Critical Examination of the Life of St. Paul

Annet, Peter, 1693-1769Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.0

Word count: 178K words
Chapters: 18

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Critical Examination of the Life of St. Paul by Peter AnnetAuthor: Annet, Peter, 1693-1769,Language: English, Class: BS: Philosophy, Psychology, Religion: Christianity: The Bible, Old and New Testament, Release Date: Nov 22, 2011

Editor's review

This is Peter Annet's critical examination of the life and epistles of St. Paul, a work of rational scrutiny of biblical texts in the deist tradition. Its value lies not in offering a devotional biography but in showing how Enlightenment methods of history and logic questioned traditional narratives: the author examines point by point the internal contradictions in Paul's conversion, apostolic authority, and the accounts of miracles, in a blunt and strongly argumentative tone. For today's reader it is both a primary document for understanding the history of biblical criticism and a window onto the language and argumentative methods of eighteenth-century religious controversy. It should be read as a document of intellectual history rather than a modern scholarly monograph, with attention to its period limitations and polemical stance. Suitable as supplementary reading in religious studies, the intellectual history of the Enlightenment, or English literature courses, used alongside introductions and secondary scholarship; reading it straight through on its own can be tiring because of the density of its arguments.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Students of religious studies or the history of biblical criticism who need to understand the critical perspective of the Enlightenment
Readers of Enlightenment intellectual history interested in deist controversies with Christianity
English majors practicing the reading of eighteenth-century argumentative prose
Readers interested in the reception history of the figure of St. Paul

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking devotional reading or a faith-based biography of Paul
Readers hoping for the latest conclusions of modern history or archaeology
Beginners impatient with eighteenth-century English polemical style who need extensive annotation

Reading tips

Read an introduction to deism and biblical criticism before the main text to avoid misreading its polemical context.
Read alongside the Acts of the Apostles and the Pauline epistles to judge the author's selection and questioning of the texts.
Mark the author's core arguments and examples, then write a one-page critical response to test whether the arguments hold.
If the English is difficult, read chapter summaries and relevant studies in translation first, then return to key passages.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a biography of St. Paul?

Not a biography in the traditional sense. It is a critical examination of St. Paul's life and the related accounts, focused on questioning the consistency of the narrative and the credibility of miracles rather than narrating the events of his life. Readers should treat it as a polemical text.

What background knowledge is needed to read this book?

Familiarity with the basic content of the Acts of the Apostles and the Pauline epistles is advisable, along with some knowledge of eighteenth-century English deism and ecclesiastical controversy. Without this, read a relevant introduction or scholarly overview first; otherwise the author's period stance may be mistaken for objective conclusion.

As a public-domain e-book, what is the quality of the edition?

The book comes from Project Gutenberg and is a public-domain electronic text, easy to obtain and search, but it usually lacks modern scholarly annotation, introduction, or textual notes. For citation, check against a scholarly print edition, and note that the electronic text may differ in layout or punctuation.

What is the point of reading it today?

Its significance lies mainly in intellectual and reception history: it shows how Enlightenment rational methods examined biblical figures and helps readers understand the historical roots of modern biblical criticism. It does not represent contemporary scholarly consensus but offers a contrasting perspective.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Annet, Peter, 1693-1769 Author · English · 1693–1769

Peter Annet (1693–1769) was an English deist writer and teacher. He was tried for publishing articles that questioned biblical miracles, an important event in his life that can be confirmed. Two of his works are held in the collection: Critical Examination of the Life of St. Paul and The Miraculous Conception. Both offer critical examinations of biblical figures and accounts of miracles, showing that his writing was often guided by a rational scrutiny of religious tradition, with a questioning and direct tone. Because public information is limited, his early life, education, and specific teaching posts are difficult to describe in detail. Nevertheless, his writings stirred controversy at the time and led to legal prosecution, indicating that such deist writing had a certain influence in eighteenth-century England. Overall, Annet's texts serve argument and are marked by textual inquiry and skepticism, making him a concrete case for understanding the currents of English deism.