In this book, Caroline Johnson Hodge challenges the perceived interpretations of Paul through a detailed examination of kinship and ethnic language in Paul's letters.

By extending Christ's redemption to those who were not ethnically Jewish, Paul has long been credited with transforming Christianity into a universal, ethnically-neutral religion. In this book, Caroline Johnson Hodge challenges this interpretation through a detailed examination of kinship and ethnic language in Pauls letters. Arguing against firmly entrenched claims that Paul's Epistles eliminate ethnicity from Christianity, Johnson Hodge claims the exact opposite: Paul treats ethnicity as a central element of the Gentile believer's entrance into communion with Jesus. Paul creates a myth of origins for Gentiles; through baptism Jews and Gentiles alike could share a common ancestor in Abraham. In Johnson Hodge's reading, Paul does not combine Jews and Gentiles under a new, homogenous group of "Christians," but instead sees baptism as a way of creating two separate but related lineages of Abraham.

...well done. The volume is a thesis of classic form, focusing on a clear-cut issue...