Paul. A Critical Life

Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, Paul. A Critical Life.
Oxford - New York: Oxford University Press, 1996, 416 pages.

(Detailed summary)

James Murphy-O'Connor was born on April 10, 1935, in Cork City, Ireland. He began his studies with the Brothers of the Christian Schools in Cork, before continuing them with the Lazarists in Dublin. He entered the Order of Preachers (the Dominicans) in September 1953, where he took the name Jerome. After his novitiate and a year of study in philosophy, he began his theological studies at the Dominican friary in Tallaght, a suburb of Dublin, before continuing them at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, where he was ordained a priest in 1960. He received his doctorate there in 1962 with a dissertation on preaching in St. Paul.

In 1963, he undertook postdoctoral studies in Rome, then at the University of Heidelberg on the Dead Sea Scrolls, and subsequently at the University of Tübingen, before joining the French Biblical and Archaeological School in Jerusalem as a full professor of the New Testament in 1967. It was there that he pursued his career until his death on November 11, 2013.

Jerome Murphy-O’Connor is considered one of the foremost specialists on the Apostle Paul, to whom he devoted the majority of his work. The only exceptions are an archaeological guide to the Holy Land commissioned by Oxford University Press and his forays into the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Here is a list of his published books:

Paul on Preaching. Stag books. New York: Sheed and Ward, 1964.
Colossians. Milwaukee, WI: Bruce Pub. Co., 1968.
Paul and Qumran: Studies in New Testament Exegesis. Chicago, IL: Priory Press, 1968.
Paul (volume1). Scripture discussion commentary, Vol. 10. London: Sheed & Ward, 1971 (en collaboration).
Paul (volume 2). Scripture discussion commentary. Vol. 11. London: Sheed & Ward, 1972 (en collaboration).
Becoming Human Together: The Pastoral Anthropology of St. Paul. Wilmington, DE: M. Glazier, 1977.
1 Corinthians. New Testament Message. Vol. 10. Wilmington, DE: M. Glazier, 1979.
The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide from Earliest Times to 1700. Oxford archaeological guides. Oxford University Press, 1980.
Paul and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Christian origins library. New York: Crossroad Publishing Company., 1990 (en collaboration).
The Ecole Biblique and the New Testament: A Century of Scholarship 1890-1990. Schweiz/Göttingen: Universitatsaverlag Freiburg Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1990
The Theology of the Second Letter to the Corinthians. New Testament theology. Cambridge & New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991.
Paul the Letter-Writer: His World, His Options, His Skills. Good news studies. Vol. 41. Collegeville, MI: Liturgical Press, 1995.
Paul: A Critical Life. Oxford University Press, 1996.
St. Paul's Corinth: Texts and Archaeology. Good news studies. Vol. 6. Collegeville, MI: Liturgical Press, 2002.
Paul: His Story. Oxford University Press, 2004.
Jesus and Paul: Parallel Lives. Collegeville, MI: Liturgical Press, 2007.
Keys to First Corinthians: Revisiting the Major Issues. Oxford University Press, 2009
Keys to Galatians. Collected Essays. Collegeville, MI: Liturgical Press, 2012.