Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Phoebe

By: Paula Gooder
Narrated by: Paula Gooder, Joan Walker
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

Sometime around AD 56, the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome. His letter was arguably his theological masterpiece, and has continued to shape Christian faith ever since.

He entrusted this letter to Phoebe, the deacon of the church at Cenchreae; in writing to the church that almost surely met in her home, Paul refers to her both as a deacon and as a helper or patron of many.

But who was this remarkable woman?

In this, her first work of fiction, Biblical scholar and popular author and speaker Paula Gooder tells Phoebe's story - who she was, the life she lived and her first-century faith - and in doing so opens up Paul's theology, giving a sense of the cultural and historical pressures that shaped Paul's thinking, and the faith of the early church.

Written in the gripping style of Gerd Theissen's The Shadow of the Galilean, and similarly rigorously researched, this is an audiobook for everyone and anyone who wants to engage more deeply and imaginatively with Paul's theology - from one of the UK's foremost New Testament scholars.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2019 Paula Gooder (P)2019 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Sophia's Secret, Volume One cover art
The Chosen (Revised and Expanded) cover art
15 New Testament Words of Life cover art
The Betrothed cover art
Faith Unraveled cover art
A Rooster for Asklepios cover art
Dottie cover art
The Screwtape Letters cover art
A Wild Hope cover art
Becoming Reverend cover art
God Is Not a White Man cover art
The Rocking Chair Prophet cover art
Sensible Shoes cover art
Deeper cover art
The First Mrs. Rothschild cover art
Everything Belongs cover art

What listeners say about Phoebe

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    22
  • 4 Stars
    4
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    19
  • 4 Stars
    4
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    19
  • 4 Stars
    5
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Absolutely brilliant

I really loved this story and the notes at the end were amazing. I'll have to pick up a hard copy now.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful book, beautifully read

Good story (Part 1)
which sets the issues in Paul's letter in their cultural context. Scholarly basis evident from the very interesting notes in Part 2.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

An informative, interesting & entertaining listen

This was my first experience of exploring this style of Paula Gooder’s writings. The story was engaging and easy to listen to. The characters were developed wonderfully through the story, making visualising how life may have been for the members of the early church within Roman society.
The book was easy to listen to, having some knowledge of the early church, I’m sure helped but definitely not a pre-requisite.
The notes at the end if the story were really helpful and fascinating to read how the author had developed the storyline and the characters. I’m sure I will return to the notes in the future to tap into the author’s wealth of knowledge.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

History & theology wrapped in an interesting story

The audible edition is in 2 parts, the second is the author with her academic hat on explaining the historical background, interesting stuff. The main story has lots of characters to keep track of. The end is a bit of a cliff hanger.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Read

This story has helped me to have an insight in it would have been to live as a disciple in Paul's time.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

A great scholar, but a poor narrator

I found the narrator's intonation when narrating dialogue very annoying, and therefore the book was a struggle to finish. It was useful in putting the New Testament stories into their context. The author admits she is not a fiction writer, and that was not her intent, but I think the book sadly falls between two stalls and therefore missed the mark of both. A very scholarly work though, and the notes were of as much interest as the story.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful