Names
Paul's Jewish name was "Saul" (), perhaps after the biblical King Saul, the first king of Israel and like Paul a member of the Tribe of Benjamin; the Latin name Paul, meaning small, was not a result of his conversion as it is commonly believed but a second name for use in communicating with a Greco-Roman audience. According to the Acts of the Apostles, he was a Roman citizen. As such, he bore the Latin name "Paul" – in Latin and in biblical Greek (). It was typical for the Jews of that time to have two names: one Hebrew, the other Latin or Greek. Jesus called him "Saul, Saul" in "the Hebrew tongue" in the Acts of the Apostles, when he had the vision which led to his conversion on the road to Damascus. Later, in a vision toAvailable sources
The main source for information about Paul's life is the material found in his epistles and in the Acts of the Apostles. However, the epistles contain little information about Paul's pre-conversion past. The Acts of the Apostles recounts more information but leaves several parts of Paul's life out of its narrative, such as his probable but undocumented execution in Rome. The Acts of the Apostles also contradict Paul's epistles on multiple accounts, in particular concerning the frequency of Paul's visits to the church in Jerusalem. Sources outside the New Testament that mention Paul include: * Clement of Rome's epistle to the Corinthians (late 1st/early 2nd century); * Ignatius of Antioch's epistles to the Romans and to the Ephesians (early 2nd century); * Polycarp's epistle to the Philippians (early 2nd century); * Eusebius's (early 4th century); * The apocryphal Acts narrating the life of Paul (Biography
Early life
The two main sources of information that give access to the earliest segments of Paul's career are the Acts of the Apostles and the autobiographical elements of Paul's letters to the early Christian communities. Paul was likely born between the years of 5 BC and 5 AD. The Acts of the Apostles indicates that Paul was a Roman citizen by birth, but Helmut Koester takes issue with the evidence presented by the text. He was from a devout Jewish family based in the city of Tarsus. One of the larger centers of trade on the Mediterranean coast and renowned for its university, Tarsus had been among the most influential cities in Asia Minor since the time ofPersecutor of early Christians
Paul says that prior to his conversion, he persecuted early Christians "beyond measure", more specifically Hellenised diaspora Jewish members who had returned to the area ofConversion
Paul's conversion can be dated to 31–36 AD by his reference to it in one of hisPost-conversion
According to Acts:Early ministry
After his conversion, Paul went to Damascus, whereFirst missionary journey
The author of Acts arranges Paul's travels into three separate journeys. The first journey, for which Paul and Barnabas were commissioned by the Antioch community, and led initially by Barnabas, took Barnabas and Paul from Antioch to Cyprus then into southern Asia Minor, and finally returning to Antioch. In Cyprus, Paul rebukes and blindsCouncil of Jerusalem
A vital meeting between Paul and the Jerusalem church took place in the year 49 AD by "traditional" (and majority) dating, compared to a "revisionist" (and minority) dating of 47/51 AD. The meeting is described in Acts 15:2 and usually seen as the same event mentioned by Paul in Galatians 2:1. The key question raised was whetherIncident at Antioch
Despite the agreement achieved at the Council of Jerusalem, Paul recounts how he later publicly confronted Peter in a dispute sometimes called the "Second missionary journey
Paul left for his second missionary journey from Jerusalem, in late Autumn 49 AD, after the meeting of theInterval in Corinth
Around 50–52 AD, Paul spent 18 months in Corinth. The reference in Acts to Proconsul Gallio helps ascertain this date (cf.Third missionary journey
According to Acts, Paul began his third missionary journey by traveling all around the region of Galatia and Phrygia to strengthen, teach and rebuke the believers. Paul then traveled toJourney from Rome to Spain
Among the writings of the early Christians, Pope Clement I said that Paul was "Herald (of the Gospel of Christ) in the West", and that "he had gone to the extremity of the west". John Chrysostom indicated that Paul preached in Spain: "For after he had been in Rome, he returned to Spain, but whether he came thence again into these parts, we know not". Cyril of Jerusalem said that Paul, "fully preached the Gospel, and instructed even imperial Rome, and carried the earnestness of his preaching as far as Spain, undergoing conflicts innumerable, and performing Signs and wonders". The Muratorian fragment mentions "the departure of Paul from the city [of Rome] [5a] (39) when he journeyed to Spain".Visits to Jerusalem in Acts and the epistles
This table is adapted from White, ''From Jesus to Christianity.'' Note that the matching of Paul's travels in the Acts and the travels in his Epistles is done for the reader's convenience and is not approved of by all scholars.Last visit to Jerusalem and arrest
In 57 AD, upon completion of his third missionary journey, Paul arrived in Jerusalem for his fifth and final visit with a collection of money for the local community. The Acts of the Apostles reports that he initially was warmly received. However, Acts goes on to recount how Paul was warned by James and the elders that he was gaining a reputation for being antinomianism, against the Law, saying "they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews living among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, and that you tell them not to circumcise their children or observe the customs." Paul underwent a Ritual washing in Judaism, purification ritual so that "all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself observe and guard the law." When the seven days of the purification ritual were almost completed, some "Jews from Asia" (most likely from Asia (Roman province), Roman Asia) accused Paul of defiling the temple by bringing gentiles into it. He was seized and dragged out of the temple by an angry mob. When the tribune heard of the uproar, he and some centurions and soldiers rushed to the area. Unable to determine his identity and the cause of the uproar, they placed him in chains. He was about to be Protective custody, taken into the barracks when he asked to speak to the people. He was given permission by the Romans and proceeded to tell his story. After a while, the crowd responded. "Up to this point they listened to him, but then they shouted, 'Away with such a fellow from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live.'" The tribune ordered that Paul be brought into the barracks and questioned by Flagellation, flogging. Paul asserted his Roman citizenship, which would Valerian and Porcian laws#Porcian laws, prevent his flogging. The tribune "wanted to find out what Paul was being accused of by the Jews, the next day he released him and ordered the chief priests and the entire council to meet". Paul spoke before the council and caused a disagreement between the Pharisees and the Sadducees. When this threatened to turn violent, the tribune ordered his soldiers to take Paul by force and return him to the barracks. The next morning, forty Jews "bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink until they had killed Paul", but the son of Paul's sister heard of the plot and notified Paul, who notified the tribune that the conspiracists were going to ambush him. The tribune ordered two centurions to "Get ready to leave by nine o'clock tonight for Caesarea with two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen. Also provide mounts for Paul to ride, and take him safely to Felix the governor." Paul was taken to Caesarea, where the governor ordered that he be kept under guard in Herod's headquarters. "Five days later the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and an attorney, a certain Tertullus, and they reported their case against Paul to the governor." Both Paul and the Jewish authorities gave a statement "But Felix, who was rather well informed about the Way, adjourned the hearing with the comment, "When Lysias the tribune comes down, I will decide your case." Antonius Felix, Marcus Antonius Felix then ordered the centurion to keep Paul in custody, but to "let him have some liberty and not to prevent any of his friends from taking care of his needs." He was held there for two years by Felix, until a new governor, Porcius Festus, was appointed. The "chief priests and the leaders of the Jews" requested that Festus return Paul to Jerusalem. After Festus had stayed in Jerusalem "not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea; the next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought." When Festus suggested that he be sent back to Jerusalem for further trial, Paul exercised his right as a Roman citizen to "appeal unto Caesar". Finally, Paul and his companions sailed for Rome where Paul was to stand trial for his alleged crimes. Acts recounts that on the way to Rome for his appeal as a Roman citizen to Caesar, Paul was shipwrecked on "Melita" (Malta), where the islanders showed him "unusual kindness" and where he was met by Saint Publius, Publius. From Malta, he travelled to Rome via Syracuse, Sicily, Syracuse, Reggio Calabria, Rhegium and Pozzuoli, Puteoli.Two years in Rome
Paul finally arrived in Rome around 60 AD, where he spent another two years under house arrest. The narrative of Acts ends with Paul preaching in Rome for two years from his rented home while awaiting trial. Irenaeus wrote in the Christianity in the 2nd century#Irenaeus, 2nd century that Peter and Paul had been the founders of the church in Rome and had appointed Pope Linus, Linus as succeeding bishop. However, Paul was not a bishop of Rome, nor did he bring Christianity to Rome since there were already Christians in Rome when he arrived there; Paul also wrote his letter to the church at Rome before he had visited Rome. Paul only played a supporting part in the life of the church in Rome.Death
The date of Paul's death is believed to have occurred after the Great Fire of Rome in July 64 AD, but before the last year of Nero's reign, in 68 AD. The Second Epistle to Timothy states that Paul was arrested in Troad and brought back to Rome, where he was imprisoned and put on trial; the Epistle was traditionally ascribed to Paul, but today many scholars considered it to be pseudepigrapha, perhaps written by one of Paul's disciples. Pope Clement I writes in his First Epistle of Clement, Epistle to the Corinthians that after Paul "had borne his testimony before the rulers", he "departed from the world and went unto the holy place, having been found a notable pattern of patient endurance." Ignatius of Antioch writes in his Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians, Epistle to the Ephesians that Paul was martyred, without giving any further information. Eusebius states that Paul was killed during the Neronian persecution, Neronian Persecution and, quoting from Dionysius of Corinth, argues that Peter and Paul were martyred "at the same time". Tertullian writes that Paul was beheaded like John the Baptist, a detail also contained in Lactantius,Jerome, John Chrysostom and Sulpicius Severus. A legend later developed that his martyrdom occurred at the Aquae Salviae, on the Via Laurentina. According to this legend, after Paul was decapitated, his severed head rebounded three times, giving rise to a source of water each time that it touched the ground, which is how the place earned the name "San Paolo alle Tre Fontane" ("St Paul at the Three Fountains"). The apocryphalRemains
According to the , Paul's body was buried outside the walls of Rome, at the second mile on the Via Ostiensis, on the estate owned by a Christian woman named Lucina. It was here, in the fourth century, that the Emperor Constantine the Great built a first church. Then, between the fourth and fifth centuries, it was considerably enlarged by the Emperors Valentinian I, Valentinian II, Theodosius I, and Arcadius. The present-day Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls was built there in the early 19th century. Caius (presbyter), Caius in his ''Disputation Against Proclus'' (198 AD) mentions this of the places in which the remains of the apostles Peter and Paul were deposited: "I can point out the trophies of the apostles. For if you are willing to go to the Vatican or to the Ostian Way, you will find the trophies of those who founded this Church". Jerome in his (392 AD) writing on Paul's biography, mentions that "Paul was buried in the Ostian Way at Rome". In 2002, an -long marble sarcophagus, inscribed with the words ("Paul apostle martyr") was discovered during excavations around the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls on the Via Ostiensis. Vatican archaeologists declared this to be the tomb of Paul the Apostle in 2005. In June 2009, Pope Benedict XVI announced excavation results concerning the tomb. The sarcophagus was not opened but was examined by means of a probe, which revealed pieces of incense, purple and blue linen, and small bone fragments. The bone was radiocarbon-dated to the 1st or 2nd century. According to the Vatican, these findings support the conclusion that the tomb is Paul's.Church tradition
Various Christian writers have suggested more details about Paul's life. 1 Clement, a letter written by the Roman bishop Clement of Rome around the year 90, reports this about Paul: Commenting on this passage, Raymond Brown writes that while it "does not explicitly say" that Paul was martyred in Rome, "such a martyrdom is the most reasonable interpretation". Eusebius of Caesarea, who wrote in the 4th century, states that Paul was beheaded in the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero. This event has been dated either to the year 64 AD, when Rome was devastated by a fire, or a few years later, to 67 AD. According to one tradition, the church of San Paolo alle Tre Fontane marks the place of Paul's execution. A Roman Catholic Catholic liturgy, liturgical Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, solemnity of Peter and Paul, celebrated on 29 June, commemorates his martyrdom, and reflects a tradition (preserved by Eusebius) that Peter and Paul were martyred at the same time. The Roman liturgical calendar for the following day now remembers all Christians martyred in these early persecutions; formerly, 30 June was the feast day for St. Paul. Persons or religious orders with a special affinity for St. Paul can still celebrate their patron on 30 June. The apocryphalPhysical appearance
The New Testament offers little if any information about the physical appearance of Paul, but several descriptions can be found in apocryphal texts. In the Acts of Paul he is described as "A man of small stature, with a bald head and crooked legs, in a good state of body, with eyebrows meeting and nose somewhat hooked". In the Latin version of the Acts of Paul and Thecla it is added that he had a red, florid face. In ''The History of the Contending of Saint Paul'', his countenance is described as "ruddy with the ruddiness of the skin of the pomegranate". The Acts of Saint Peter confirms that Paul had a bald and shining head, with red hair. As summarised by Barnes, Chrysostom records that Paul's stature was low, his body crooked and his head bald. Lucian, in his ''Philopatris'', describes Paul as ("he was small, contracted, crooked, of three cubits, or four feet six"). Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos, Nicephorus claims that Paul was a little man, crooked, and almost bent like a bow, with a pale countenance, long and wrinkled, and a bald head. Pseudo-Chrysostom echoes Lucian's height of Paul, referring to him as "the man of three cubits".Writings
Of the 27 books in the New Testament, 13 identify Paul as the author; seven of these are widely considered authentic and Paul's own, while the authorship of the other six is disputed. The undisputed letters are considered the most important sources since they contain what is widely agreed to be Paul's own statements about his life and thoughts. Theologian Mark Powell writes that Paul directed these seven letters to specific occasions at particular churches. As an example, if the Corinthian church had not experienced problems concerning its celebration of the Agape feast, Lord's Supper, today it would not be known that Paul even believed in that observance or had any opinions about it one way or the other. Powell comments that there may be other matters in the early church that have since gone unnoticed simply because no crises arose that prompted Paul to comment on them. In Paul's writings, he provides the first written account of what it is to be a Christian and thus a description of Christian spirituality. His letters have been characterized as being the most influential books of the New Testament after the Gospels of Matthew and John.Date
Paul's authentic letters are roughly dated to the years surrounding the mid-1st century. Placing Paul in this time period is done on the basis of his reported conflicts with other early contemporary figures in the Jesus movement including James and Peter, the references to Paul and his letters by Clement of Rome writing in the late 1st century, his reported issues in Damascus from 2 Corinthians 11:32 which he says took place while Aretas IV Philopatris, King Aretas IV was in power, a possible reference to Erastus of Corinth in Romans 16:23, his reference to preaching in the province of Illyricum (Roman province), Illyricum (which dissolved in 80 AD), the lack of any references to the Gospels indicating a pre-war time period, the chronology in the Acts of the Apostles placing Paul in this time, and the dependence on Paul's letters by other 1st-century pseudo-Pauline epistles.Authorship
Seven of the 13 letters that bear Paul's name – Epistle to the Romans, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians and Epistle to Philemon, Philemon – are almost universally accepted as being entirely authentic (dictated by Paul himself). They are considered the best source of information on Paul's life and especially his thought. Four of the letters (Ephesians, 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus) are widely considered pseudepigraphical, while the authorship of the other two is subject to debate. Colossians and 2 Thessalonians are possibly "Deutero-Pauline" meaning they may have been written by Paul's followers after his death. Similarly, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus may be "Trito-Pauline" meaning they may have been written by members of the Pauline school a generation after his death. According to their theories, these disputed letters may have come from followers writing in Paul's name, often using material from his surviving letters. These scribes also may have had access to letters written by Paul that no longer survive. The authenticity of Colossians has been questioned on the grounds that it contains an otherwise unparalleled description (among his writings) of Jesus as "the image of the invisible God", a Christology found elsewhere only in the Gospel of John. However, the personal notes in the letter connect it to Philemon, unquestionably the work of Paul. Internal evidence shows close connection with Philippians. Ephesians is a letter that is very similar to Colossians, but is almost entirely lacking in personal reminiscences. Its style is unique. It lacks the emphasis on the cross to be found in other Pauline writings, reference to the Second Coming is missing, and Christian views of marriage, Christian marriage is exalted in a way that contrasts with the reference in 1 Corinthians. Finally, according to Raymond E. Brown, R. E. Brown, it exalts the Church in a way suggestive of the second generation of Christians, "built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets" now past. The defenders of its Pauline authorship argue that it was intended to be read by a number of different churches and that it marks the final stage of the development of Paul's thinking. It has been said, too, that the moral portion of the Epistle, consisting of the last two chapters, has the closest affinity with similar portions of other Epistles, while the whole admirably fits in with the known details of Paul's life, and throws considerable light upon them. Three main reasons have been advanced by those who question Paul's authorship of 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus, also known as the Pastoral Epistles: # They have found a difference in these letters' vocabulary, style, and Christian theology, theology from Paul's acknowledged writings. Defenders of the authenticity say that they were probably written in the name and with the authority of the Apostle by one of his companions, to whom he distinctly explained what had to be written, or to whom he gave a written summary of the points to be developed, and that when the letters were finished, Paul read them through, approved them, and signed them. # There is a difficulty in fitting them into Paul's biography as it is known. They, like Colossians and Ephesians, were written from prison but suppose Paul's release and travel thereafter. # 2 Thessalonians, like Colossians, is questioned on stylistic grounds with, among other peculiarities, a dependence on 1 Thessalonians—yet a distinctiveness in language from the Pauline corpus. This, again, is explainable by the possibility that Paul requested one of his companions to write the letter for him under his dictation.Acts
Although approximately half of the Acts of the Apostles deals with Paul's life and works, Acts does not refer to Paul writing letters. Historians believe that the author of Acts did not have access to any of Pauline epistles, Paul's letters. One piece of evidence suggesting this is that Acts never directly quotes from the Pauline epistles. Discrepancies between the Pauline epistles and Acts would further support the conclusion that the author of Acts did not have access to those epistles when composing Acts. British Jewish scholar Hyam Maccoby contended that Paul, as described in the Acts of the Apostles, is quite different from the view of Paul gleaned from his own writings. Some difficulties have been noted in the account of his life. Paul as described in the Acts of the Apostles is much more interested in factual history, less in theology; ideas such as justification by faith are absent as are references to the Spirit, according to Maccoby. He also pointed out that there are no references to John the Baptist in the Pauline Epistles, although Paul mentions him several times in the Acts of the Apostles. Others have objected that the language of the speeches is too Lukan in style to reflect anyone else's words. Moreover, George Shillington writes that the author of Acts most likely created the speeches accordingly and they bear his literary and theological marks. Conversely, Howard Marshall writes that the speeches were not entirely the inventions of the author and while they may not be accurate word-for-word, the author nevertheless records the general idea of them. Ferdinand Christian Baur, F. C. Baur (1792–1860), professor of theology at Tübingen in Germany, the first scholar to critique Acts and the Pauline Epistles, and founder of the Tübingen School of theology, argued that Paul, as the "Apostle to the Gentiles", was in violent opposition to the original 12 Apostles. Baur considers the Acts of the Apostles were late and unreliable. This debate has continued ever since, with Adolf Deissmann (1866–1937) and Richard Reitzenstein (1861–1931) emphasising Paul's Greek inheritance and Albert Schweitzer stressing his dependence on Judaism.Views
Self-view
In the opening verses of , Paul provides a litany of his own apostolic appointment to preach among the Gentiles and his post-conversion convictions about the risen Christ. Paul described himself as set apart for the gospel of God and called to be an apostle and a servant of Jesus Christ. Jesus had revealed himself to Paul, just as he had appeared to Peter, to James, and to the twelve disciples after his resurrection. Paul experienced this as an unforeseen, sudden, startling change, due to all-powerful grace, not as the fruit of his reasoning or thoughts. Paul also describes himself as afflicted with "a thorn in the flesh"; the nature of this "thorn" is unknown. There are debates as to whether Paul understood himself as commissioned to take the gospel to the gentiles at the moment of his conversion. Before his conversion he believed his persecution of the church to be an indication of his zeal for his religion; after his conversion he believed Jewish hostility toward the church was sinful opposition, that would incur God's wrath. Paul believed he was halted by Christ, when his fury was at its height. It was "through zeal" that he persecuted the Church, and he obtained mercy because he had "acted ignorantly in unbelief".Understanding of Jesus Christ
Paul's writings emphasized the Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, Christ's Resurrection of Jesus, resurrection and the Parousia or second coming of Christ. Paul saw Jesus as Lord (), the true messiah and the Son of God, who was promised by God beforehand, through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures. While being a biological descendant from David ("according to the flesh"), he was declared to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead. According to E. P. Sanders, Paul "preached the death, resurrection, and lordship of Jesus Christ, and he proclaimed that faith in Jesus guarantees a share in his life." In Paul's view, "Jesus' death was not a defeat but was for the believers' benefit," a sacrifice which substitutes for the lives of others, and frees them from the bondage of sin. Believers Participation in Christ, participate in Christ's death and resurrection by their baptism. The resurrection of Jesus was of primary importance to Paul, bringing the promise of salvation to believers. Paul taught that, when Christ returned, "those who died in Christ would be raised when he returned," while those still alive would be "caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air". Sanders concludes that Paul's writings reveal what he calls the essence of the Christian message: "(1) God sent his Son; (2) the Son was crucified and resurrected for the benefit of humanity; (3) the Son would soon return; and (4) those who belonged to the Son would live with him forever. Paul's gospel, like those of others, also included (5) the admonition to live by the highest moral standard: "May your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ"." In Paul's writings, the public, corporate devotional patterns towards Jesus in the early Christian community are reflective of Paul's perspective on the divine status of Jesus in what scholars have termed a "binitarian" pattern of devotion. For Paul, Jesus receives prayer, the presence of Jesus is confessionally invoked by believers, people are baptized in Jesus' name, Jesus is the reference in Christian fellowship for a religious ritual meal (the Lord's Supper; in pagan cults, the reference for ritual meals is always to a deity), and Jesus is the source of continuing prophetic oracles to believers.Atonement
Paul taught that Christians are redeemed from sin by Jesus' death and resurrection. His death was an expiation as well as a propitiation, and by Christ's blood peace is made between God and man. By grace, through faith, a Christian shares in Jesus' death and in his victory over death, gaining as a free gift a new, justified status of sonship. According to Krister Stendahl, the main concern of Paul's writings on Jesus' role, and salvation by faith, is not the individual conscience of human sinners, and their doubts about being chosen by God or not, but the problem of the inclusion of gentile (Greek) Torah observers into God's covenant. "Dying for our sins" refers to the problem of gentile Torah-observers, who, despite their faithfulness, cannot fully observe commandments, including circumcision, and are therefore 'sinners', excluded from God's covenant. Jesus' death and resurrection solved this problem of the exclusion of the gentiles from God's covenant, as indicated by Romans 3:21–26. Paul's conversion fundamentally changed his basic beliefs regarding God's covenant and the inclusion of Gentiles into this covenant. Paul believed Jesus' death was a voluntary sacrifice, that reconciled sinners with God. The law only reveals the extent of people's enslavement to the power of sin—a power that must be broken by Christ. Before his conversion Paul believed Gentiles were outside the covenant that God made with Israel; after his conversion, he believed Gentiles and Jews were united as the people of God in Christ. Before his conversion he believed circumcision was the rite through which males became part of Israel, an exclusive community of God's chosen people; after his conversion he believed that neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but that the new creation is what counts in the sight of God, and that this new creation is a work of Christ in the life of believers, making them part of the church, an inclusive community of Jews and Gentiles reconciled with God through faith. According to E. P. Sanders, who initiated the New Perspective on Paul with his 1977 publication ''Paul and Palestinian Judaism'', Paul saw the faithful redeemed by participation in Jesus' death and rising. Though "Jesus' death substituted for that of others and thereby freed believers from sin and guilt," a metaphor derived from "ancient Korban, sacrificial theology," the essence of Paul's writing is not in the "legal terms" regarding the expiation of sin, but the act of "participation in Christ through Eucharist, dying and rising with him." According to Sanders, "those who are baptized into Christ are baptized into his death, and thus they escape the power of sin[...] he died so that the believers may die with him and consequently live with him." By this participation in Christ's death and rising, "one receives forgiveness for past offences, is liberated from the powers of sin, and receives the Spirit."Relationship with Judaism
Some scholars see Paul as completely in line with 1st-century Judaism (a Pharisee and student of Gamaliel as Historical reliability of the Acts of the Apostles, presented by Acts), others see him as opposed to 1st-century Judaism (see Marcionism), while the majority see him as somewhere in between these two extremes, opposed to insistence on keeping the "Ritual Laws" (for example the circumcision controversy in early Christianity) as necessary for entrance into God's New Covenant, but in full agreement on "Divine Law". These views of Paul are paralleled by the views of Biblical law in Christianity. Paul is critical both theologically and empirically of claims of moral or lineal superiority of Jews while conversely strongly sustaining the notion of a special place for the Israelites, Children of Israel. Paul's theology of the gospel accelerated the separation of the messianic sect of Christians from Judaism, a development contrary to Paul's own intent. He wrote that faith in Christ was alone decisive in salvation for Jews and Gentiles alike, making the schism between the followers of Christ and mainstream Jews inevitable and permanent. He argued that Gentile converts did not need to Judaize, become Jews, get circumcised, follow Jewish dietary restrictions, or otherwise observe Mosaic laws to be saved. According to Paula Fredriksen, Paul's opposition to male circumcision for Gentiles is in line with Old Testament predictions that "in the last days the gentile nations would come to the God of Israel, as gentiles (e.g., Zechariah 8:20–23), not as proselytes to Israel."Larry Hurtado (4 December 2018 )World to come
According to Bart Ehrman, Paul believed that Jesus would return within his lifetime. Paul expected that Christians who had died in the meantime would be Resurrection of the Dead, resurrected to share in Kingdom of God, God's kingdom, and he believed that the saved would be transformed, assuming heavenly, imperishable bodies. Paul's teaching about the end of the world is expressed most clearly in his First Epistle to the Thessalonians, first and Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, second letters to the Christian community of Thessalonica. He assures them that Resurrection of the dead, the dead will rise first and be followed by those left alive. This suggests an imminent end but he is unspecific about times and seasons and encourages his hearers to expect a delay. The form of the end will be a battle between Jesus and the Man of Sin, man of lawlessness whose conclusion is the triumph of Christ. Before his conversion he believed God's messiah would put an end to the old age of evil, and initiate a new age of righteousness; after his conversion, he believed this would happen in stages that had begun with the resurrection of Jesus, but the old age would continue until Jesus returns.Role of women
The second chapter of the first letter to Timothy—one of the six disputed letters—is used by many churches to deny women a vote in church affairs, reject women from serving as teachers of adult Bible classes, prevent them from serving as missionaries, and generally disenfranchise women from the duties and privileges of church leadership. The King James Bible (Authorised Version) translation of this passage taken literally says that women in the churches are to have no leadership roles vis-à-vis men. Fuller Theological Seminary, Fuller Seminary theologian J. R. Daniel Kirk finds evidence in Paul's letters of a much more inclusive view of women. He writes that Romans 16 is a tremendously important witness to the important role of women in the early church. Paul praises Phoebe (Bible), Phoebe for her work as a deaconess and Junia who is described by Paul in Scripture as being respected among the Apostles. It is Kirk's observation that recent studies have led many scholars to conclude that the passage in 1 Corinthians 14 ordering women to "be silent" during worship was a later addition, apparently by a different author, and not part of Paul's original letter to the Corinthians. Other scholars, such as Giancarlo Biguzzi, believe that Paul's restriction on women speaking in 1 Corinthians 14 is genuine to Paul but applies to a particular case where there were local problems of women, who were not allowed in that culture to become educated, asking questions or chatting during worship services. He does not believe it to be a general prohibition on any woman speaking in worship settings since in 1 Corinthians Paul affirms the right (responsibility) of women to Prophesy#Christianity, prophesy. There were women prophets in the highly patriarchal times throughout the Old Testament. The most common term for ''prophet'' in the Old Testament is in the masculine form, and in the Hebrew feminine form, is used six times of women who performed the same task of receiving and proclaiming the message given by God. These women include Miriam, Aaron and Moses' sister, Deborah, the prophet Isaiah's wife, and Huldah, the one who interpreted the Book of the Law discovered in the temple during the days of Josiah. There were false prophetesses just as there were false prophets. The prophetess Noadiah was among those who tried to intimidate Nehemiah. Apparently they held equal rank in prophesying right along with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Elisha, Aaron, and Samuel. Kirk's third example of a more inclusive view is Galatians 3:28: In pronouncing an end within the church to the divisions which are common in the world around it, he concludes by highlighting the fact that "there were New Testament women who taught and had authority in the early churches, that this teaching and authority was sanctioned by Paul, and that Paul himself offers a theological paradigm within which overcoming the subjugation of women is an anticipated outcome". Classicist Evelyn Stagg and theologian Frank Stagg (theologian), Frank Stagg believe that Paul was attempting to "Christianize" the societal household or domestic codes that significantly oppressed women and empowered men as the head of the household. The Staggs present a serious study of what has been termed the New Testament domestic code, also known as the ''Haustafel''. The two main passages that explain these "household duties" are Paul's letters to the Ephesians and to the Colossians. An underlying Household Code is also reflected in four additional Pauline letters and 1 Peter: 1 Timothy 2:1ff, 8ff; 3:1ff, 8ff; 5:17ff; 6:1f; Titus 2:1–10 and 1 Peter. Biblical scholars have typically treated the ''Haustafel'' in Ephesians as a resource in the debate over the role of women in ministry and in the home. Margaret MacDonald argues that the ''Haustafel'', particularly as it appears in Ephesians, was aimed at "reducing the tension between community members and outsiders". E. P. Sanders has labeled Paul's remark in 1 Corinthians about women not making any sound during worship as "Paul's intemperate outburst that women should be silent in the churches". Women, in fact, played a very significant part in Paul's missionary endeavors: * He became a partner in ministry with the coupleViews on homosexuality
Most Christian traditions say Paul clearly portrays homosexuality as sinful in two specific locations: Romans 1:26–27, and 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. Another passage, 1 Timothy 1:8–11, addresses the topic more obliquely. Since the 19th century, however, most scholars have concluded that First Epistle to Timothy, 1 Timothy (along with 2 Timothy and Epistle to Titus, Titus) is not original to Paul, but rather an unknown Christian writing in Paul's name some time in the late-1st to mid-2nd century.Influence
Paul's influence on Christian thinking arguably has been more significant than any other New Testament author. Paul declared that "Abrogation of Old Covenant laws, Christ is the end of the law", exalted the Christian church as the body of Christ, and depicted the world outside the Church as under judgment. Paul's writings include the earliest reference to the "Lord's Supper", a rite traditionally identified as the Christian communion or Eucharist. In the East, church fathers attributed the element of election in Romans 9 to divine foreknowledge. The themes of predestination found in Western Christianity do not appear in Eastern theology.Pauline Christianity
Paul had a strong influence on early Christianity. Hurtado notes that Paul regarded his own Christology, Christological views and those of his predecessors and that of the Jerusalem Church as essentially similar. According to Hurtado, this "work[s] against the claims by some scholars that Pauline Christianity represents a sharp departure from the religiousness of Judean 'Jesus movements'."Marcion
Marcionism, regarded as heresy by contemporary mainstream Christianity, was an Early Christian Dualistic cosmology, dualist belief system that originated in the teachings of Marcion of Sinope at Rome around the year 144. Marcion asserted that Paul was the only Apostles in the New Testament, apostle who had rightly understood the new message of salvation as delivered by Christ. Marcion believed Jesus was the savior sent by God in Christianity, God, and Paul the Apostle was his chief apostle, but he rejected the Hebrew Bible and the Yahweh, God of Israel. Marcionists believed that the Divine retribution, wrathful Hebrew God was a separate and lower entity than the Love of God, all-forgiving God of the New Testament.Augustine
In his account of his conversion experience, Augustine of Hippo gave his life to Christ after reading Romans 13. Augustine's foundational work on the gospel as a gift (grace), on morality as life in the Spirit, on predestination, and on original sin all derives from Paul, especially Romans.Reformation
In his account of his conversion Martin Luther wrote about righteousness in Romans 1 praising Romans as the perfect gospel, in which the Reformation was birthed. Martin Luther's interpretation of Pauline epistles, Paul's writings influenced Luther's doctrine of ''sola fide''.John Calvin
John Calvin said the Book of Romans opens to anyone an understanding of the whole Scripture.Modern theology
In his commentary ''The Epistle to the Romans (Barth), The Epistle to the Romans'' (german: Der Römerbrief; particularly in the thoroughly re-written second edition of 1922), Karl Barth argued that the God who is revealed in the cross of Jesus challenges and overthrows any attempt to ally God with human cultures, achievements, or possessions. In addition to the many questions about the true origins of some of Paul's teachings posed by historical figures as noted above, some modern theologians also hold that the teachings of Paul differ markedly from those of Jesus as found in the Gospels. Barrie Wilson states that Paul differs from Jesus in terms of the origin of his message, his teachings and his practices. Some have even gone so far as to claim that, due to these apparent differences in teachings, that Paul was actually no less than the "second founder" of Christianity (Jesus being its first). As in the Eastern tradition in general, Western humanists interpret the reference to election in Romans 9 as reflecting divine foreknowledge.Views on Paul
Jewish views
Jewish interest in Paul is a recent phenomenon. Before the Judaism's view of Jesus#Positive historical reevaluations, positive historical reevaluations of Jesus by some Jewish thinkers in the 18th and 19th centuries, he had hardly featured in the popular Jewish imagination and little had been written about him by the religious leaders and scholars. Arguably, he is absent from the Talmud and rabbinical literature, although he makes an appearance in some variants of the medieval polemic Toledot Yeshu (as a particularly effective spy for the rabbis). However, with Jesus no longer regarded as the paradigm of gentile Christianity, Paul's position became more important in Jewish historical reconstructions of their religion's relationship with Christianity. He has featured as the key to building barriers (e.g. Heinrich Graetz and Martin Buber) or bridges (e.g. Isaac Mayer Wise and Claude G. Montefiore) in interfaith relations, as part of an intra-Jewish debate about what constitutes Jewish authenticity (e.g. Joseph Klausner and Hans Joachim Schoeps), and on occasion as a dialogical partner (e.g. Richard L. Rubenstein andGnosticism
In the 2nd (and possibly late 1st) century, Gnosticism was a competing religious tradition to Christianity which shared some elements of theology. Elaine Pagels concentrated on how the Gnostics interpreted Paul's letters and how evidence from gnostic sources may challenge the assumption that Paul wrote his letters to combat "gnostic opponents" and to repudiate their statement that they possess secret wisdom.Muslim views
Muslims have long believed that Paul purposefully corrupted the Jesus in Islam, original revealed teachings of Jesus, through the introduction of such elements as paganism, the making of Christianity into a theology of atonement in Christianity, the cross, and introducing original sin and the need for Redemption (theology)#Christianity, redemption. Sayf ibn Umar claimed that certain rabbis persuaded Paul to deliberately misguide early Christians by introducing what Ibn Hazm viewed as objectionable doctrines into Christianity. Ibn Hazm repeated Sayf's claims. The Karaite scholar Jacob Qirqisani also believed that Paul created Christianity by introducing the doctrine of Trinity. Paul has been criticized by some modern Muslim thinkers. Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas wrote that Paul misrepresented the message of Jesus, and Rashid Rida accused Paul of introducing (polytheism) into Christianity. Mohammad Ali Jouhar quoted Adolf von Harnack's critical writings of Paul. In Sunni Muslim polemics, Paul plays the same role (of deliberately corrupting the early teachings of Jesus) as a later Jew, Abdullah ibn Saba', would play in seeking to destroy the message of Islam from within. Among those who supported this view were scholars Ibn Taymiyyah (who believed while Paul ultimately succeeded, Ibn Saba failed) and Ibn Hazm (who claimed that the Jews even admitted to Paul's sinister purpose).Other views
The critics of Paul the Apostle include US president Thomas Jefferson, a Deist, who wrote that Paul was the "first corrupter of the doctrines of Jesus." Christian anarchism, Christian anarchists Leo Tolstoy and Ammon Hennacy took a similar view. In the Baha'i faith, scholars have various viewpoints on Paul. Discussions in Bahá'í scholarship have focused on whether Paul changed the original message of Christ or delivered the true Gospel, with proponents of both positions.See also
* Achaicus of Corinth * Collegiate Parish Church of St Paul's Shipwreck * List of biblical figures identified in extra-biblical sources * New Perspective on Paul * Old Testament#Christian views on Mosaic Law, Old Testament: Christian views of the Law * ''Paul, Apostle of Christ'', 2018 film * Pauline mysticism * Pauline privilege * Persecution of Christians in the New Testament * Persecution of religion in ancient Rome * ''Peter and Paul (film), Peter and Paul'', 1981 miniseries * Psychagogy * St. Paul's CathedralReferences
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
* * * * * * * * * Gustaf Aulén, Aulén, Gustaf. ''Christus Victor'' (SPCK 1931) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * F. F. Bruce, Bruce, F. F. "Is the Paul of Acts the Real Paul?" ''Bulletin John Rylands Library'' 58 (1976) 283–305 * * * * * * * * * Hans Conzelmann, Conzelmann, Hans, ''The Acts of the Apostles – A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles'' (Augsburg Fortress 1987) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Dunn, James D. G., ''Jesus, Paul, and the Gospels'' (Grand Rapids, MI), Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2011 * * * * * * * * * * * * Hanson, Anthony T. ''Studies in Paul's Technique and Theology.'' Eerdmans, 1974. * * * * * * * * * Irenaeus, ''On the Detection and Overthrow of the So-Called Gnosis, Against Heresies'' * * * * * Yung Suk Kim, Kim, Yung Suk. ''A Theological Introduction to Paul's Letters''. Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books, 2011. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Dennis Ronald MacDonald, MacDonald, Dennis Ronald, 1983. ''The Legend and the Apostle: The Battle for Paul in Story and Canon'' Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1983. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * John Shelby Spong, Spong, John Shelby,Further reading
* * Ernle Bradford, Bradford, Ernle. ''Paul the Traveller: Saint Paul and his World''. Allen Lane, 1974. * W. D. Davies, Davies, W. D. ''Paul and Rabbinic Judaism: Some Rabbinic Elements in Pauline Theology.'' S.P.C.K., 3rd ed., 1970. * Davies, W. D. "The Apostolic Age and the Life of Paul" in Matthew Black, ed. Peake's Commentary on the Bible. London: T. Nelson, 1962. * * Hans-Joachim Schoeps. ''Paul: The Theology of the Apostle in the Light of Jewish Religious History (Library of Theological Translations)''; 34 pages, Lutterworth Press (July 2002); * Holzbach, Mathis Christian, Die textpragmat. Bedeutung d. Kündereinsetzungen d. Simon Petrus u.d. Saulus Paulus im lukan. Doppelwerk, in: Jesus als Bote d. Heils. Stuttgart 2008, 166–72. * Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, Murphy-O'Connor, Jerome, ''Jesus and Paul: Parallel Lives'' (Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 2007) * Murphy-O'Connor, Jerome, ''Paul the Letter-Writer: His World, His Options, His Skills'' (Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 1995) * Murphy-O'Connor, Jerome, ''Paul: A Critical Life'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996) * Pinchas Lapide, Peter Stuhlmacher. ''Paul: Rabbi and Apostle''; 77 pages, Augsburg Publishing House; (December 1984) * Pinchas Lapide, Leonard Swidler, Jürgen Moltmann. ''Jewish Monotheism and Christian Trinitarian Doctrine''; 94 pages, Wipf & Stock Publishers (2002) * Reece, Steve. ''Paul's Large Letters: Pauline Subscriptions in the Light of Ancient Epistolary Conventions.'' London: T&T Clark, 2016. * Hastings Rashdall, Rashdall, Hastings, ''The Idea of Atonement in Christian Theology'' (1919) * Ruef, John, ''Paul's First Letter to Corinth'' (Penguin 1971) * Alan F. Segal, Segal, Alan F. ''Paul, the Convert'', (New Haven/London, Yale University Press, 1990) * Segal, Alan F., "Paul, the Convert and Apostle" in ''Rebecca's Children: Judaism and Christianity in the Roman World'' (Harvard University Press 1986)External links
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