There are numerous books available to the Christian who desires to study God's dispensational progam. A select few of these books begin to approach the subject from a Pauline perspective. Of those, one is either forced to concede to the argument that, after all, there is no real difference between Paul and the Twelve; or, one must ride the pendulum to the ultra-dispensationalist argument that the Church began with Paul, either at his conversion or later in his ministry. Is there a middle ground? In this book, a survey of the dispensations, as well as the distinction between Israel and the Church is, of course, presented. Then, the argument turns to the distinctions between the Lord's earthly ministry and that of Paul; as well, much time is spent delineating the nuanced differences between the ministry of the Twelve and that of Paul. The conclusion is not that we must disregard any ministry other than Paul's but to put Paul first as the Apostle to the Gentiles, the prototype, the masterbuilder, and the recipient of the revelations of the mysteries.
There are numerous books available to the Christian who desires to study God's dispensational progam. A select few of these books begin to approach the subject from a Pauline perspective. Of those, one is either forced to concede to the argument that, after all, there is no real difference between Paul and the Twelve; or, one must ride the pendulum to the ultra-dispensationalist argument that the Church began with Paul, either at his conversion or later in his ministry. Is there a middle ground? In this book, a survey of the dispensations, as well as the distinction between Israel and the Church is, of course, presented. Then, the argument turns to the distinctions between the Lord's earthly ministry and that of Paul; as well, much time is spent delineating the nuanced differences between the ministry of the Twelve and that of Paul. The conclusion is not that we must disregard any ministry other than Paul's but to put Paul first as the Apostle to the Gentiles, the prototype, the masterbuilder, and the recipient of the revelations of the mysteries.