I must admit that I have never been a prodigious reader of Paul. My initial understanding of Paul is that everything points to the cross and therefore away from the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. I have always felt that his proclamation of “Christ crucified” ignored the inclusion of the sayings and works of Jesus prior to his death and resurrection, and because of this, Jesus’ sayings were relegated to second place over and above Paul’s own theological vision.
Prior to studying Paul, I believed that his main message to his Christian communities about salvation in Christ was essentially about a belief that through the cross and the vindication of the resurrection, Jesus was the rightful Messiah of Israel; one just simply needed to believe in this idea to be justified. Contrary to this idea, I have always leaned heavily on the book of James (James 2:14-26).
Concerning Paul’s expectations of how his communities were to behave, while he has always been consistent in expressing the love principle and that all things come from God, Paul was also responding to specific circumstances that arose in the early Christian communities. In so doing, whether intentionally or unintentionally, he created a set of values that would be later erroneously built upon to justify the condemnation of homosexuals (1 Corinthians 6:9–10) and the servitude of women to their husbands (1 Cor. 11:3; 7-9; 14:33-35).
Whatever my ideas were before studying Paul, he has always been the linch-pin to my faith, my firm belief that Jesus of Nazareth was raised from the dead, which confirms his authority as the true Messiah. Without Paul, one can doubt the existence of the resurrection and dismiss the other Apostles’ resurrection experiences as some sor...
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...effect on my soul. Now, as never before, the words “Christ crucified” are highly significant in my perception of what it means to partake of communion and to be a Christian.
Aside from Paul’s theological works, the most significant addition to my faith development has been the exposure to the pistis Christou debate. The idea of having “faith in Christ” has always presented me with a spiritual challenge. It always seemed to me that all I had to do was simply believe that Jesus was the true Messiah and I would then be saved, but to have the “faith of Christ” completely redefines my spiritual world view. If indeed this is what Paul meant, and I would like to think it was, then this transforms my faith from that of believing to that of doing. Having the “faith of Christ” demands more of me and connects me to the Jesus of Nazareth, not only the crucified Christ.
...of defense into a triumphant presentation of gospel in the Letter to the Galatians. The requirement of Galatians to follow the Law of Moses in order to convert to Christianity is proven invalid by Paul, who teaches that faith in Christ and living by the Spirit is essential to the religion—not following gratuitous rules of the flesh. Paul offers guidance for the audience on how to follow the gospel he teaches in contrast to the strict and changeable rules his opposition forces upon the Galatians. By using an appeal to ethos to build his credibility with the audience, an appeal to logos to explain the triviality of the traditional laws of Judaism, and allegories to provide the innovative interpretation of God as a father to his followers, Paul is able to successfully spread his gospel of faith in Christ and living by the Spirit to the Galatians and other audiences.
Besides Paul's humble and radically changed image found in his introduction, he also explains that he is one who is "called". His apostleship wasn't a man apointed thing, but a matter fully bestowed upon him by God. Paul was chosen and sent on a mission, and he had authority to represent God. Reading this gives great hope to us, the believers of today
Paul the Apostle, was a famous preacher of first century Christianity and was God’s tool used to spread the light of the gospel to the Gentiles. Paul is credited fir having written many books in the New Testament of the Bible. He was born an Israelite to a clan of the tribe of Benjamin, speaking the Aramaic and Hebrew tongues from infancy. He was an enthusiastic student and a stringent devotee of the Torah. He was the man that later had a peculiar meeting with the Lord Jesus Christ while on the road to Damascus. His life and duty were considerably altered and in turn eventually changed the course of the development of Western Civilization and culture.
justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus”. This is the message that Paul asserts from his introductory comments in chapter one to his closing comments in chapter six.
Jesus may have founded Christianity, but it is thanks to the revolutionary and enduring groundwork Paul laid that it exists in such a diverse, living and dynamic way. Following the death and resurrection of Jesus, Christianity was fledging. Persecuted at every turn, the early followers of Christ were plagued with uncertainty of what their religion should look like, rife with inconsistencies and false testimonies of Jesus and his messages. Thankfully, salvation was found for early Christians when Paul began his support and development of the Church, having a seismic role in solidifying much of the beliefs and practices that existed in the early Church, results of his work still forming the bedrock of modern Christianity and it...
5. Paul’s testimony on the resurrection of Christ is an asset to Christian apologetics. In addition, The early historical record that the apostle provided in his letters about the death and resurrection of Jesus the Nazareth make the strong argument that the miracle of resurrection was not a myth or legend. The early historical records are poor that the resurrection was not a myth or legend invented by his followers. (124,
Paul and Jesus both have similar topics they teach. Not only that, but Paul and Jesus have very similar teaching styles, with the key difference being how they react to mistakes made by their pupils. Paul and Jesus both lose their temper at points and get very angry, but Jesus transforms his anger into forgiveness, where Paul does not. These similarities and differences presented allow us to better understand what Jesus taught by referencing Galatians as a guide. Overall, we see that Mark and Paul’s letter to the Galatians show the similar beliefs Paul and Jesus had, but also show how they react when those beliefs are
White tells us, in this chapter, that the importance of the life and death of Jesus to Christians is meaningless without the resurrection — the event that brought all other events to completion. Here, the author points out four reasons for why Jesus’ resurrection matters.
My curiosity took over me and I am a bit confused on Paul’s thoughts. Is he a believer of Jesus as a God or is he not?
Dr. Constable would argue that “Without question, the story of Saul’s ‘conversion’ is one of the most important events if not the most important event, that Luke records in Acts.” This is a key turning point in Acts, and the event spurs on the man eventually write much of the New Testament. Paul’s rebirth served as an example to the Gentiles, the apostles, and to our own lives. Because Paul was not fully Jewish, his presence earned equal potential for Jews and Gentiles to trust or dismiss him. This is evident in his persecution at the hands of Jews and Gentiles alike, particularly when both parties attempt to Stone Paul and Barnabas in Iconium. (Acts 14:2-5) Additionally, Paul’s Roman citizenship would play an enormous part in his missionary work further in his life. This attribute was unique to Paul amongst the apostles, giving him a unique privilege to work amongst the Roman culture more freely. Early after his encounter with Jesus, the church was extremely weary of Paul and his attempts to minister alongside them. How could God call the great persecutor of the church to the same role as those who followed Jesus in person? Even the church did not originally understand what Polhill calls “the complete transformation of Paul from persecutor of the church to the one who was persecuted for
As with most other Pauline attributed documents, 1 Corinthians is believed to be a single document that addresses salient topics and rationalizes Paul’s view of faithfulness to Christ with Corinth citizens. The newly founded church of Corinth was in correspondence with Paul requesting his answers to questions they posed on topics ranging from marriage to the resurrection of the dead; the latter being one of the most highlighted in 1 Corinthians. Paul’s assurance of resurrection illustrates a concern for Corinth as he admonishes their disbelief in resurrection of the dead with a series of explanations as to why such doubt would render the faith of Christ “in vain”. Given the context of the time, Paul’s correspondence with Corinth clearly had an original intent of educating and admonishing Corinth on their views on resurrection. However, modern Christianity in its many forms has established an interpretation that slightly strays from its original inscription. Regardless, Paul’s letters not only shaped the ideals of Corinthians believers but influenced the Christian ideals of post mortem resurrection or eternal life as well.
Jesus began his ministry in Judea, near the Jordan River. He then travels, preaches, and preforms miracles before completing his ministry with the Last Supper in Jerusalem. Jesus was then crucified and then he later rose from the grave and ascended into heaven. Jesus spread his philosophy through the Middle East and left an ever-lasting impact on the world. Jesus’s last documented conversations in the Bible was with Paul, while he was traveling on the road to Damascus and then he instructed Ananias of Damascus to heal Paul when he arrived in Damascus. He then he reveled to John a revelation. The second biggest philosopher to spread the philosophy of Christianity was Saul of Tarsus, better known as Paul the Apostle. Fourteen of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament have been attributed to Paul the Apostle. This paper will examine Paul entire life and how his teachings changed the world. Paul the Apostle is one of the most well known philosophers and contributors to
Jesus and Paul are two crucial characters in the New Testament. They both depict the Gospel on which Christianity is based upon, but there is debate about rather these two versions of the Gospel are complementary. Scholars like George Shaw claim that Paul is “anti-Christian,” and he “produced a fantastic theology” (Shaw 415-416). On the other hand, I believe that even though Jesus and Paul may present the Gospel different at times, they are still advocating the same religion. Through the understanding of the Gospels and Paul’s letters it is clear that Jesus and Paul have the same underlining goals and values.
Of all the debates that concern the Christian faith, the most important lies in the understanding of the very one whom the faith professes to follow: Jesus Christ. Who was Jesus Christ, and what did He do here on this earth? In noting the importance of these issues the apostle Paul goes so far as to make the startling claim that the Christian faith is useless if predicated on a false assumption of Christ’s saving work (1 Cor. 15:14). Indeed, there are no truths more central to our faith than the personhood and work of Jesus Christ, and yet serious disagreements exist regarding the nature of these tenets. Jesus lived here on earth as fully divine and yet fully human in one and the same person, and His death on the cross served as a perfect sacrifice and substitute for the necessary punishment of death that all sinners deserve.
During this part of our seminar we will cover Paul's schooling under Gamaliel, the leading scholar in Israel during the first century A.D. This part of Paul's life will describe his eyewitness account of the stoning of Stephen, and his early persecution of the Christian churches.