The first edition of this dictionary, published in 1993, spilled considerable energies in the spaces occupied by the Old and New Perspectives of the apostle Paul’s theology and mission. However, so much has changed in the last thirty years that a new edition updating the discussions on all the topics was needed. In addition, many new topics have risen to the surface, and we have done our best to present as wide a view of these studies as can be mustered in one hefty volume.

The Dictionary of Paul and His Letters (2nd edn) is not a mere touch-up of the original dictionary but is truly a completely new dictionary. Fifteen articles were revised or reused from the first edition, but the rest were written specifically for this edition (though some draw from their first edition predecessors). Some of the authors of the original volume have passed into the hands of our Lord, while new authors have entered the lecture hall with new ideas and fresh expressions of old and new topics. Any study of Paul has to discuss justification and the church, for example, but in the hands of our authors fresh light has been shed on these topics. New topics—such as ecology, patronage, and various historical and cultural interpretations—also deserve a place at the table, and readers of the Dictionary of Paul and His Letters (2nd edn) will discover their distinct insights for reading the letters of the apostle.

In the last decade, more than one academic has approached editors at IVP to inquire if a  new edition was in the making. We are honored to be those contacted by the publisher to determine entries and solicit authors. To harvest these exceptional entries appearing in this volume was a privilege for us. You hold in your hands the work of 141 scholars and editors who have devoted their time to forming a tool accessible for the next generation of Paul’s students. One of our contributors informed us that he spent 140 hours writing his entry, demonstrating how much our writers have done out of love.

We have worked to make this dictionary comprehensive and suggestive to be of use to seasoned pastors and professors as well accessible enough for beginning students or the educated layperson who wants to dig deeper into the apostle’s writing. These bibliographies will serve a new generation of readers for a long time. Each author was given the freedom to work out their ideas as deemed most appropriate, which will mean the reader keen on comparison may well find tensions at times between articles—such is the cacophony of voices in the conversation about the apostle Paul today.

To quote Paul in Philippians: “This is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God” (Phil 1:9-11 NIV).

Dictionary of Paul and His Letters (Second Edition) is the latest volume in our Black Dictionaries series. You can order your copy now, in print or ebook here.