers are far from the Roots System, Judaism. Jesus was a Jewish Rabbi, His means of teaching was indeed Hebraic, and not Greek as so many believe it to be. When He returns, He will still be Jewish, Dr. Young's books all point to this fact. We at Mayim Hayim Ministries rate this book 5 stars, and our prayer would be that it would be read by many many more pastors and teachers. Great book for home schooling.
Rating:
Summary: Paul the Jewish Theologian
Review: All of Dr. Young's books are wonderful, and great for reading as well as for in-depth Bible study groups. This book is more then interesting, its a must read! Too long has the Church looked with "Greek eyes" at "Jewish things." Dr. Young teaches that the allegorical interpretations of the parables of Yeshua (Jesus) as taught by early Church fathers are far from the Roots System, Judaism. Jesus was a Jewish Rabbi, His means of teaching was indeed Hebraic, and not Greek as so many believe it to be. When He returns, He will still be Jewish, Dr. Young's books all point to this fact. We at Mayim Hayim Ministries rate this book 5 stars, and our prayer would be that it would be read by many many more pastors and teachers. Great book for home schooling.
Rating: 
Summary: Young needs to interact with other scholars and more texts
Review: Dr. Young has a generally interested premise. One which is important and obviously must be considered when dealing with Pauline literature - namely that Paul always, to his dying day, considered himself a Pharisee and identified his theology with that of the Pharisees. The major downfalls are twofold. The first problem is that he doesn't have a lot of interaction with contemporary scholarship. I realize that among Messianic Jews, or even gentile Christians interested in Jewish roots, Bultman is a menace. It doesn't follow that we throw out the research and scholarship of more liberal schools, rather we should interact with them. And contrary to one reviewer, not all who disagree with Young's conclusions are leftist scholars. Regardless, of the positioning of his opponents, the only area in his book that he even attempts to interact with other scholars is in the end notes. Kind of leaves a dry taste in you mouth. The second problem is the lack of discussion of problem texts. Young interacts with Matt. 5:17 (which isn't even Pauline, the subject of the book) acceptably, and has some interesting points on occurances in Acts, but leaves out discussing problem texts in Galatians, Colossians, Romans, and 1 Corinthians. Dr. Young's thesis is by no means original, so it would have been nice if he had made some contributions to the discussion, but the book was generally just restating the same arguments that have always been presented from the Jewish roots supporters. In the future I'd like to see Dr. Young write a more technical book such as other Jewish roots scholars are doing (alla Nanos) and actually make contributions to the discussion instead of restating the same ol' arguments.
Rating:
Summary: Young needs to interact with other scholars and more texts
Review: Dr. Young has a generally interested premise. One which is important and obviously must be considered when dealing with Pauline literature - namely that Paul always, to his dying day, considered himself a Pharisee and identified his theology with that of the Pharisees. The major downfalls are twofold. The first problem is that he doesn't have a lot of interaction with contemporary scholarship. I realize that among Messianic Jews, or even gentile Christians interested in Jewish roots, Bultman is a menace. It doesn't follow that we throw out the research and scholarship of more liberal schools, rather we should interact with them. ... Regardless, of the positioning of his opponents, the only area in his book that he even attempts to interact with other scholars is in the end notes. Kind of leaves a dry taste in you mouth. The second problem is the lack of discussion of problem texts. Young interacts with Matt. 5:17 (which isn't even Pauline, the subject of the book) acceptably, and has some interesting points on occurances in Acts, but leaves out discussing problem texts in Galatians, Colossians, Romans, and 1 Corinthians. Dr. Young's thesis is by no means original, so it would have been nice if he had made some contributions to the discussion, but the book was generally just restating the same arguments that have always been presented from the Jewish roots supporters. In the future I'd like to see Dr. Young write a more technical book such as other Jewish roots scholars are doing (alla Nanos) and actually make contributions to the discussion instead of restating the same ol' arguments.
Rating:
Summary: Not much substance
Review: I was pretty disappointed with this book, because I was expecting a thorough investigation of Paul's Pharasaism, use of rabbinic exegesis, keeping of the law, etc. Instead, Young spends most of his time simply asserting that Paul was a Jew and remained a Torah-observant Jew his whole life. There is hardly any attempt at establishing an exegetical foundation. He does not look in any detail at Phil 3, Rom 9-11, or any of the other obviously important texts. This is such a fertile area in scholarship right now that Young's book truly pales in comparison with the work currently being done by others, not to mention even the previous contributions of Davies and Sanders, etc.
Rating:
Summary: a fair introduction, but fails to resolve discrepancies
Review: This book is a fair introduction to the Jewish side of Paul's thought. However, an introduction is all one gets. Although it is important to study Paul in the light of his Jewish heritage - he did study "at the feet of" Rabban Gamaliel and was a "Pharisee of Pharisees" - it seems to me that this book really glosses over a lot of important issues. I agree with Young's point that Paul's basic point was that Gentiles did not have to convert to Judaism to know God. However, what are the ramifications and implications of this for Jews and Judaism? It seems that this book only begins to put Paul into a Jewish context and, after having gone through the historical and theological background of Paul, Dr. Young merely...stops. It also would have been nice if Dr. Young had at least attempted to reconcile the gospel as presented by Jesus ("the Kingdom of God is near") with the gospel as presented by Paul ("for we preach Christ crucified"). Each seems far from the other and instead of even approaching the topic it is left alone as if it doesn't even exist. This book is a fair introduction and if one is looking for a mere introduction into the Jewish side of Paul's thought, then this book is highly recommended. However, for those who are looking for an in-depth study that gets into the nitty gritty of Paul and his thought, I would recommend that one either stays away or instead buys this book and supplements it with others.
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