Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht The Spirit World in the Letters of Paul the Apostle: A Critical Examination of the Role of Spiritual Beings in the Authentic Pauline Epistles ... des Alten und Neuen Testaments): 231

Guy Williams sheds light on the role of spirits in the true Pauline letters. Contrary to popular belief that spirits and spiritual beings were insignificant and trivial to Paul, Williams argues that these are inherent features of the letters. The consideration of their historical and cultural background shows that the idea of the "inhabitants of the Pauline spirit world", the angels, demons, forces and Satan, corresponds to those of the general thought. Finally, Williams draws the results of his investigation on three areas: Paul Christology, his soteriology and his idea of community. His approach allows a fresh look at the place and meaning of spiritual beings in Paul, not in the sense of a new doctrine, but as a general and cultural idiom of the Pauline texts.