Paul and the Gentile Mission Chapter 14 - Part 2

2 The Apostle Paul – Rembrandt ( ).

3 Paul: - Dominates the second half of the Acts of the Apostles; - A former Pharisee (see Box 14.4, p. 466 in Textbook: “A Tentative Sequence of Events in Paul’s Life”); - The one who brings Christianity to the Gentiles (see Figs , 3, 6, 8 in Textbook): Maps of Paul’s Missionary Journeys and Churches); - His letters form the third division of the New Testament; - They are Christianity’s first written attempt to interpret the meaning of Jesus’ sacrificial death and its significance for human salvation;

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7 Paul’s Journey to Rome.

8 Paul’s Gentile Churches.

9 Paul (contd.): - For Paul, Jesus’ crucifixion brought about a radically different relationship between God and all humanity, that is, Gentiles and Jews; - For Paul, faith in Christ superseded Torah obedience as the means of reconciliation to God; - This was the central idea that transformed Christianity from a Jewish sect into a new world religion;

10 Paul (contd.): - In his Letters to the Romans and Galatians, Paul outlines a theology of redemption through faith … ; - Paul’s position in Christianity is unique; - He is the only person who is both a major character in a NT book and the author of NT books himself; - Some attribute 13 NT letters to Paul (see Box 14.6, p. 469 in Textbook); - Others see only seven of these as genuinely Pauline;

11 Seeking the Historical Paul: - Paul stresses the continuity between Judaism and the new religion; - He, like Matthew, relies on the Hebrew Scriptures; - He quotes from the Hebrew Scriptures to support the validity of his particular Gospel; - Thus, it has, for the most part, validity for him; - His attitude towards the Mosaic Torah;

12 Seeking the Historical Paul (contd.): - Our best source for information on Paul’s life comes from his letters; - His description of himself (Phil 3.5-6; Gal ); - Paul’s religious zeal was redirected by his experience of the resurrected Jesus; - A redirection of his energies; - A tentative sequence of events in Paul’s life (Box 14.4, p. 466 in Textbook): - Based on Paul’s letters; - A cautious use of Acts; - Gallio, proconsul in Achaea (c ; see Acts ).

13 The Historical Reliability of Acts: - Material about Paul in Acts ought to be accepted with caution; - Where discrepancies occur between Acts and Paul’s letters, most historians accept more readily Paul’s version of events; - It appears that the author of Acts had inadequate documentation relative to Paul’s activities; -The author of Acts was either unaware or deliberately ignored Paul’s correspondence; - See Box 14.5 – “Some Differences Between Acts and Paul’s Letters”, p. 467 in Textbook.

14 The Historical Reliability of Acts (contd.): - Acts says virtually nothing about Paul’s essential Gospel, namely, people are saved not by obedience to Torah commands, but by faith in Christ; - Does the writer of Acts set out to tame and/or domesticate Paul?

15 The Historical Reliability of Acts (contd.): - Data in Acts about Paul that is not found in Paul’s own writings (see Box 14.5, p. 467 in textbook): - Paul’s birth in Tarsus; - Paul’s family possessed Roman citizenship; - Paul’s original name being Saul; - Being a disciple of Gamaliel; - Paul supports himself by making tents;

16 Paul’s Experience of the Risen Jesus: - Paul’s life may be divided into two parts: 1. In his early career: his life as a devout Pharisee who persecuted the First Christians; 2. In later life: a Christian missionary who successfully implanted the new religion in Non- Jewish territories and established the first Churches in Europe. - The event that changed Paul’s life was “a revelation of Jesus Christ” (Gal 1.12; see also Gal , 1 Cor , and 2 Cor ).

17 Paul’s Experience of the Risen Jesus (contd.): - We learn a great deal more about this “revelation” from Acts (9.1-9; ; ).

18 Paul’s Character: - His great energy and physical stamina; - He insults his readers’ intelligence (Gal 3.1; 5.12); - His reaction to criticism (2 Corinthians 10-13); - His profound affection (1 Corinthians 13; Phil ; 2.1-4; 4.2-3);

19 Paul’s Experience of the Risen Jesus (contd.): - Paul was convinced that Jesus had revealed to him the one true Gospel (Galatians 1-2); - This isolated him from many fellow believers; - He quarreled with many of his companions (Acts ; Gal ; 2 Corinthians 10-13); - Did Paul wish to work in territories that were not as yet evangelized and far removed from the established Churches (Rom )?

20 Paul’s Letters (see Box 14.6, p. 469 in Textbook): - The genuine letters (there is not general agreement on this matter): - Romans; - 1 and 2 Corinthians; - Galatians; - Philippians; - 1 Thessalonians; and - Philemon. - Some scholars accept 2 Thessalonians and Colossians as genuine;

21 Paul’s Letters (contd.): - Many scholars doubt that Ephesians is genuine; - And, most think that Titus and 1 2 Timothy were composed by a disciple of Paul after his death. - Finally, hardly anyone now accepts Hebrews as Pauline.

22 Paul’s Letters (contd.): - Order of composition: - 1 Thessalonians (c. 50 CE); - (2 Thessalonians, also c. 50 CE); - 1 and 2 Corinthians (c. the mid-50 CE); - Romans and Philippians are later; - “Captivity Epistles”: - (Colossians), Philemon, Philippians (and possibly Ephesians) were written when Paul was in prison in Ephesus, Caesarea, or Rome.

23 Paul’s Letters (contd.): - Circumstances of writing: - Usually under the pressure of meeting an emergency in a given Church; - Romans is an exception; - It is directed to a Church that he had not yet visited; - Letters directed to a particular group that are generally known to him;

24 Paul’s Letters (contd.): - Circumstances of writing: - The author tries to resolve a crisis involving a matter of belief and/or behaviour; - Paul’s concern is mainly pastoral; - Thus, one cannot expect a systematic statement of Paul’s theology in any one letter; - Moreover, Paul’s thought evolves, i.e., changes and develops from one letter to another.

25 Paul’s Major Assumptions and Concerns: - Mysticism and Eschatology: - His sense of the spiritual world; - His authority is based on his private revelation of the post-resurrection Jesus (Gal , 15-17); - Thus, for Paul, Jesus exists in: - The Macrocosm (great world of God’s spiritual domain); and - The Microcosm (little world of human consciousness).

26 - Mysticism and Eschatology (contd.): - Paul’s mysticism: his sense of union with an unseen spiritual reality (2 Cor ); - Paul is convinced that the Messiah’s appearance has inaugurated the end of time; - His practical advice is based on his belief of an imminent final judgment; - Early on in his writings, it seems that he expects to witness the parousia (1 Thess ; 1 Cor )

27 - Mysticism and Eschatology (contd.): - He eagerly anticipates the eschaton (1 Cor ); - Paul sees human history as divided into two ages: 1) - The present evil age; 2) - This will be replaced by a new age, a new creation, in which God will reign completely (Gal ; 1 Cor ; 2 Cor 5.17); - The Messiah’s arrival denotes the final consummation of history; - Thus, his generation is the last.

28 - Mysticism and Eschatology (contd.): - Thus, the urgency expressed in Paul’s letters; - The members of his Churches are about to be judged; - Thus, the necessity to live an unblemished life of virtue.

29 Paul’s Major Assumptions and Concerns (contd.): - The centrality and preeminence of Jesus: - For Paul, God accomplished the world’s salvation in Jesus; - however, Paul shows hardly any interest in the earthly Jesus (see 1 Corinthians );

30 The centrality and preeminence of Jesus: Excursus: Romans : - Paul contrasts Adam, the human element, with Christ, the new Adam: - Adam, the human element: disobedient; thus, he sinned; - this led to: excess, destruction, imbalance; - the results are: slavery; hatred; despair; injustice; condemnation; and death.

31 The centrality and preeminence of Jesus: Romans : - Christ, the new Adam: obedient; thus, the gift of: grace/life; - the results are: freedom; life; hope; acquittal; and righteousness.

32 The centrality and preeminence of Jesus: Romans : - one human - single offense: disobedience; - brought condemnation for all; - all become sinners; vs. - one human - single righteous act: obedience; - this brought all acquittal and life; - all have become just.

33 The centrality and preeminence of Jesus: Romans : - in Christ, the new Adam: - humans are saved from all the sins listed above (#30); - humans saved for “a new creation”. - born in the image of the first Adam; - humans shall bear the image of the last Adam in the resurrection (1 Cor ).

34 The Centrality and Preeminence of Jesus (contd.): - Paul sees the heavenly Christ in three roles: 1) as God’s revealed wisdom (1 Corinthians 1-4); 2) as the Divine Lord through whom God rules (Phil 2.11; Rom 10.9; 1 Cor ); and 3) as the means by whom God’s spirit dwells in believers (Romans ; 14.17). The operation of the Spirit, i.e., God’s active presence and effecting his will, characterizes all of Paul’s Churches.

35 Paul’s Major Assumptions and Concerns (contd.): - The Faithful as Christ’s Body: - For Paul, the faithful are collectively Christ’s “body” (1 Cor ; ; Romans 12); - The Church functions in union with Christ; - thus, it reveals him.

36 Paul’s Major Assumptions and Concerns (contd.): - Christ as Liberator from Sin, Torah, and Death: - For Paul, all humans are negatively influenced by sin’s power; - Thus, they are alienated from God (Romans 7); - The consequence of sin is death (Rom ); - The Torah, which defined sin and its punishment, increased the power of sin and revealed its universality (Romans 1-3);

37 Christ As Liberator From Sin, Torah, and Death (contd.): - Christ’s obedience to the Father and his death on the cross, liberates those persons who accept him, from sin, death, and the Torah (Galatians 1-3; Romans 3-7); - For Paul, “freedom in Christ” means deliverance from the old order of sin and punishment, including the Torah’s power to condemn.

38 Paul’s Major Assumptions and Concerns (contd.): - Christ’s Universal Sufficiency: - For Paul, Jesus, by his death and exaltation, is the means by which God rules the world and imparts his spirit; - Due to this, there is now a total change in the relationship between God and humans; - Christ is the final means of canceling the powers of sin and destruction; - Christ is all sufficient in reconciling humans to God.

39 - Christ’s Universal Sufficiency (contd.): - Now, neither “angelic powers” nor the Torah play a decisive role in achieving human salvation.

40 Paul’s Major Assumptions and Concerns (contd.): - Justification by Faith: - In Romans and Galatians, Paul concludes that spiritual union with Christ is now God’s sole means of redemption; - When believers become one with Christ, they share the benefits of his sacrifice; they receive divine favour and eternal life, benefits that works of Torah cannot provide;

41 - Justification by Faith (contd.): - One is justified/ “made right” before God only through placing faith, that is, complete trust (Rom 10.17; Gal , 5.6, etc.), in Jesus’ power to save; - Thus, salvation in Christ for all those who are spiritually united with him. - This, according to Paul, was foreshadowed in Genesis: - Abraham, “father of the Jews,” received God’s favour before he was circumcised (Gen 17.24) and before the Torah came into being;

42 - Justification by Faith (contd.): - True children of Abraham are, therefore, not necessarily those descended from him “in the flesh”; - True children of Abraham are those who show faith (trust; reliance on; fidelity to) in God’s son, believing Gentiles as well as Jews (Rom ). AMEN!

43 Paul at his writing desk – Rembrandt ( ).