Dr. Roy Harrisville III ’77, a pastor in Menomonie, Wis., has published a book, “The Faith of St. Paul: Transformative Gift of Divine Power” (Pickwick Publications, March 2019).
Over the years, scholars have argued about the letters of St. Paul either “being-in-Christ” or “justification by faith.” Instead of assuming these were competing theologies, Harrisville presents “the faith of St. Paul as a dynamic and life-changing power.” His book provides a “path toward reconciling entrenched positions and providing a fresh perspective.”
“I wrote the book because I wanted to offer a possible solution to three questions arising from St. Paul’s theology and language,” Harrisville said. “The first has to do with the recent debate over the center of Paul's theology. Is it justification by faith or participation in Christ? I think that when Paul’s letters are read a certain way, the debate ends. I also wanted to investigate the question of how a person can be a believer while at the same time take no credit for it. Finally, I address how this impacts the PISTIS CHRISTOU (faith in Christ) issue.”
Harrisville has published several articles and is also the author of “The Figure of Abraham in the Epistles of St. Paul” (1992).
“The book is for any New Testament scholar, pastor, or informed reader who wants to learn about Christian faith in general and St. Paul’s language of faith in particular,” Harrisville said.