04_Sandnes_550-564_copia_550-564 10/12/15 10:24 Pagina 550 Prophet-Like Apostle: A Note on the “Radical New Perspective” in Pauline Studies Since the publication of Paul ― One of the Prophets? A Con- tribution to the Apostle’s Self-Understanding (1991) 1, several scholars have come to emphasize that Paul’s apostleship in various ways was prophet-like 2. Most scholars today recognize some of these similarities as relevant for understanding Paul’s ministry. The past decades of Pauline scholarship have turned to the question of the apostle’s Jewish identity. In opposition to a common strand among previous scholarship, many claim that Paul remained fully within the confines of his Jewish tradition and identity. Focus has gradually shifted from “the parting of the ways” of synagogue and church to “the ways that never parted” 3, thus seeing the Christian movement as a variant of Judaism. The most radical expression of this shift of perspectives is Pamela Eisenbaum, Paul Was not a Christian. The Original Message of a Misunderstood Apostle (2009). According to Eisenbaum, the importance of Christ is lim- ited to Gentiles only; hence, Jesus saves, but he saves only Gentiles. One important building block in her concept is that Paul was “called rather than converted […] Thus, Paul was not a Christian — a word that was in any case completely unknown to him because it had not yet been invented. He was a Jew who understood himself to be on a mission” 4. The question of Paul’s prophetic identity here 1 K.O. SANDNES, Paul – One of the Prophets? A Contribution to the Apostle’s Self-Understanding (WUNT II/43; Tübingen 1991). 2 A.J. NAJDA, Der Apostel als Prophet. Zur prophetischen Dimension des paulinischen Apostolats (EHS.T 784; Frankfurt a. M. 2004); T. NICKLAS, “Paulus – der Apostel als Prophet”, Prophets and Prophecy in Jewish and Early Christian Literature (eds. J. VERHEYDEN – K. ZAMFIR – T. NICKLAS) (WUNT II/286; Tübingen 2010) 77-104; J.W. ARNIE, Is Paul Also Among the Prophets? An Examination of the Relationship between Paul and the Old Testament Prophetic Tradition in 2 Corinthians (Library of New Testament Studies 467; New York – London 2012). 3 See, e.g., A. RUNESSON, “Inventing Christian Identity: Paul, Ignatius, and Theodosius I”, Exploring Early Christian Identity (ed. B. HOLMBERG) (WUNT 226; Tübingen 2008) 60-62. 4 P. EISENBAUM, Paul was not a Christian. The Original Message of a Mis- understood Apostle (New York 2009), 3-4. She says this with reference to K. STENDAHL, Paul Among Jews and Gentiles (Philadelphia, PA 1976) 7-23. BIBLICA 96.4 (2015) 550-564