Biblical Psychology and the New Perspective on Paul

Paul Maxwell joins Camden Bucey and Jonathan Brack to speak about his response to Krister Stendahl in the Spring 2013 edition of the Westminster Theological Journal. Stendahl, Swedish theologian and New Testament scholar, presented his paper “The Apostle Paul and the Introspective Conscience of the West” before the American Psychological Association in 1961. He argued that the Western understanding of Paul as concerned about clearing his conscience before God was mistaken. Proponents of the New Perspective on Paul trace their theological perspective to Stendahl’s ideas. In this episode, Maxwell defends the Protestant reading of Paul against Stendahl’s psychological concerns. In doing so, Maxwell compares Stendahl’s article with the biblical counseling movement and a Reformed approach to psychology.

Paul Maxwell is a Ph.D. student in Historical and Theological Studies at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, PA. He wrote, “Analyzing the Apostle Paul’s “Robust Conscience”: Identifying and Engaging the Psychological Concerns of Krister Stendahl’s Inceptive Article” in the Westminster Theological Journal, Vol. 75, No. 1 (Spring 2013).

Participants: Camden Bucey, Jonathan Brack, Paul Maxwell