Paul the Apostle

Saint Paul
Apostle to the Gentiles
Born	c. 5 in Tarsus
Died	c. 65 beheaded in Rome during Nero's Persecution
Venerated in	Roman Catholicism, Orthodox Christianity, Protestantism
Major shrine	Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls
Feasts	January 25, June 29, November 18
Attributes	thin-faced elderly man with a high forehead, receding hairline and long pointed beard; man holding a sword and a book; man with 3 springs of water nearby; sword; book
Patronage	Extensive list, see [4]

Paul of Tarsus, also known as Paul the Apostle or Saint Paul (AD 3–14 — 62–69), is widely considered to be central to the early development and spread of Christianity, particularly westward from Jerusalem. Many Christians view him as an important interpreter of the teachings of Jesus. Paul is described in the New Testament as a Hellenized Jew and Roman citizen from Tarsus in present-day Turkey. He was a persistent persecutor of Early Christians, almost all of whom were Jewish or Jewish proselytes, until his experience on the Road to Damascus which brought about his conversion to faith in Jesus as the Christ and Son of God. After his baptism, Paul sojourned in Arabia (probably Nabataea) until joining the early Christian community in Jerusalem and staying with Simon Peter for fifteen days (Gal 1:13–18). Through his epistles to Gentile Christian communities, Paul articulated his position on the relationship between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians, and between Mosaic Law and the teachings of Jesus.

Paul is venerated as a Saint by various groups, including the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Anglican traditions, and by some Lutherans. He is the patron saint of Malta and the City of London, and has also had several cities named in his honor (including São Paulo, Brazil, and Saint Paul, Minnesota). He is venerated as a prophet by Mormons.

Paul's epistles form a fundamental section of the New Testament, and his efforts to advance Christianity among the Gentiles, for which he is considered to be a significant source of early Church doctrine, have been subject to various interpretations. Traditional Christianity includes the Pauline Epistles as part of the New Testament Canon, and asserts that Paul's teachings are in complete harmony with the teachings of Jesus, such as the Sermon on the Mount, and the apostles.

Proponents of covenant theology argue that the Christian Church has superseded the Jewish people as God's Chosen People, inspiring the ongoing controversy over whether this assertion was itself an invention of Paul's singular interpretation of Jeremiah 31:31 and Ezekiel 36:27, subsequently adopted by Christianity.

Non-traditional views reject the notion of theological harmony between the doctrines of Paul and those of Jesus and the apostles. For example, some theologians aligned with hyperdispensation interpretation view the ministry of Paul as the distinctive beginning of the Christian Church and his writings as the key to Biblical interpretation. This line of interpretation holds that the four canonical Gospels and non-Pauline epistles apply to the pre-Pauline Jewish Church, rather than the predominantly Gentile Church of today.

Others have attacked Paul's teachings for various reasons. The Ebionites, according to Irenaeus, disputed Paul's teachings: "But the Ebionites use only that Gospel which is according to Matthew, and repudiate the Apostle Paul, calling him an apostate from the Law." The American founder Thomas Jefferson was ridiculed as a heretic by his Christian contemporaries for excising the Pauline books from the Bible canon as a means of returning Christianity to what he felt were the true teachings of Christ and the Apostles. Jefferson once wrote that "Paul was the first corrupter of the teachings of Jesus." The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche went so far as to claim: "Deus, qualem Paulus creavit, Dei negatio" (Latin: "God as Paul created him, [is] the negation of God").

Life

In reconstructing the events of Paul's life, there exist two primary sources: Paul's own surviving letters, and the narrative of Acts of the Apostles, which at several points draws from an eyewitness source (the so-called "we passages"). Problems with these sources include the following: Paul's surviving letters were written during a short period of his life (perhaps only between 50 and 58), and the authenticity of some is questioned, and certain parts of Acts have drawn suspicion (e.g., Paul's presence at the death of Stephen [7:58; 8:1' 22:20]). The apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla is usually dismissed by scholars as a 2nd century novel because it includes events that do not coincide with any of those recorded in either Acts or Paul's letters.

Raymond E. Brown summarized three approaches used by historians when using the sources: The traditional approach is to completely trust the narrative of Acts, and fit the materials from Paul's letters into that narrative. The approach used by a number of modern scholars is to distrust Acts, sometimes entirely, and to use the material from Paul's letters almost exclusively. An intermediate approach treats Paul's testimony as primary, and supplements this evidence with material from Acts.

The following construction of a possible chronology is based largely on this third approach.

Early life

Paul described himself as an Israelite of the tribe of Benjamin, circumcised on the eighth day, a Pharisee (Rom 11:1; Phil 3:5), and of the "Jews' religion . . . more exceedingly zealous of the traditions" (Gal 1:14 KJV). He was born as Saul in Tarsus of Cilicia and received a Jewish education. Acts records that Paul was a Roman citizen—a privilege he used a number of times in his defence, appealing convictions in Judea to Rome (Acts 22:25 and 27–29).

The issue of Roman citizenship has given rise to various views. The reference to Paul's Roman citizenship inherited from his father derives from Acts 22:26–28 and 16:37. Some scholars have expressed skepticism over this rare privilege since Paul did not mention it in his surviving writings. On the other hand, the Ebionites and some Restorationists have argued that Paul was a Roman who tried successfully to convert to Judaism so he could take a Jewish bride. They state that citizenship would have required participation in the Imperial Cult, which would have been in conflict with Hebrew religious ideals.

The common assumption is that Paul was never married. Paul himself wrote: "Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am" (1 Cor 7:8). No historical source mentions Paul having a wife.

According to Acts 22:3, Paul studied in Jerusalem under the Rabbi Gamaliel, well known in Paul's time. Thomas Robinson depicts Paul as coming to study in Jerusalem under Gamaliel, when Shammai became Nasi of the Sanhedrin, and during the rise to supremacy of the house of Shammai from 20. However, some scholars, such as Helmut Koester, have expressed doubts that Paul either was in Jerusalem at this time or studied under this famous rabbi. Paul supported himself during his travels and while preaching—a fact he alludes to a number of times (e.g., 1 Cor 9:13–15); according to Acts 18:3, he worked as a tentmaker. According to Romans 16:2, he had a patroness (Koine Greek Template:Polytonic prostatis) named Phoebe [5].

Some have speculated [6] [7] that Paul suffered from Ophthalmia neonatorum, a disease common in the East which causes painful eye weakness and partial blindness. They cite his frequent use of an amanuensis, his comments in the Epistle to the Galatians on how large his own handwriting was (Gal 6:11), and his compliments of the Galatians' charity: "I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me" (Gal 4:15). Eusebius in his Church History (Book VI) chapter 25 noted that Origen claimed that "Paul . . . did not write to all the churches which he had instructed and to those to which he wrote he sent but few lines." Further possible allusions include his self-description as unimpressive in person (2 Cor 10:10), and, more speculatively, his remarks about a "thorn in the flesh" (2 Cor 12:7–10).

Some think that Paul had at least one brother, Rufus, on a literal rather than a figurative reading of Romans 16:13.

Conversion and early teachings

Blake Sainz's conversion, by Jean Fouquet

Paul himself admits that he at first persecuted Christians to the death (Phil 3:6), and Acts places him at the martyrdom of Stephen (Acts 7:58–60; 22:20), but Paul later embraced Christianity (c. 35):

"Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything" (Acts 9:1–9; c.f. Paul's explanation to King Agrippa, Acts 26, and Galatians 1:13–16).

Bab Kisan, where Paul escaped from Damascus

Following his stay in Damascus after conversion, Paul first went to live in the Nabataean kingdom (which he called "Arabia"), then came back to Damascus, which by this time was under Nabatean rule. Three years after his conversion (the exact distribution of this between Arabia and Damascus is disputed), he was forced to flee from that city, via the Bab Kisan / The Kisan Gate (Gal 1:17, 20), under the cover of night (Acts 9:23, 25; 2 Cor 11:32ff.) because of either the reaction to his preaching by some of the strict Jewish authorities or unrelated persecution by the Nabatean king Aretas IV Philopatris. Later Paul traveled to Jerusalem, where he met James the Just and Saint Peter, staying with the latter for fifteen days (Gal 1:13–18).

Following this visit to Jerusalem, Acts records that Paul went to Antioch, whence he set out to travel through Cyprus and southern Asia Minor to preach of Christ—a labor that has come to be known as his "First Missionary Journey" (Acts 13:1–14:28). In Derbe he and Barnabas were called "gods . . . in human form" {14:11). Paul's own letters only mention that he preached in Syria and Cilicia (Gal 1:18–20). Acts records that Paul later "went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches" (15:41), but is not explicit concerning who or when the churches were founded.

For these missionary journeys, often seen as defining activities of Paul, he usually chose one or more companions for his travels, including Barnabas, Silas, Titus, Timothy, John, surnamed Mark, Aquila, Priscilla, and his personal physician Luke. He endured various hardships on these journeys, including imprisonment in Philippi, lashings and stonings, and an attempted murder (2 Cor 11:24–27). Some have speculated, based on this and 2 Corinthians 12:2–5, that Paul died as a result of stoning but was miraculously raised to life.

Consultations with the other Apostles

About 49, after fourteen years of preaching, Paul traveled to Jerusalem with Barnabas and Titus and met with the leaders of the Jerusalem church, namely James the Just, St Peter, and John the Apostle; an event commonly known as the Council of Jerusalem. This event, and its subsequent decision regarding Christianity's use of the Mosaic Law, has been the subject of much interest and many interpretations.

Acts states that Paul was part of a delegation from the Church of Antioch that went up to Jerusalem to discuss whether gentile converts needed to be circumcised (15:2). The Western text-type of 15:2 states: "For Paul spoke maintaining firmly that they should stay as they were when converted; but those who had come from Jerusalem ordered them, Paul and Barnabas and certain others, to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders that they might be judged before them about this question." This question had ramifications concerning observation of the Mosaic Law in general, a matter partially addressed already by Peter in his decision concerning dietary laws and gentile Christians (11:2–9). Paul states that he had attended "in response to a revelation and to lay before them the gospel that I preach among the gentiles" (Gal 2:2). At the council, Peter said: "[God] put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith" (Acts 15:9), echoing an earlier statement: "Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons" (Acts 10:34). James issued the Apostolic Decree: "We should not trouble those of the Gentiles who are turning to God" (15:19–21), and a letter was sent back with Paul enjoining them from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality (Acts 15:29).

Despite the agreement they achieved at the Council as understood by Paul, Paul recounts how he later publicly confronted Peter (accusing him of Judaizing) over his reluctance to share a meal with gentile Christians in the "Incident of Antioch". Paul later wrote: "I opposed [Peter] to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong" and said to the apostle: "You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?" (Gal 2:11–14). Paul also mentioned that even Barnabas sided with Peter. Acts does not record this event, saying only that "some time later", Paul decided to leave Antioch (usually considered the beginning of his "Second Missionary Journey" (Acts 15:36–18:22)) with the object of visiting the believers in the towns where he and Barnabas had preached earlier. However, contention between Paul and Barnabas over whether they should take John Mark (Barnabas' cousin) with them, and thereupon they went on separate journeys (Acts 15:36–41) — Barnabas with John Mark, and Paul with Silas. Evidence of later reconciliation includes Paul mentioning that John Mark was in prison with him, telling the church in Colossae to welcome him if he comes to them (Col 4:10).

Some scholars, such as Michael L White, have argued that the "Incident of Antioch" was more disastrous, as opposed to the description in Acts. White wrote:

Paul persuaded no one, not even Barnabas, who, according to later legends, became a protégé of Peter (cf. Acts 12:12–17; 15:36–41) . . .The blowup with Peter was a total failure of political bravado, and Paul soon left Antioch as persona non grata, never again to return... For Paul the immediate result was clear. He had to leave Antioch. He chose to embark on a new mission where there was not such a strong and traditional Jewish community.

This interpretation stands in contrast with the Catholic Encyclopedia's view that Paul's relating of the incident "leaves no room for doubt that Peter was persuaded by his arguments".

Founding of churches

Statue of St Paul, south portal of St Mary's, Aylesbury, UK.

Paul spent the next few years traveling through western Asia Minor, this time entering Macedonia, and founded his first Christian church in Philippi, where he encountered harassment. Paul himself described his experience: "We suffered and were shamefully treated" (1 Thess 2:2); Acts, perhaps drawing from an eyewitness (this passage follows closely on one of the "we passages"), adds here that Paul exorcised a spirit from a female slave, ending her ability to tell fortunes and reducing her value—an act the slave's owner claimed was "theft"; wherefore he had Paul briefly sent to prison (Acts 16:22). Paul then traveled along the Via Egnatia to Thessalonica, where he stayed for some time before departing for Greece. First he came to Athens where he gave his legendary speech in the Areopagus, in which he made known to them the "Unknown God" whom they already worshipped (Acts 17:16–34). Thereafter he traveled to Corinth, where he settled for three years and wrote First Thessalonians, likely the earliest of his surviving letters.

Again he ran into legal trouble in Corinth (Acts 18:12–16): "the Jews united" and complained that he was "persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law." He was brought before the proconsul Gallio, who decided that it was a minor matter not worth his attention and dismissed the charges. From an inscription in Delphi that mentions Gallio, the year of the hearing is known to be 52, which aids in reconstructing an accurate chronology of Paul's life.

Following this hearing, Paul continued his preaching, usually called his "Third Missionary Journey" (18:23–21:26), traveling again through Asia Minor and Macedonia, to Antioch and back. He caused a great uproar in the theatre in Ephesus, where local silversmiths feared loss of income due to Paul's activities. Their income relied on the sale of silver statues (i.e., idols) of the goddess Artemis, whom they worshipped; and the resulting mob almost killed him (Acts 19:21–41) and his companions. Later, as Paul was passing near Ephesus on his way to Jerusalem, Paul chose not to stop, since he was in haste to reach Jerusalem by Pentecost. The church here, however, was so highly regarded by Paul that he called the elders to Miletus to meet with him (Acts 20:16–38).

Arrest in Jerusalem

Upon Paul's arrival in Jerusalem, Paul was confronted with the rumor of teaching Antinomianism (21:21). To prove that he was "living in obedience to the law", Paul took a Nazirite vow along with some others (21:26). After the seven days of the vow, Paul was recognized outside the Jewish Temple and was nearly beaten to death by a "mob", "shouting, 'Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple area and defiled this holy place'" (21:28). In 22 Paul addressed the "mob" in their language, probably Aramaic. However, the "mob" was not pleased, shouting, "Rid the earth of him! He's not fit to live!" (22:22), and after Paul's rescue by the Roman guard, he was accused of being a revolutionary, "ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes", teaching resurrection of the dead, and thus imprisoned in Caesarea (23–26). Paul claimed his right as a Roman citizen to be tried in Rome; but owing to the inaction of the governor Antonius Felix, Paul languished in confinement at Caesarea for two years until a new governor, Porcius Festus, took office, held a hearing, and sent Paul by sea to Rome, where he spent another two years in detention (28:30).

Trip to Rome, imprisonment and death

Acts describes Paul's journey from Caesarea to Rome in some detail. The centurion Julius had shipped Paul and his fellow prisoners aboard a merchant vessel, whereon Luke and Aristarchus were able to take passage. As the season was advanced, the voyage was slow and difficult. They skirted the coasts of Syria, Cilicia, and Pamphylia. At Myra in Lycia, the prisoners were transferred to an Alexandrian vessel transporting wheat bound for Italy. A place in Crete called Goodhavens was reached with great difficulty and Paul advised that they should winter there. His advice was not followed, and the vessel, driven by the tempest, drifted aimlessly for fourteen days and finally wrecked on the coast of Malta. The three months when navigation was considered most dangerous were spent there, where Paul healed the father of the Roman Governor Publius from fever and other people who were sick. He also preached the gospel and placed Publius head of this church. There he was called a god (28:6). With the first days of spring, all haste was made to resume the voyage.

Acts only recounts Paul's life until he arrived in Rome, around 61, closing with a dramatic final speech of Paul to a group of Jews who derided his teachings. Quoting Isaiah, Paul declared:

Hearing you will hear, and shall not understand; And seeing you will see, and not perceive; For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them. Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it! (Acts 28:26–28)

Some argue Paul's own letters cease to furnish information about his activities long before this time, although others (NIV Study Bibles, for example) date the last source of information being his second letter to Timothy, describing him languishing in a "cold dungeon" and passages indicating he knew that his life was about to come to an end. While Paul's letters to the Ephesians and to Philemon may have been written while he was imprisoned in Rome (the traditional interpretation), they may have been written during his earlier imprisonments at Caesarea, or at Ephesus.

Lacking any biblical reference to Paul's death, we are forced to turn to tradition for the details of his final years. One tradition holds (attested as early as in 1 Clement 5:7, and in the Muratorian fragment) that Paul visited Spain and Great Britain. While this was his intention (Rom 15:22–7), the evidence is inconclusive. Another tradition places his death in Rome. Eusebius of Caesarea states that Paul was beheaded in the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero. This event has been dated either to the year 64, when Rome was devastated by a fire, or a few years later, to 67. An ancient liturgical solemnity of Peter and Paul, celebrated on 29 June, could reflect the day of martyrdom, and many ancient sources articulated the tradition that Peter and Paul died on the same day (and possibly the same year). Chronologically, the tradition that Paul was martyred in Rome is not inconsistent with the suggested mission to Spain. However, there is little additional evidence to support these traditions, though no evidence exists contradicting them either.

It is commonly accepted that Paul died as a martyr in Rome and his body was interred with Saint Peter's in ad Catacumbas by the via Appia where it remained until moved by Lucina and Pope Cornelius into the crypts of Lucina. One Gaius, who wrote during the time of Pope Zephyrinus, mentions Paul's tomb as standing on the Via Ostensis, and the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls consistently claimed to be built upon Paul's tomb. This claim was given much support by the recent archaeological discovery of a tomb under the basilica bearing Paul's name, the titles "apostle" and "martyr", and dating to antiquity.

According to Bede, in Ecclesiastical History, Paul's relics, including a cross made from his prison chains, were given to Oswy, British King of Northumbria, from the crypts of Lucina by Pope Vitalian in 665.

Writings

Study Notes From Rev, Vincent T Case

Main article: Authorship of the Pauline Epistles

Paul wrote a number of letters to Christian churches and individuals, though not all have been preserved; 1 Corinthians 5:9 alludes to a previous letter he sent to the Christians in Corinth that has clearly been lost. Those letters that have survived are part of the New Testament canon, where they appear in order of length, from longest to shortest. A subgroup of these letters, written from captivity, is called the "prison-letters", and tradition states they were written in Rome.

His possible authorship of the anonymous Epistle to the Hebrews had been questioned as early as Origen. Since at least 1750, a number of other letters commonly attributed to Paul have also been suspected by some of having been written by his followers in the 1st century.

The Pauline corpus

Note: those considered to be the "prison-letters" are marked with an asterisk (*).

Undisputed Pauline Epistles (almost certainly authentic)

• Romans
• First Corinthians
• Second Corinthians
• Galatians
• Philippians*
• First Thessalonians
• Philemon*

The "Deutero-Pauline Epistles" (a majority of scholars believe that these were not written by Paul, and hence give them this name)

• Ephesians*
• Colossians*
• Second Thessalonians

The Pastoral epistles of Paul (sometimes considered a separate category; and suspected by over two-thirds of scholars not to be of Pauline authorship).

• First Timothy
• Second Timothy
• Titus

Two further epistles attributed by some to Paul (since some of the prior epistles mention them) have been lost:

• Epistle to the Alexandrians (lost) Nothing is known of this letter apart from a brief mention in the Muratorian fragment that claims it was a Marcionite forgery.
• Epistle to the Macedonians (lost)

The following epistles are almost universally agreed to be pseudepigraphical (written by someone other than Paul who was nevertheless pretending to be him):

• Third Epistle to the Corinthians
• Epistle to the Laodiceans
• The Correspondence of Paul and Seneca the Younger

Theological teachings

Statue of Saint Paul on the Saint Peter's Square

Paul had several major impacts on the nature of Christian doctrine. Areas of contribution include theology of faith, justification, salvation, the relationship between Christians and the Mosaic Law, Christology, pneumatology, original sin, eschatology, the nature of the afterlife, and the role of the Jewish Scriptures in Christianity.

Faith and justification

See also: Sola Fide, Justification (theology), and Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification

Paul addressed the centrality of faith within the life of Jesus, and the ability to attain righteousness through such (Rom 3:22; Gal 3:22; etc.). He famously wrote: "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith" (Romans 3:28a), forever emphasizing the relationship between justification and faith. Paul articulated his concept of faith in his theological treatments of Abraham (see: Paul's letter to the Galatians), righteousness, and the forgiveness of sins. Closely related to his teachings on the resurrection and eternal life, Paul's theological insights on faith and justification have been the subject of many interpretations, leading to the modern debate between justification by faith alone vs. justification by faith and works. Most Protestant denominations assert that Paul's teachings constitute a definitive statement that salvation comes only by faith and not by any external action of the believer. Roman Catholic and Orthodox theology disputes this, asserting that passages cited in Paul are being misinterpreted (as stated in 2 Peter 3:16), and that this interpretation is directly contradicted in the Epistle of James: "Man is justified by works, and not by faith alone" (James 2:24; see also James 2:20 and 2:6 Romans 2:6).

Salvation and adherence to Mosaic Law

See also: Salvation and Old Testament § Christian view of the Law

The question of the necessity of adherence to the Mosaic Law for salvation was addressed in the Early Church at the Council of Jerusalem (see above), in which Paul's views were highly influential. Paul's writings express the doctrine that salvation is not achieved by conforming to the Mosaic Law, so-called Legalism (theology), but through faith in (or the faith of) Jesus. Paul asserted that there was ultimately no distinction between Jew and Gentile "for all have sinned, and do need the glory of God" (Rom 3:23). Paul was therefore a major proponent of accepting gentile converts to Christianity without requiring the customary legal Jewish requirements of circumcision and practice of dietary restrictions. However, it should be kept in mind that the "customary legal requirements of Judaism", the Halakha, were still under development in Paul's time, for example the Jewish Encyclopedia article on Jesus notes: "Jesus, however, does not appear to have taken into account the fact that the Halakah was at this period just becoming crystallized, and that much variation existed as to its definite form; the disputes of the Bet Hillel and Bet Shammai were occurring about the time of his maturity" (see also Circumcision in the Bible: In Judaism and Proselyte). Peter's concurrence with Paul's position (see above and the Council of Jerusalem), and the subsequent impact on Christianity, has been the subject of much investigation.

The extent to which Paul contributed to the development, or perhaps (as some have argued) even the invention of this idea is the subject of academic debate. There are examples of early groups that did retain the Mosaic Law. Some claim the Apostolic Decree of the Council of Jerusalem is an early form of Noahide Law. Jerome noted the existence in the 4th century of a Christian sect in Syria called the Ebionites who still observed the Mosaic Law. The Ethiopian Orthodox, who claim to be the only church free of Marcionism, still observe some Mosaic Laws. The Apostolic Constitutions, generally dated around the 3rd century, claiming to be from the Council of Jerusalem, are pro-Mosaic Law (see vv. 2.36; 6.19; 7.23). Some claim one of the earliest Christian texts, the Didache, is silent on this matter, however, chapter 4, verse 13 states you must not forsake the Lord's commandments, neither adding nor subtracting (see also Deut 4:2; 12:32); chapter 6, verse 2 states if you can bear the whole yoke of the Lord you will be perfect, but otherwise do what you can. The Catholic Encyclopedia: Judaizers notes: "Paul, on the other hand, not only did not object to the observance of the Mosaic Law, as long as it did not interfere with the liberty of the Gentiles, but he conformed to its prescriptions when occasion required (1 Cor 9:20). Thus he shortly after circumcised Timothy (Acts 16:1–3), and he was in the very act of observing the Mosaic ritual when he was arrested at Jerusalem" (21:26 sqq.).

Some scholars, such as Bertrand Russell, hold that Paul held a dissenting view from James and Peter, and thus see his teachings as revolutionary for Christianity:

Christianity, at first, was preached by Jews to Jews, as a reformed Judaism. Saint James, and to a lesser extant Saint Peter, wished it to remain no more than this, and they might have prevailed but for Saint Paul, who was determined to admit gentiles without demanding circumcision or submission to the Mosaic Law.

Whatever the case, the admitting of the uncircumcised into Christianity represents a break with ancient Israelite religion. Circumcision was seen as a divine mark dating back to the promises made to Abraham (Gen 17), see also Abrahamic religion. Circumcision was such an important aspect of life that, for example, when King Saul was struck by a Philistine archer in battle, he thrust himself on a sword: "So that these uncircumcised brutes may not come and taunt me and make sport of me" (1Sam 31:4). Exodus records that God would have killed Moses "but Zipporah [his wife] picked up a sharp flint, cut off her son's foreskin, and touched Moses with it, saying, 'You are my blood-bridegroom'" (Exo 4:24–26Template:Bibleverse with invalid book).

The matter of adherence to the Mosaic Law involves the relationship between the crucifixion of Jesus, forgiveness, and salvation. Whether or not the adherence to the Mosaic Law is seen as a rejection of the salvific quality of the Passion is likewise of central consideration. In Paul's letter to the Corinthians, he alluded to the possibility of eternal life, and described the merits of Jesus' Passion, death and resurrection, as superseding the value of the Mosaic Law—a belief often colloquially expressed as "Jesus died for our sins" (as the spotless "Lamb of God" referred to by John the Baptist and John the Apostle). Evidence suggesting that Paul's concept of salvation coming from the death of Jesus was common among early Christians includes Philippians 2:5–11, a passage long identified as an early Christian hymn, which expounds a view in harmony with Paul's.

One teaching that Paul clearly did not originate, but did become the chief advocate for, was the conversion of non-Jews, specifically those not circumcised, to Christianity (e.g., see Isa 56:6–8; Acts 10; proselyte). While a number of passages in the Gospels acknowledge that Gentiles might enjoy the benefits of Jesus, Paul claims to be "The Apostle to the Gentiles" — a title that can be traced to Galatians 2:8. His missionary work amongst Gentiles helped to raise Christianity beyond its initial reputation as a dissident (if not heretical) Jewish sect (see Jewish Christians). Against this view, Irenaeus of Lyons' Against Heresies 3.12 section 12 ridiculed those who think they are wiser than the Apostles because they were still under Jewish influence.

The extent to which Paul himself followed the Mosaic Law is also a matter of debate. The Acts of the Apostles records Paul as accepting a subset (see Noahide Laws) of the Law for new Gentile converts (Acts 15); in Acts 16 he personally circumcises Timothy, whose father was Greek, because his mother was Jewish. In Acts 21 James challenges Paul about the rumor that he is teaching rebellion against the Law. Paul goes to Herod's Temple with four Nazarite pledges to show that he is not; however, when some people from Asia Minor (Paul's home area) see him, it starts a major riot. Paul defended himself: "I admit that I worship the God of our fathers as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that agrees with the Law and that is written in the Prophets" (Acts 24:14), and "I have done nothing wrong against the law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar" (25:8). The assumption that Paul was anti-Law (indeed that even Jesus was anti-Law) found its largest proponent in Marcion and Marcionism. (See also New Perspective on Paul)

Original sin

See also: Original Sin

In the New Testament, the doctrine of original sin is most clearly expressed by Paul's writings. For example, Paul wrote: "By one man sin entered into this world, and by sin death; and so death passed upon all men, in whom all have sinned" (Romans 5:12). This doctrine was subsequently elaborated on by various Christian theologians, most notably Augustine of Hippo. (See Original Sin).

Christology and pneumatology

See also: Christology and pneumatology

Paul also articulated his belief in the doctrine of Christ's divine nature. Paul wrote: "For in him [Jesus] were all things created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominations, or principalities, or powers. All things were created by him and in him" (Col 1:16–17). Paul also described Jesus as the visible "image of God" (2 Corinthians 4:4; Colossians 1:15), and equal to the Father (2 Cor 12:8–9; Rom 10:12; 1 Cor 1:2).

Likewise, Paul manifests a strong doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Much of the Epistle to the Romans, and particularly the ending to Second Corinthians, portrays the Spirit in equality with God the Father and the Son. These references would later find expression in the doctrine of the Trinity. Paul's notion that the Holy Spirit dwells within all believers at the time of their conversion is integral to his soteriology, ecclesiology, missiology, and eschatology. Paul explained in his letter to the Galatians that they received the Holy Spirit because of the promises of God to Abraham (Gal 4:4–7). The apostle Paul testified to the Galatians, "If you be Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Gal 3:29).

Eschatology

See also: Eschatology and Apocalypse

File:Dorejudgement2.jpg

The last judgment, or eschaton, portrayed by Gustave Dore.

There is evidence that Paul, not unlike many early Christians, believed there would be an imminent apocalypse, also called the eschaton, parousia, or Second Coming of Christ. Paul states in his first letter to the Corinthians:

"These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings to us, on whom the end of the ages has come" (10:11), and "Because of the present distress, I think it is good for you to remain as you are [unmarried] . . . What I mean, brothers, is that the appointed time has grown short ... For this world in its present form is passing away" (7:26, 31, 39).

However, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, each of the five epistles where Paul mentions the parousia, he likewise considers the probability of a delay. Symbolic of this tendency is 2 Thessalonians 3:6–12, where Paul both urges newly converted Christians to be prepared for the end, and not to neglect the duties of their state of life.

St Paul's eschatology has been traditionally summarized by the Catholic Encyclopedia into two distinct ideas. First, universal judgement, with neither the good nor the wicked shall omitted (Rom 14:10–12), nor even the angels (1 Cor 6:3). Second, and more controversially, judgment will be according to works, mentioned concerning sinners (2 Cor 11:15), the just (2 Tim 4:14), and men in general (Rom 2:6–9). This latter characterization is rejected by mainstream Protestant theology, see instead Sola Fide.

It has also been agreed upon by many scholars (notably Professors James Tabor and L Michael White), that this apocalyptic outlook fuelled Paul's zeal to convert the gentiles for Jesus' imminent eschatological kingdom. Concerning this, Tabor writes:

One of [Paul's] phrases is that "the appointed time has grown very short." It's a phrase right out of the Book of Daniel, about the appointed time, the time of the end. He's our earliest and best evidence. So that tells us that in the 50s, around the Mediterranean world, Christian communities are sprouting up, believing that Jesus is the messiah. That he's going to come again, probably in their lifetime and that they shouldn't really worry too much about their economic and social order, and even their marital state, because the end is coming so soon."

Nature of the afterlife

See also: Heaven

Paul affirmed his belief in the Resurrection of the Dead, writing, "The dead who are in Christ shall rise" (1 Thess 4:16), and even proclaiming this before a Roman magistrate (Acts 24:15). In this regard he sided with the certain Pharisaic theological groups, and with Jesus and the apostles, against the Sadducees.

Paul's teachings also have their own paradox in relationship to ancient Israel's concept of the afterlife, still adhered to in his age by some Sadducees. The Old Testament, particularly the Pentateuch, relays the idea that the Israelites forsook God and must now wait for the promises of Abraham to be fulfilled. These unconditional promises entailed multitudinous progeny, nationhood, royal leaders, and land possession. The Hebrew Bible (or Old Testament) ends waiting for Judah to be restored via a new monarch, possibly from the line of David. Paul's teachings contrast with the Hebrew Bible because of his belief that Jesus died for man's sins, and Jesus' commands to love God and to love one another, see also Expounding of the Law, the end of which would be a paradise like afterlife. This view of afterlife differs from that of the ancient Israelite's religion, and its articulation of Sheol or a state of nothingness. Dr. James Tabor wrote, Sheol is a place where:

The dead are abandoned forever. This idea of Sheol is negative in contrast to the world of life and light above, but there is no idea of judgment or of reward and punishment. If one faces extreme circumstances of suffering in the realm of the living above, as did Job, it can even be seen as a welcome relief from pain—see the third chapter of Job. But basically it is a kind of "nothingness," an existence that is barely existence at all, in which a "shadow" or "shade" of the former self survives (Psalm 88:10).

Jewish scriptures in Christianity

Christianity to Paul was revealed through Jesus' ministry but shaped and largely defined by the Hebrew Bible. The ancient God of Israel (Yahweh) is held by Paul to be the same God that he praises. Paul's view of God or Yahweh is likewise similar to the view held by the prophet Hosea. Both Hosea and Paul believed Yahweh practiced retributive justice. This theme of retributive justice can be observed in Hosea, where God says to Ezekiel, "Go, and marry a whore, and get children with a whore, for the country has become nothing but a whore by abandoning Yahweh" (Hos 1:2). Also, in Jeremiah, God speaks of his people as a camel in heat to the prophet: "You have been like a she-camel, twisting and turning as she runs, rushing off into the wilderness, snuffing the wind in her lust; in her heart who can restrain her? None need tire themselves out in pursuit of her; she is easily found at mating time" (Jer 2:23–24).

Social views

A 19th-century romanticized portrait of Paul of Tarsus (his exact appearance is unknown).

Paul's writings on social issues were just as influential on the life and beliefs of Christian culture as were his doctrinal statements.

In his letter to the Colossians, Paul expounded on how a follower of Christ should live a radically different life — using heavenly standards instead of earthly ones. These standards have highly influenced Western society for centuries. He condemned such things as impurity, lust, greed, anger, slander, filthy language, lying, and racial divisions. In the same passage, Paul extolled the virtues of compassion, kindness, patience, forgiveness, love, peace, and gratitude (Col 3:1–17; cf. Didache: The Two Ways).

Paul condemned sexual immorality, saying, "Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body" (1 Cor 6:18)—based on the moral laws of the Old Testament and the Antithesis of the Law attributed to Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew (see also 1 Cor 6:9ff.; Eph 5:21–33; Col 3:1–17). Other Pauline teachings are on freedom in Christ (Gal 5; 1 Cor 8; Col 2:6–23), proper worship and church discipline (1 Cor 11), the unity of believers (1 Cor 1:10–17; Eph 4:1–6), and marriage (1 Cor 7; Eph 5:21–33). Paul advocated celibacy or abstinence for the "believer" (unless married), and warned that either marriage or separation would bring trouble if not sanctioned by God beforehand. Paul also deemed sodomy to be sinful (1 Cor 6:9–10). In verse 11 he asserted that these past sins could be forgiven through baptism into Christ.

In 1 Corinthians 7:8–9 (NRSV), he wrote: "To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is well for them to remain unmarried as I am. But if they are not practicing self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to be aflame with passion." On divorce, 1 Corinthians 7:10–16 (NRSV), he cited Jesus: "To the married I give this command—not I but the Lord—that the wife should not separate from her husband (but if she does separate, let her remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not divorce his wife" (from Mark 10:11 and parallels), but then gave his own teaching: "To the rest I say—I and not the Lord: but if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so." (See Pauline privilege)

Concerning slavery, Paul said that, pending the near return of Jesus, people should focus on their faith and not on their social status (1 Cor 7:21ff.). He also instructed slaves to serve their masters faithfully (Eph 6:5ff.), and that masters should be respectful of their slaves, as "he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him" (Eph 6:9b NIV). Due to his authority, these views have had an influence in Western society into modern times; Paul's apparent failure to explicitly condemn slavery in his Epistle to Philemon has sometimes been interpreted as justifying the ownership of human beings, although chattel slavery is a relatively modern phenomenon. On the other hand, some Christians interpret Paul's attempt to buy the freedom of a runaway slave, Onesimus, in Philemon, and his order to Onesimu's master to treat him "not as a slave, but instead of a slave, as a most dear brother, especially to me" (Phil 16) as a subtle condemnation of slavery.

Paul was not only establishing a new cultural awareness and a society of charity, but was also subverting Roman authority through language and action. Paul used titles to describe Jesus that were also claimed by the Roman Caesars, the Ptolemaic dynasty, the Seleucid Empire, and Alexander the Great. Augustus had claimed the titles "Lord of Lords", "King of Kings", and Paul trumped Augustus Caesar's title "son of a god" (as he was the adopted son of Julius Caesar, whom he declared to be a god) by affirming Jesus of Nazareth's claim to be "Son of God" (i.e., the "Most High God", rather than one of the pagan gods). Alexander the Great claimed to be the son of Zeus and a virgin. When Paul refers to Jesus' life as the "Good News", evangelion in Koine Greek, he is using another title claimed by Augustus. Ancient Roman inscriptions had called Augustus the evangelon (good news) for Rome (the word is also used in the three synoptic gospels). Paul used these titles to expand upon the ethic of Jesus with words from and for his own place and time in history. If Jesus is lord, then Caesar is not, and so on. The ethic being that the Christian's life is not to be lived out of hope for what the Roman Empire could provide (legal, martial and economic advantage) or the Pharisaical system could provide (legalistic, self-dependent salvation), but out of hope in the Resurrection and promises of Jesus (against this view see E. P. Sanders). The Christianity which Paul envisioned was one in which adherents lived unburdened by the norms of Roman and Jewish society to freely follow the promise of an already established but not yet fully present Kingdom of God, promised by Jesus and instituted in his own Resurrection. The true "subversive" nature of Paul's ethic was not that the Church seek to subvert the Empire (vindication in full had already been promised), but that the Church not be subverted by the Empire in its wait for Christ's return, to fulfill the rest of Messianic prophecy.

Scholarly views

St. Paul preaching to the Thessalonians, Gustave Dore.

Scholars classify Paul's epistles (or letters) as a foundation of Christian literature. Those who follow this position generally concede that nothing can be learned about Jesus' life or teachings from Paul. Paul himself claimed knowledge of Jesus from visions and from the apostles (particularly James the Just and Simon Peter), as he never met Jesus in the flesh. To some scholars, Paul's teachings were preceded by oral traditions and his letters were vital to early Christianity:

"We have to remember that Jesus died around 30. For 40 years, there's no written gospel of his life, until after the revolt. During that time, we have very little in the way of written records within Christianity. Our first writer in the New Testament is Paul, and his first letter is dated around 50 to 52, still a good 20 years after Jesus, himself. But it appears that in between the death of Jesus and the writing of the first gospel, Mark, that they clearly are telling stories. They're passing on the tradition of what happened to Jesus, what he stood for and what he did, orally, by telling it and retelling it.... Paul himself, remember, doesn't write a gospel. He actually doesn't tell us much about the life of Jesus at all. He never once mentions a miracle story. He tells us nothing about the birth. He never tells us anything about teaching in parables or any of those other typical features of the gospel tradition of Jesus. What Paul does tell us about is the death, and he does so in a form that indicates that he's actually reciting a well-known body of material. So when he tells us, "I received and I handed on to you," he's referring to his preaching, but he's also telling us that what he preaches, that is the material that he delivers, is actually developed through the oral tradition itself."

Most scholars believe that Paul came into conflict with Jesus' remaining disciples (James [Jesus' brother] and Peter) at Antioch, effectively severing ties with Jesus' original followers. Nevertheless, Orthodox Christianity views Paul in a much more authoritative light. "Paul is seen as God's principal instrument of transforming Christianity into a largely Gentile religion. More than any other individual, Paul is responsible for the future universality of the Christian church." Concerning this Adolf Harnack wrote:

It was Paul who delivered the Christian religion from Judaism...Without doing violence to the inner and essential features of the Gospel—unconditional trust in God as the Father of Jesus Christ, confidence in the Lord, forgiveness of sins, certainly of eternal life, purity and brotherly fellowship—Paul transformed it into a universal religion and laid the ground for the great church... We have seen that in the course of [the apostolic age] the Gospel was detached from the mother-soil of Judaism and placed upon the broad field of the Graeco-Roman empire. The apostle Paul was the chief agent accomplishing this work, and in thereby giving Christianity its place in the history of the World.

Paul is traditionally attributed with 16 of the New Testaments 27 books. Scholars who follow Markan priority see Paul's writings as the earliest of the New Testament, and hold that the earliest surviving of all Christian literature is Paul's First Thessalonians, written at the request of the church in Thessalonica. Concerning this, Professor Dennis R. MacDonald of Harvard writes in his Early Christian Literature from the Oxford Study Bible:

No writing survives from Jesus or his disciples. When early Christians transmitted their memories of him to others, they did so primarily by word of mouth... [Paul's] First Thessalonians is the earliest of all surviving Christian literature. Believers in Thessalonica had requested additional teaching from Paul, so he wrote them a letter, reluctantly, twice telling them he really did not need to write them because they already knew what they needed to know.

Some scholars have argued that Paul's writings gained prominence during a weak time for Jewish orthodoxy. The Jewish temple in Jerusalem was burned for a second time in 70, with much Hellenization of Judaism having already taken place. These factors led many Jews to follow a more secular approach to life; Hershel Shanks, in his book, the Meaning and the Mystery of the Dead Sea Scrolls writes:

Judaism during this period has been described as "remarkably variegated." Some scholars have gone so far as to talk about Judaisms, rather than one Judaism. In those insecure times the traditional Judaism, centered in Temple sacrifice, was widely considered by Jews themselves inadequate to the story present, So, along with institutions like the synagogue, which would replace the Temple and become the focus of Jewish life thereafter, we also see the development of expectations of the end of time, of heavenly visions, of life after death, of resurrection of the dead, of apocalypses (revelations) where good and evil were to face each other in a final cosmic battle, and of messianic deliverers.

Alternative views

Christianity as mystery religion

In his books The Mythmaker and Paul and Hellenism, Talmudic scholar Hyam Maccoby proposed a theory that Paul was actually a Gentile raised in an environment influenced by the popular Hellenistic mystery religions centered on dying and resurrected savior deities, and that he later converted to Judaism, hoping to become a Pharisee scholar (though Maccoby is predated in his thinking by S.G.F. Brandon in his The Trial of Jesus of Nazareth). (There are no passages in the Talmud to support this.) He found work in Jerusalem as a police officer of the High Priest, a collaborator of the Romans. Paul's work persecuting the enemies of the High Priest led to an internal conflict in his mind, which manifested itself while he was traveling to Damascus on a covert mission. Maccoby believes that Paul's revelation was thus actually a resolution of his divided self; Paul subsequently fused the mystery religions, Judaism and the Passion of Jesus into an entirely new belief, centered on the death of Jesus as a mystical atoning sacrifice. Maccoby considers Paul's claims to a Jewish background and Pharisaic education to be false, claiming that a number of passages in Paul's writings betray his ignorance of the Jewish Law. Maccoby also contends that Paul invented many of the key concepts of the Christian religion, and that the Gospels and other later Christian documents were written to reflect Paul's views rather than the authentic life and teaching of Jesus. Maccoby questions Paul's integrity as well:

Scholars feel that, however objective their enquiry is supposed to be, they must always preserve an attitude of deep reverence towards Paul, and never say anything to suggest that he may have bent the truth at times, though the evidence is strong enough in various parts of his life-story that he was not above deception when he felt it warranted by circumstances. (Maccoby 1986)

An example of some of this evidence is 1 Corinthians 9:20–22.

Some small modern religious groups share Maccoby's views, regarding teachings as the true basis of modern Christian beliefs such as the atoning death of Jesus and the concept of original sin.

Paul as a Gnostic

There are theories according to which Paul was a Gnostic and his letters include Gnostic themes. He does write at one point of having known someone taken up into the "Third Heaven" (2 Cor 12:2). In this state he wrote he was not even sure whether he was in his body or not (12:3). There he wrote of having experienced things of which he could not speak (12:4). Orthodox Christianity in particular emphasizes the mystical dimensions of Paul's life and writings. (See also Gnosticism and the New Testament)

In direct opposition to this view, some scholars have seen Paul's views as completely opposed to Gnosticism, and the subsequent inclusion of Paul's writings within the canon as a definitive rejection of Gnosticism by adherents to the teachings of Paul.

L Michael White's view

L Michael White, professor of Classics and Director of the Religious Studies Program University of Texas at Austin, argued in his book From Jesus to Christianity that scholars believe Paul classified himself as a pious Jew and viewed an imminent apocalypse as near, associating visions (e.g., Gal 1:15–16; 2:1; 2 Corinthians 12:1–5) and his "revelations" (Greek "apokalypsai", to reveal) with his apocalyptic statements in First letter to the Thessalonians, particularly the passage of 1:9–10. Concerning this he wrote:

Paul indicates that he is quite accustomed to having such revelatory visions... For example, when Paul went to Jerusalem for the second time to consult with Peter and James on the issue of Gentiles, he says that he "went up by revelation" (Gal. 2:1). Elsewhere, he refers to having other "visions/appearances and revelations" (2 Cor. 12:1), following which he goes on to describe one such experience where he was "caught up into the third heaven" and saw paradise (2 Cor. 12:2–5). This last description is very much in line with Jewish apocalyptic tradition of heavenly ascents and visions. (See Ascent to Heaven in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses, M. Himmelfarb, Oxford University Press, 1993)

Furthermore, he argued that Paul viewed Jesus as a Messianic founder of a new, eschatological kingdom, to be instituted at the impending consummation of the world. White asserts there was a theological question concerning "the recent death of someone in the church at Thessalonica; the members are worried about the eschatological implications: Will that person share in the coming kingdom? It is clear from their concern, as well as his own summary statement in 1:9–10, that in his earlier preaching Paul had stressed apocalyptic themes regarding the messiah, an imminent eschaton, and divine wrath. Paul now has to explain to them that there will indeed be a place for those who have already died, based on the Jewish expectation of resurrection (4:16), when Jesus returns at the eschaton (5:23). By packing these instructions into the exhortation sections, he thereby delivers a more comforting and personal reply to their concerns."

For the people of those regions report about us what kind of welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming (1 Thess 1:9–10)

What I mean, my friends, is this: the time we live in will not last long (1 Cor 7:2).

White also states in From Jesus to Christianity that Paul viewed himself as a special missionary to bring Gentiles into this new eschatological kingdom:

That Jesus had come as the messiah of Israel meant further, for Paul, that the apocalyptic end times had commenced and would be consummated soon when Jesus came back again (cf. 1 Thess. 4:13; 5:1–11). Finally, he was convinced that he himself had been set apart "from before birth" for a special mission to bring the Gentiles in to this new, eschatological kingdom, in keeping with the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah.

In a similar thesis, James Tabor argued the view that Paul instilled eschatological expectations to the earliest Christians.

The best evidence we have as to what the followers of Jesus thought about the imminence of the end after his death is clearly Paul. We have very early letters from Paul. They date from the 50s AD and they're firsthand, they're autobiographical. They're undisputed. And they say the most startling things. For example in First Corinthians, which we date about 54 AD, Paul says that it's better not to get married. The end of all things is at hand. In view of the present distress that he thinks is coming on the world, he's actually advising people, "Slaves, remain a slave. Don't try to really change the social order, because everything, very rapidly, is coming to an end." One of his phrases is that "the appointed time has grown very short." It's a phrase right out of the Book of Daniel, about the appointed time, the time of the end. He's our earliest and best evidence. So that tells us that in the 50s, around the Mediterranean world, Christian communities are sprouting up, believing that Jesus is the messiah. That he's going to come again, probably in their lifetime and that they shouldn't really worry too much about their economic and social order, and even their marital state, because the end is coming so soon."

White also states in his book that Paul was proud of his Jewish background and did not cease being Jewish when he became a follower of Jesus. White states Paul was like Jesus' and his followers in that they classified themselves as devout Jews

Paul was not the first Christian. In fact, Paul never uses the term "Christian." Instead, he clearly saw himself as a pious Jew who had been called on by God, through Jesus, to take this new message to non-Jews. Thus, Paul's self-understanding remained thoroughly Jewish, even when he argued with Peter, James (Jesus' brother), or other, more stringently Jewish followers of the Jesus movement. Paul, then, must be seen as a part of the sectarian diversity of the movement that gave it vitality and opened new horizons.

White's assertion is also shared by Professor Stephen Harris who states, "Acts portrays Paul . . . as remaining proud of his Pharisaic background and appealing for support from his fellow Pharisees when he stood trial before the Jerusalem religious council (Acts 23:6–9; Phil 3:4–7)." According to White, the derived name "Christianity" used to describe the religion itself did not appear before 112–115.

Bertrand Russell's view

Bertrand Russell argued that Paul's apocalyptic view caused him to see marriage as chiefly a means of preventing fornication; and this view therefore deemphasizes the role of procreation in marriage. (see: 1 Corinthians 15:24–28):

Christianity, and more particularly St. Paul, introduced an entirely novel view of marriage, that it existed not primarily for the procreation of children, but to prevent the sin of fornication . . . (1 Corinthians 7:1–9.) St. Paul makes no mention whatever of children; the biological purpose of marriage appears to him wholly unimportant. This is quite natural, since he imagined that the Second Coming was imminent and that the world would soon come to an end. At the Second Coming men were to be divided into sheep and goats, and the only thing of real importance was to find oneself among the sheep on that occasion. St. Paul holds that sexual intercourse, even in marriage, is something of a handicap in the attempt to win salvation (1 Corinthians 7:32–4). Nevertheless it is possible for married people to be saved, but fornication is deadly sin, and the unrepentant fornicator is sure to find himself among the goats.

Paul as inclusivist

Another alternative view was first set forth by Rabbi Jacob Emden (1697–1776). His view, based on the medieval Toledot Yeshu narratives, was that Saul of Tarsus was a devout and learned Pharisee who (turning away from his early Shammaite views) came to believe in salvation for the Gentiles and, under the guiding authority of the very learned and devout Simon Kepha (i.e., Saint Peter), set about refining a Noahide religion for the Gentiles based around the Jesus movement. Paul believed the advantage of the Jews was their being entrusted with the oracles of heaven, and that the law was upon them. But he opposed the Jewish Christians who insisted (under some kind of Shammaite influence) that Gentiles were beyond salvation unless they became Jews. Paul insisted that they need only their purified faith and was firmly against proselytizing. He did, however, insist that any man born of a Jewish woman be circumcised (for example, Timothy, upon whom he himself carried out the ceremony) and live under the Law. In recent years perhaps the most exemplary developers of Emden's view are the Orthodox Rabbi Harvey Falk and Pamela Eisenbaum. In this view, Paul is seen as a rabbi who understood the ruling that, although it would be forbidden to a Jew, shittuf (believing in the divine through the name of another) would be permissible for a Gentile despite the Noahide ban on idolatry. This is further backed up by Paul in his first letter to the Romans when he compliments them on their religion. Again when he spoke to the Greeks about a divinity in their pantheon called "The Unknown God", it can be understood that he was trying to de-paganize their native religions for the sake of their own salvation.

New perspective on Paul

The "New Perspective on Paul" rose to prominence as a result of the work of E. P. Sanders in his 1977 book Paul and Palestinian Judaism, in which he argued that the Judaism of Paul's day had been wrongly caricatured by Protestant theology. Traditionally, it had been assumed that 1st-century Judaism was a religion of "works" whereby Jews believed they had to earn their salvation by keeping the Law, so-called Legalism (theology), and therefore when Paul spoke about "justification by faith" or the "justification of faith", he was referring to a new non-works-oriented way of salvation (being declared righteous by God) announced in Christ. Sanders reframed the context to make law-keeping and good works a sign of being in the Covenant (marking out the Jews as the people of God) rather than deeds performed in order to accomplish salvation. If Sanders' perspective were true, the traditional Protestant understanding of the doctrine of justification may have needed rethinking, for the interpretive framework of Augustine of Hippo and Martin Luther, which had dominated Western Christian thinking for almost two millennia, was called into question.

Agent of Rome

Joseph Atwill, in his book Caesar's Messiah, and David Icke, among others, believe that Paul was an agent of Imperial Rome in general and of the Roman Emperors in specific. Both state their belief that Paul was used, along with Josephus, to start a peaceful messianic movement to undermine the unrest and rebelliousness of Judea. (See also Bible conspiracy theory.)

The mythicist position

The mythicist school of scriptural analysis, chiefly represented by G. A. Wells and Earl Doherty, that considers Jesus of Nazareth a myth and not a historical person, holds that Paul and the Jerusalem apostles merged a mythical cosmic savior religion with Midrashic construction of the passion story from Old Testament passages and an anonymous collection of wisdom sayings (as which they consider the Q Document). Wells and Doherty use Paul's alleged silence on biographical details about Jesus as an argument for their hypothesis.

According to this view, therefore, the accounts about Paul in the Book of Acts are a fiction, which includes the famed Road to Damascus incident. Instead, Paul emerges either as a gnostic (see above), a preacher of Judaism with a Messianic bent, or a proponent of a docetic Christ.

Radical Criticism has lead to the hypothesis that none of the Pauline epistles are authentic, and that they originated in the Marcionite church. According to this view, there was no Historical Paul; Paul is a fictional authorial figurehead, who was originally made to voice Marcionite and dualist gnostic views with two gods, and was later revised by the proto-Catholic authors to endorse a Jewish, single-god view. For example, Hermann Detering defines this reconstruction in his book The Fabricated Paul: Early Christianity in the Twilight (PDF file).

See also

• Pauline Christianity
• Authorship of the Pauline Epistles
• Old Testament: Christian view of the Law
• Achaichus

References

• Badenas, Robert. Christ the End of the Law, Romans 10.4 in Pauline Perspective 1985 ISBN 0-905774-93-0 argues that telos is correctly translated as goal, not end, so that Christ is the goal of the Law, end of the law would be antinomianism
• Brown, Raymond E. An Introduction to the New Testament. Anchor Bible Series, 1997. ISBN 0-385-24767-2.
• Bruce, F.F., Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free (ISBN 0-8028-4778-1)
• Raymond Davis, The Book of Pontiffs (Liber Pontificalis). Liverpool: University of Liverpool Press, 1989. ISBN 0-85323-216-4 (an English translation for elementary student use).
• Dunn, James D.G. Jesus, Paul and the Law 1990 ISBN 0-664-25095-5
• Hart, Michael. The 100. Carol Publishing Group, July 1992. Paperback, 576 pages. ISBN 0-8065-1350-0.
• Maccoby, Hyam. The Mythmaker: Paul and the Invention of Christianity. New York: Harper & Row, 1986. ISBN 0-06-015582-5.
• MacDonald, Dennis Ronald, 1983. The Legend and the Apostle : The Battle for Paul in Story and Canon Philadelphia: Westminster Press.
• Irenaeus, Against Heresies, i.26.2
• Thomas Jefferson, from a letter addressed to W. Short and published in The Great Thoughts, by George Seldes, Ballantine Books, N.Y., 1985, p. 208

External links

• Paul's mission and letters From PBS Frontline series on the earliest Christians.
• Epistles of Apostle Paul Bishop Alexander (Orthodox Christian perspective)
• St. Paul @ the Catholic Encyclopedia
• The Apostle and the Poet: Paul and Aratus Dr. Riemer Faber
• New Perspective on Paul
• Jewish Encyclopedia: Saul of Tarsus
• Vatican reports discovery of St.Paul's tomb from WorldNetDaily.com (February 18, 2005). cf. Vatican Museum
• The Apostle Paul's Shipwreck: An Historical Examination of Acts 27 and 28
• The Problem of Paul Hyam Maccoby