Paul Among the People: the Apostle reinterpreted and reimagined in his own time by Sarah Ruden

This is actually a defense of Paul by a scholar of Greek and a classical translator of some repute. She counters the usual critiques of Paul as being against women and for slavery. She accepts his words against homosexuality by giving a rather shocking look at the sexual mores of the time, completely rejecting the idea that the homosexual practice of Plato and his contemporaries was benign. She writes movingly of her faith and of Christ and Paul's exposition of love. The chapter on slavery is important. The sexual ethic of Paul and his views of women and marriage are well-crafted and I think persuasive.