Charles Ferguson Ball, <t>The Life and Times of the Apostle Paul</>.
Wheaton: Moody Bible Institue of Chicago 1951 (renewed, revised 
published by Tyndale House Publishers 1951). Pp. 238.

Reviewed by Carrie Wang for R.Kraft's RelSt 436 course at
UPenn (Spring 1999)

Ball begins the book with historical information such as Roman and Greek
culture, presumably getting this from encylopedias and his personal travel
there.  He then develops Paul's life, starting with his birth, continuing 
with the events listed in Acts, and ending with Paul's death.  This book 
seems to just be a very filled out version of Acts.  However, many chapters 
of Acts contain intervals of time where the reader is unsure what happened 
to Paul.  Charles Ferguson Ball admits that he has gathered a set of 
assumptions from what he presumes are the thirteen letters Paul wrote and 
filled in the missing holes.  For example he knows there is no record of 
Paul's early life, but feels that a "story can be surmised by gathering 
together information from history, tradition, and the few personal notes 
in Paul's writing."  Many of the details are admittedly probable, but 
neither the author nor editor say where he got his information from.

Structuring Paul's life as a colorful and fun story achieves Ball's
underlying purpose in writing the book; it allows the reader to get to know
Paul in a personal manner.  Not only does the reader learn how Paul grew up
and is lead through the different experiences he went through, but every
event is filled out so well that Paul's character becomes alive.  Extended
description of interactions with people such as Felix, Julius, and Luke
show how well-liked and personable Paul was, as well as his dedication to
the Gospel.  This book is the only place I have read information about his
interactions with these people, which could have just been created so that
the novel flowed and Paul seemed more real.  I would presume that Ball
believes that since he hasn't read any information contrary to that which
he put in his book, it is possible enough for him to assert certain claims
to be true.  He believes that though "there are many gaps in the record,
enough is known to make this one of the really thrilling stories in
history."  It is clever, because it makes the book fun to read and the
reader might not even know that what he/she is reading hasn't been proven.

Ball's Protestant background affects the picture he paints of Paul, using
modern evangelical language such as "being saved" and "winning men and
women from a life of emptiness and death."  By having Paul become a person
the reader can relate to and not just some guy who went around talking
about how to be saved, his thoughts and reactions can be predicted.  This
aids the reader in comparing the letters that Paul is said to have written
with those he actually did by identifying reasons Paul would have felt a
certain way.   Ball does not address the issue that not everyone credits
all the letters which are traditionally accredited to Paul.  He casually
describes Paul writing all the letters credited to him by many modern
Bibles:  Romans, Galatians, First and Second Corinthians, First and Second
Timothy, First and Second Thessalonians, Colossians, Philippians, Philemon,
Ephesians, and Titus.  This could cause confusion to a reader who
encounters debate as to which of these Paul actually wrote.

Ball begins the story by drawing the reader into the world of Paul. He uses
setting and history to immerse the reader into life around the
Mediterranean, directly to Paul's home in Tarsus.  Much information and
background are given about the culture of Greece, Rome, and Israel.  Ball
does this not only to acquaint the reader with history that he refers to
and uses later in the book to explain some of Paul's actions and imagery,
but also to explain to the reader why Paul was the perfect one to minister
to the Gentiles; being an educated Jew raised in a Gentile society, Paul
had the advantage of being around two cultures.

Going into great depth on the strictness of how Paul was raised in the
Jewish culture, laws and tradition, the extremity in which he believed and
lived out these beliefs, and the hopes placed upon him by his parents 
and other Jews, it is easy to see how Paul became such a fierce 
persecutor of the Christian faith.  Speculating on the ceaseless 
instruction Paul had and his determined pursuit of being a rabbi 
(this is a term Ball uses, but Prof Kraft says that the office 
of "Rabbi" as we know it did not develop until after the fall of
Jerusalem in 70 ce, according to most students of early Judaism) that led
him to memorizing a great deal of Scripture in Greek beginning with
Deuteronomy, the book shows how Paul used this early knowledge to change
his debates from Jewish support to Christian.  Often in his sermons he
would refer to the Jewish scriptures to show how Jesus fulfilled
prophecies. This not only supported his arguments but appealed to educated
Jews.

Paul's life is described in great detail, from before he could read to his
conversion to his missionary journeys to his death.  The author does this
to formulate Paul's life into a story, and has successfully done so. This
format has made the book extremely readable and available to a wide range
of people.  On one hand, the book is easy enough for a child to read, but
on the other it contains so much detail it is useful to someone trying to
learn about Paul and his life.  This accomplishes another purpose for Ball:
to inform his reader on Paul, according to Ball's viewpoints based on his
background.  Readers should keep in mind that Ball has used his imagination
to create a flowing biography of Paul, which is subjective to how Ball has
personally been raised and exposed to Christianity.  

Ball's ingenious idea of constructing the life of Paul as a simple,
enjoyable, and educational story makes information on him easily obtainable
by consolidating both historical information on the Mediterranean and Paul
into the same book as scriptural accounts.  It also allows the reader who
is intimidated or cautious of the Bible to read about who Ball believes to
be the founder of Christianity.  He implies that Paul thinks this too by
saying that the "revelation, which God gave him in Arabia....was [his]
gospel."

The disadvantage to the simplicity of <t>The Life and Times of the Apostle
Paul</> falls in its own definition; by maintaining a storybook atmosphere,
themes important to Paul could not be discussed in detail.  The book lacks
a heavy emphasis on Paul's eschatological perspective, something very
dominant in his letters.  It mentions it a couple of times but that does
not compare to the importance Paul places on the coming of the end. Another
idea the book speaks sparsely on is Paul's differentiation between the
physical body and the spiritual body.  It touches on suffering and
mentions death but doesn't fill out Paul's imagery theme of the body. There
maybe have been ways for Ball to place more weight on these issues, but has
chosen not to. 

Paul's thought matures greatly as he spends more time with the disciples.
Ball implies he has been listening to him, letting them educate him on "the
sayings of the Lord and many of his teachings."  He encounters persecution
because of this new information and belief in what Jesus said.
Observations of this evolution of thought could have been strengthened at
the end when it tells of the letters Paul is writing.  The book touches on
some people Paul was in contact with, such as Christian friends (who he
does not name) and the soldier guards to whom he was chained to when he
lived in a rented house in Rome.  As Paul is traveling around after his
burst of freedom, Ball mentions that Paul "warned them of false teachers
who would deny the doctrine of Christ and deny his deity."  Paul's
interactions with the various churches, such as the church in Ephesians,
implies that they had heard that false doctrine was out there and that no
preacher was allowed except one who acknowledged the deity of Jesus Christ
and the gospel of his redeeming grace.

Ball comments that "little is known of Paul's activities following his
release from prison, but it is easy to imagine what he might have done."
This serves as a kind of disclaimer for any false information Ball might
have added into the novel.

Despite these suggestions, the book has little room for improvement if it
is to keep its simplicity and readability.  It is important to note
that much of the information in the book has been created by Ball and his
obviously Christian background, but it is a fun book to read and the author
has done a good job in helping the reader get to know Paul and "his
gospel."  It may not be educational in the sense that it fills its reader's
mind with unproven facts, but it allows a reader to know how a modern
Protestant would go about writing a biography on the Apostle Paul.

//end//