Includes bibliographical references (p. [415]-420) and index.

Preface : Paul for a new millennium -- Prologue : the hope of a peaceful earth -- Ch. 1. Jewish faith and pagan society -- Ch. 2. An appealing or appalling apostle? -- Ch. 3. The golden age, or as golden as it gets -- Ch. 4. Blessings for all the earth -- Ch. 5. Goddesses, Gods, and gospels -- Ch. 6. Who and what controls your banquet? -- Ch. 7. One world under divine justice -- Epilogue : the lure of a global empire.

"Many theories exist about who Paul was, what he believed, and what role he played in the origins of Christianity. Using archaeological and textual evidence, and taking advantage of recent major discoveries in Italy, Greece, Turkey, and Syria, John Dominic Crossan and Jonathan L. Reed show that Paul was a fallible but dedicated successor to Jesus, carrying on Jesus's mission of inaugurating the Kingdom of God on earth in opposition to the reign of Rome. Against the concrete backdrop of first-century Greco-Roman and Jewish life, In Search of Paul reveals the work of Paul as never before, showing how and why the liberating messages and practices of equality, caring for the poor, and a just society under God's rules, not Rome's, were so appealing."--BOOK JACKET.