The 21st annual FDP Book Study is scheduled for the final two Sundays in January (the 22nd, 29th), and February (the 5th). This year’s book is St. Paul: The Apostle We Love to Hate by Karen Armstrong. Although Armstrong is best known for long, difficult religious histories (A History of God, Jerusalem), St. Paul is small (125 pages of text), readable, and offers a fascinating portrayal of Paul’s life drawn primarily from his own writings.
Armstrong’s Paul is not the misogynistic and anti-Semitic character too often portrayed in books and pulpits across America. Rather, he is a self-appointed missionary, primarily to Gentiles, who wrote passionate letters to congregations he had established in what are now Syria, Turkey and Greece, desperately trying to prevent them from being “led astray” by competing missionaries proclaiming differing views of Jesus and the “Christian” life.
The book is available from Amazon for Kindle ($5.39), or in hard cover ($13.51) or paperback ($5.33 and up). We will meet each Sunday after church (about noon) in the Adult Room upstairs. A light lunch will be provided. Ron Scott will lead the discussion. Contact Will Ridley (821-8524 ridleywp@att.net) for additional details. Reading assignments for the book study are available in the Gathering Space.