That Perturbing Light on the Way to Damascus

by

Dr Carmel Mallia,

DLitt,ND, M.& D.(Bibl. Stud.),BAHons(Lond),LicEsperanto,Dip.FH&HC(Paris),

Dip.Glob.Eth.(Joensuu, Finnl)

© 2007

Index

Introduction……………………………………………… 2
1.Who was Paul before the crisis in question……………...2
2.His encounter with Christ/its aftermath………………….5
3.Christ, the centre of his doctrine…………………………7
4.At loggerheads with the Jerusalem Church………………18
5.The Light that perturbed him, perturbed others……….....21
6.Conclusion……………………………………………......25
Bibliography………………………………………………..26

1
 Introduction

I was always attracted by this queer episode in Paul‟s life. Queer not in itself
but in the manner Paul succinctly speaks about it. Queer also because Paul, a staunch
Pharisee, suddenly had to undergo such an experience, such an explosion that had to
change his life so decidedly and so strikingly, from night to day.
Above all, who is this Paul who, like that pistol-carrying man in the
Western Films, seems to come from nowhere? What are his credentials? What was he
aiming at? How did he behave after this experience or encounter that nobody can
understand or delve deep into? How did that Light disturb Paul‟s life and how did it
subtly incite him to disturb others. Who were these others?
I‟ll try to stress that after all his hassle, after his various imprisonments and
running to and fro to preach Jesus, what do later scholars had to say about him. Here a
conundrum of voices is heard, that sometimes agree and sometimes disagree about his
greatness or otherwise. Nonetheless, his influence, undoubtedly accepted by all, never
waned and continued to inject new blood into the Christian faith on its way towards
heaven.

The road-map I intend to use for my thesis is the following: Who was Paul
before the crisis in question? Then I pass to elucidate His encounter with Christ and
its aftermath, delineating His Christian teachings that, he points out fervently, were
given him by Christ. Is this believable? Anyhow, the centre of his doctrine is Christ,
particularly not His life and actions but only and especially His death and resurrection.
Then I try to delineate how Paul taught his Gentiles that Christ is God; how Paul‟s
new way of presenting things brought him at loggerheads with the Jerusalem Church,
first of all and especially concerning the Law(circumcision) and how from here he
runs head-on towards faith; then how he maintained that his apostleship depended like
theirs on the sacrosanct -- for him -- fact that even he encountered Christ as they did
although not in the same way.
I‟ll show how that Light that disturbed him, unfailingly had to disturb others,
first of all owing to his new Christianity and secondly through the never-ending see-
saw evaluation of him by subsequent scholars.
I have tried to search in various books about Paul and his missions and above
all about his theology. I also made use of the internet where I found articles, abstracts
and excerpts from related books.

1. Who was Paul before the crisis in question?

In this section I am going to asks who is Paul; then how from his old situation
he abruptly passed to a new one and why he came to Damascus to understand well
that bridge that connected his two far-flung shores; then I‟ll explain this bridge which
was Jewish, Hellenistic and awkwardly even Christian.
How may one understand Paul and his theology without first of all asking the
question: Who was he before the crisis treated in this thesis?
But it is pertinent first of all to understand something about Judaism. Judaism
began about 300 BC. In the time I‟m talking about, 80% of the Jews did not live in
Judea. They were scattered in the Middle East, in today‟s Turkey, in Babylon and

2
Alexandria, the Greek cultural city par excellence. Paul was one of these Hellenic
Jews.1 From outside Jerusalem the Gentiles brought to the Holy Land new ideas and
new cults, which, even they, were influenced by the Persians through Zoroastrianism
and by the Greeks through philosophy. In fact to mention only one example, Philo of
Alexandria, Paul‟s contemporary, made a synthesis of Platonism and Judaism that
influenced not only the Church Fathers but also John‟s Gospel.2 Greek religion and
culture(Hellenism) in their turn were infiltrated by oriental ideas. On the other hand,
Israel was an exception, since it resisted all foreign influence to remain under its God.
But this could not be total because of the penetration of alien influences.3
That‟s why if one wants to understand Paul, one has to study his background.
Let me look first at Paul from the side of his Jewish heritage.Let me explain.
Paul was a Hellenic Jew, or better still he came from a family of converts, member of
the vast Jewish Diaspora. Paul studied in Jerusalem under Gamaliel, the leader of the
Pharisees and grandson of Hillel. According to Paul‟s opponents, the Ebonites, Paul
came from a family of recent converts to Judaism. He was present at Stephen‟s death.
Acts represents this due to Saul(Paul‟s former name) Pharizeal zeal, but this is
doubtful as the Pharisees under Gamaliel were friendly to the Jerusalem Church(Cfr.
Acts 5).4
Born in Tarsus, Paul grew up in Jerusalem. 5 He was and remained a Jew.
Before his conversion he was a Pharisee(Phil.3:5; cfr. Acts 22:3;23:6;26:5) and
remained theologically Jewish even after. While he rejected some aspects of his
past(Phil.3:4-11), he remained part of Israel in a Jewish framework. As all Jews, he is
against politheism(Rom.1:22-32) and believes in the oneness of God. Israel‟s
eschatological hope was influenced by an apocalyptic hope, revealing God‟s purposes.
Resurrection and God‟s judgement were two of the elements the Israelites believed
in.6 Paul assumes God intervenes in the world through Israel, since Christ came into
his chosen people as its fulfilment(Rom.9:4f).
The fact that this people rejected Him raised problems for Paul as a Jewish
Christian(Rom.9-11). This became more pregnant for him since he was a Pharisee
who kept the Law with the utmost seriousness. In his letters he imitated early Jewish
writings using the words:”for it is written”(Gal.3:13) or “the scripture says”(Rom.4:3).
Paul‟s theology must primarily be understood in the context of Palestinian Jewish
religious history. It‟s probable that Paul theologized his kerygma as a converted
Pharisee not as a Hellenized Jew.So it‟s clear that Pauline theology must be
interpreted in the context of Palestine Judaism.7 Moreover, J. Christiaan Beker argues
that Jewish apocalypticism forms the unifying framework of Pauline theology. 8 One
must never suppose that Paul rejected his past when he became apostle. He often
speaks positively of this part(Rom.9:4-5); he not only quotes from prophets who
anticipated Jesus, but also believes that salvation began from the Jews.

1
Hyam Maccoby,St Paul, The Sierra Reference Encyclopaedia, available from:
<http://www.sullivan-county.com/news/paul/paul/htm> accessed on 20.5.‟07.
2
Ibid.
3
John Ziesler, Pauline Christianity, Oxford University Press, 1983, pp. 8-22.
4
Hyam Maccoby,ibid.
5
Calvin J. Roetzel, The Letters of paul,SCM Press Ltd.,1975,p. 5.
6
Ibid.
7
Prof. Barry D. Smith, Pauline Studies, Introduction, available from:
<http://www.abu.nb.ca/courses/pauline/PaulIndex.htm> accessed on 23.5.‟07.
8
J. Christiaan Beker, Paul the Apostle, from “The Triumph of God in Life and Thought”, Philadelphia
Fortress, 1980. Cfr. also A. Schweitzer for this apocalyptic element in Pauline Theology.

3
 Now, after his Jewish culture, let me tackle the other side: his Hellenistic
inheritance. Roughly speaking, the Jews thought of God in terms of what He did, and
the Greeks in terms of His nature. But how much was Paul affected by Hellenism?
His letters show him aware of that culture. He wrote fluent Greek, he used the
Septuagint, he quoted Menander(ICor.15:33), he reflected on the Platonic view of
unseen things(II Cor. 4:18), he used the diatribe and rhetoric. In short, he has various
devices at hand that show a sure Hellenistic influence. On the other hand, the
influence of Hellenism on his theology is minor.9
Now one has to remember that Judaism and Hellenism influenced each other
both in Palestine and in the Diaspora. Even the words ‟synagogue‟ and „sanhedrim‟
are Greek. 10 Even the common Hebrew proper name „Sabaoth’ was also used in
Greek as „pantokrator’ with the meaning in both cases of „all powerful‟. Besides,
Jews read the Torah in Greek. Certainly even Paul did, since he quoted from the
Septuagint.
But Paul also belonged to a Christian tradition. He refers to or quotes early
Christian tradition in discussions, the eucharist(I Cor.11:23-6), other quotes dealing
with the triade:faith, hope, love(I Cor. 13:130; I Thes. 1:3). The fact is that he drew on
pre-Pauline or even pre-Christian traditions for his exhortations. His concerns, f.ex.,
admonitions to do good and avoid evil,warnings against immorality, exhortations for
non-violence, subjection to leaders, kindness, all these appear in Paul‟s letters.
Now these concerns are shared by many earlier writers, such as Peter,
Ignatius,Hebrews and Barnabas. So the main treatment of his paraenatic(=ethical)
instructions1112 did not originate within himself but were common propriety of early
Christianity.13 All this Paul used in appropriate circumstances and so had immediate
relevance.
This does not mean that Paul used these traditional elements haphazardly but
to support his theological arguments. Notwithstanding this, he betrays little
knowledge of the traditions about Jesus. “This is one of the most puzzling areas of
early Christian history.”14
Paul first met Christianity as its opponent.15 He attacked the Christians not for
being Christians as for being bad Jews. He didn‟t regard himself as having left one
religion for another, but followed a continuation (Rom.11) with Israel‟s past. He felt
that Christianity was not a new religion but the fulfilment of the old. According to this
line of thought, his was not a conversion but a call. Thus from here began his central
aspect: Christology, precisely his starting point.16

9
Ibid.
10
Ibid.

13
Martin Dibelius, A Frech Approach to the New testament and Early Christian Literature, NY,Charles
Scribner‟s Sons, 1936, p.143 as mentioned in Roetzel, ibid, p. 47.
14
Ibid.
15
John Ziesler, ibid., pp. 23-46.
16
Ibid.

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 2. His encounter with Christ17/its aftermath

In this chapter I‟ll pinpoint the cause of such a radical change. Was it a vision or a
precise call? What was its immediate effects?
First of all what led Paul to such a radical change of mind? Nothing else, he
said, but an encounter with Christ himself(ICor.9:1; I Cor. 15:8;Gal.1:5f). But is it
true he „encountered‟ Christ? A lot of ink has been spilled and a lot of paper has been
filled up to explain this without arriving at a precise and irrefutable solution.. Still,
Paul is sure he had no vision but a veritable meeting with the risen Christ.(ICor.9:1).

That perturbing light on the way to Damascus almost directed him to declare
in a way verging on euphoria: “To me, the least of all the saints, is given this grace, to
preach among the Gentiles the inscrutable riches of Christ.”(Eph.3:8).Paul‟s meeting
with the risen Lord(I Cor.:1; 15:8) was rather a call like that of Jeremiah‟s .
According to certain scholars, Acts‟account of Paul‟s Damascus road
encounter (Acts9:1-30; 22:3-21;26:4-20) denotes a sudden conversion, i.e. a radical
change with the past. But Paul always linked the Church with God‟s promise to
Israel(Rom.9:5-4); and so he was not divorced from the Jewish tradition.18. But in fact
he himself did not call his encounter a vision. “One cannot arrive by analysis either
psychological or didactic, to measure the mystery of the act by which God revealed
his Son to Paul.”19 This may only be explained because we know a lot of Paul from
the Acts, but on the other hand Acts has a lot of gaps about the early church history.
In Acts, Luke‟s only intention was to show how the Christian message was spread
triumphantly from Jerusalem to Rome. Besides, Acts does not call Paul „apostle‟
except in 14:4,14. For the Acts, the apostles were twelve, although Paul does claim

17
Lewis Loftin, ibid.: The title of those who believed in Christ had a bumpy beginning. There was a

confusion about the correct spelling for „Christian‟. F.ex. at ca AD 138 Marcion preferred to call Jesus

„Chrestos‟(=the Kind or Helpful one). In the middle of the 2 nd century, the word „Christian‟ was very

popular. In the Sinaiticus manuscript(4th cent.AD) it spells „Chrestian‟; Vaticanus, same age, utilizes

another spelling:‟Chreistian‟. But there is an abundance of ancient testimony that shows that „Chrestus‟

for Jesus was very popular among common Christians.The title „Chrestus‟ and „Chrestian‟ are referred

to in the following sources: Tertullian(AD 210),The Eighth Sybil(AD 200),Theophilos of Antioch(AD

170), Marcus(AD 145), Apocalypse of Elijah(AD 100), Seutonius(AD124) and Tacitus(AD 116).The

Orthodox theologians denounced the spelling „Chrestos‟ as based on ignorance. Lactantius(AD 300)

said:”The ignorant are accustomed to call Him „Chrestos‟ 17 Now, the Orthodox introduced „Christ‟.

This is explained from its etymology, for „Christ‟ in Greek means „anointed‟, „royal‟. And this matches

beautifully with the Hebrew word „Messiah‟.

18
Roetzel,ibid.,p.19.
19
F.C.Baur, Das Christentum,etc., 3rd ed., p. 45, as mentioned in Frédéric Godet.

5
the name of apostle for himself(I Cor. 9:1f;15:1-11; Gal.1:1, 17). He didn‟t want to be
considered inferior to the others. For him, the qualification for apostleship is the
divine call.
This brings us to the earliest Christian preaching in which one sees two
aspects or divisions of Christian evangelization. There was first the kerygma (from the
Greek:keryssein =to proclaim) revealing that Jesus is the Christ and then the teaching
or didache (from the Greek didaskein=to teach). Now how do we know that Paul
knew how to use these two promotional instruments? Evidently, from his behaviour in
the Sanhedrin at Jerusalem, in the Areopagus in Athens and at the imperial tribunal in
Rome. Not only, but he supplemented them with fuller details, as ex.g., when he
wanted to appeal to the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper(1Cor.11) or
hinting at the resurrection appearances (1Cor.15).
The Jewish converts could understand the implications ex.g., of the title of
Christ, but the Gentiles were far from understanding it at all; so they needed
explanations and interpretations. All this was carried out by word of mouth, since
according to Professor Burkitt the earliest biography of Jesus20 sprung up from the
Gospel of Mark. To add insult to injury, with the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70
the communications between the Christians in Palestine and the Gentile world were
severed. So, much of the historical traditional accounts about Jesus was lost.
Even very limited are the Christian documents of the second century and later
that contained information about the apostolic era that was handed down traditionally.
Something could be traced to the 4th century historian Eusebius. But still the
knowledge is meagre. For the life of Jesus proper we have to rely on the New
Testament Books.21
In Gal.1:11-12, Paul declares his gospel is not taught to him but came to him
through a revelation of Jesus Christ. But what he wrote and how he wrote it were
composed by men. Therefore how did the apostle maintain that he did not receive it
from man?22
Pauline Christianity is the earliest evidence we have as a document because
the Books of the New Testament were written later. It was Paul who introduced us to
the early Church.The earliest letter is probably I Thessalonians (ca AD 50-51). Paul
wrote letters not sermons as substitute for his personal presence(ICor.4:14-
21;IICor.12:14-13:13;IThess.2:17-3:5) to specific people and situations. The major
part of the recipients of his letters were Gentiles(i.e. non-Jews) which in practice
meant they were Greek in culture and language(Rom>11:13;ICor.8:7;Gal.4:8;Phil.3:3;
I Thess.1:9), even although as he himself said, the gospel came “first to the Jew and
then to the Greek(Rom1:16).
While the Synoptic Gospels are a narrative and contain Christ‟s sayings,
Paul‟s theology has a different look: they are letters tackling pastoral, theological and
ethical problems that are bound to be more complex. The genre is totally different. So
there is a substantial contrast between Jesus and Paul. Paul begins post-Easter and for
him Christ is the centre. His Christianity did not venerate Christ as a great teacher,
unlike Matthew‟s or John the healer, or unlike Mark‟s, and Luke‟s while Luke‟s
attitude to the New Age is more cautious than John‟s.
Paul managed to behave in this way after his „call‟, and in that situation
teaching was carried out at that time.

20
Richard Heard, An Introduction to the New Testament, ch. 5:The Oral Tradition, available
from:<http://www.religion-online.org/showchapter.esp?title=> accessed on 1.6.‟07.
21
Richard Heard, ibid., ch.14:The Growth of the Church.
22
Roetzel,ibid., p. 41.

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 3. Christ, the centre of his doctrine

In this chapter I am going to talk about how Paul in his epistle treats the
relationship between Christ and God, then how Christ is both human and divine, then
about the titles Paul decorates Christ with and about the characteristics he attributes
Him. In short this is a chapter about what Paul meant when he made Christ‟s death
and resurrection the centre of his teachings. That should also be the Magna Carta of
our life.

If the desire of(for) God is the same desire of the human nature, it is an
onthological desire and is situated in the heart of every person. It results from the
creation of man as an image of God. This desire which is God‟s trace of God in man
permits him to search God. This search is not abstract because one can‟t possess God
by a purely rational search, but by a life-long, existentialist, search which is to be
found in the spiritual life.23
This brings us to the earliest Christian preaching in which one sees two
aspects or divisions of Christian evangelization. There was first the kerygma (from the
Greek:keryssein =to proclaim) revealing that Jesus is the Christ, and then the
didache (from the Greek didaskein=to teach). Now, how do we know that Paul knew
how to use these two promotional instruments? Evidently, from his behaviour in the
Sanhedrin at Jerusalem, in the Areopagus in Athens and at the imperial tribunal in
Rome. Not only, but he supplemented them with fuller details, as ex.g, when he
wanted to appeal to the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper(1Cor.11) or
hinting at the resurrection appearances (1Cor.15).
The Jewish converts could understand the implications ex.g., of the title of
Christ, but the Gentiles were far from understanding at all; so they needed
explanations and interpretations. All this was carried out by word of mouth, since
according to Professor Burkitt the earliest biography of Jesus24 sprung up from the
Gospel of Mark. To add insult to injury, with the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70
the communications between the Christians in Palestine and the Gentile world were
severed. So, much of the historical traditional accounts about Jesus was lost.
Even very limited are the Christian documents of the second century and later
that contained information about the apostolic era that was handed down traditionally.
Something could be traced to the 4th century historian Eusebius. But still the
knowledge is meagre. For the life of Jesus proper we have to rely on the New
Testament Books.25 And because neither Jesus nor his disciples had any intention of
founding a new religion, exegetes called Paul the founder of Christianity.26
Paul‟s doctrine of Jesus is a daring departure from Judaism. That Jesus was a
divine-human person that descended from heaven to save mankind was new to Jewish
ears and plays no role in Jewish Scripture. On the other hand, Paul contended that
every line of the Jewish scripture was a foreshadowing of the Jesus-event. Though
regarding the Old Testament as obsolete, Paul still accepted it as the Word of God,

23
J. –M. Maldamé in his review of: Victor Franco Gomes, Le Paradoxe du désir de Dieu, Etude sur le
rapport de l‟homme à Dieu selon Henri de Libac, from Récensions Octobre-Cécembre 2006, available
from:<http://www.ict-toulouse.asso.fr/ble/site/63> accessed 25.5.‟07
24
Richard Heard, ibid.,ch. 5:The Oral Tradition.
25
Richard heard, ibid., ch.14:The Growth of the Church.
26
ibid.

7
prophesying the new Christian Church and giving it authority. Consequently, he
transformed Judaism into Christianity.27
But Paul‟s kerygma and didache par excellence are carried out throughout his
epistles. The thirteen epistles of Paul that have been preserved may be divided into
four groups that are distinguished by the date and subject matter28:
1. Ca. 53AD: 1 & 2 Thessalonians about the subject that most interested
the Church at its beginning: the return of Christ;
2. Ca. 54-59:Galatians(54 or 55), 1 & 2 Corinthians(57 and 58) and
Romans (58-59),essentially treat the Christian salvation and how to
acquire it;
3. 62-64: encloses Colossians, Philemon , Ephesians(62-63) and
Philippians (63-64). They have as main aim the person of Christ and
his union with the Church, which He made as organ in this world;
4. 64-66: the three Pastorals, which have as aim to assure the future of
the Church under the direction of those that have to instruct and
administer after the departure of the apostles.
There is a great difference between the programme taken up by the four
evangelists, who wrote their works after the death of Paul, and Paul‟s epistles. In fact
Matthew, represented by a Lion, portrays Christ‟s authority in his unearthly kingdom.
Matthew is known for his love of order, his interest in the sayings of Jesus and his
exposition of the nature and mission of the Church. According to Papias (ca 125AD),
Matthew in his gospel set the sayings of the Lord in order, besides demonstrating
that the Old Testament prophesies have been fulfilled in Jesus.29 Mark, represented
by a Bull, depicts Christ‟s service to humanity. In this second Gospel, Marc identifies
the mystery of the kingdom of God in the mystery of Jesus, at once God and man. 30
For Luke, represented by a Man, and called: ”scribe of the meekness of
Christ”(Dante),31 Christ is the abundance of wisdom and manly character. His was
the first literature presenting to the Greek reading public of the first century the Good
News of salvation in Jesus Christ. Eagle 32 , the king of the birds, was the fourth
representative of Christ for John staring at his master as a divine being: here Christ is
God. 33 This may be nailed down to the following central words in John‟s
Gospel: ”The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” and “we have seen his
glory”(Jn.1:14). Here Jesus‟ career is portrayed as a dramatic conflict between Jesus
and Jerusalem.34
Many scholars went so far as to question the authenticity of some of Paul‟s
letters. F.C. Baur of Tübingen held that only four were authentic:Romans,Galatians,1
& 2 Corinth. Others would exclude the Pastoral from the Pauline corpus; others would
even consider 2 Thessalonians and Ephesians as deutero-Pauline. However there is

27
Hyam Maccoby, The Problem of Paul, from The Mythmaker:Paul and the Invention of Christianity,
available from:<http://www.sullivan-country.com/id3/paul_problu.htm> accessed 23.5.‟07.
28
Frédérick Godet, ibid.,Genral Conclusion of paul‟s Epistles.
29
Rev. John P. O‟Connell, The Holy Bible, Virtue & Co. Ltd., London, 1959, Catholic Dictionary,
under „Matthew‟, p. 157.
30
Ibid, under „The Gospel of mark‟,p. 149.
31
Ibid.,under „Gospel of Luke‟, p. 146.
32
This is one of the faces of the throne-bearers of Yahweh, thus symbilizing Yahweh‟s supreme
sublimity(Ezech.1:10;10:14).
33
Andrew Corbett, Introduction Outline of the NT, Legana, Tasmania, availavle
from:<www.legana.org/studies/ntsurvey/outline.htm> accessed on 1.6.‟07.
34
Ibid., under „Gosper of St. John‟, p. 129.

8
insufficient evidence to conclude that some of the letters are pseudonymous.35 Here
Peter gives a helping-hand to these argument-laden experts and does not hesitate to
state that many of the verses in the epistles are “hard to understand” (2 Peter 3:16),
although others try to interpret them according to their personal whims.
Now to go to God one has to pass through the phenomenon „Christ‟. How did
Paul cross this strange, although for him natural, bridge?
Of the cross and resurrection Paul speaks a lot, but of the life of Jesus he only
tells us that36:
 Jesus was a Jew born of woman under the Jewish law(Gal.3:16;4:4);
 He was of the line of David(Rom.1:3);
 His ministry was essential to Israel(Rom.15:8), and
 Christ had his last meal with his disciples(ICor.11:23-5).
Even of the teaching of Jesus there is little. Notwithstanding all this, in Paul‟s epistles
there are some parallels to Gospel material. For example:
1. In Rom.12:13,14: cfr. Matth.5:44 and Lk.6:28-“Blessed are those who
persecute you…”
2. In Rom.12:17: cfr. Mt. 5:39-“Repay no one evil for evil” and
3. In Rom.13:8-10: cfr. Mt.22:34-40-“Love is the fulfilment of the Law”.
The wording is not identical and Paul gives no acknowledgment of source.
On the other hand Paul‟s real preaching focussed on:
 The Cross(ICor.1:17,18;Gal.6:14;Phil.2:8;Rom.5:6-11;6:1-14);
 The Resurrection (I Cor.15:1-58); and, as a corollary:
 The parousia (Jesus will come again)(I Thess.4:13-5:11;II Thess.2:1-15).37
Some point out that Paul does show an acquaintance with the character of
Jesus, ex.g., His humility and obedience to God (Phol.2:6-11;2Cor.8:9;10:1; Rom.
15:3,8). But Paul‟s reference is usually to His enduring the cross rather than to his
life as such.38
From this, two notions follow:
a) Paul was not consonant with the Jesus-tradition in any detail. Perhaps it hardly had
a central place at all in the life of the Jerusalem Church; and
b)Paul had little interest in this Jesus-tradition. He concentrated rather on Jesus
crucified and risen, and His action through the spirit. In short, what mattered for Paul
was what God was saying at that moment in time. Besides, to add insult to injury,
Matthew‟s Rabbi-picture of Jesus is totally absent from Paul. 39 And this is
understandable.
Since Paul encountered Christ on the road to Damascus, he refers to Christ
differently: as Jesus Christ, Christ Jesus or simply Jesus. In short, Jesus as a human
being. Paul uses various anthropological terms when referring to this, as ex.g.:
 He refers to James, the “brother of the Lord”(Gal.1:19);
 Jesus Christ as a man (anthrôpos) (Rom.5.5:15;ICor.15:21), mediator
between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5);
 “Man from heaven” appeared to the earthly man(ICor.15:47,48).

35
Prof. Barry D. Smith, ibid.
36
John Ziesler, ibid.pp.8-22.
37
Felix Just, sj, Major Pauline Themes, available from:
<http://catholic-resources.org/Bible/Pailine_Themes.htm> accessed on 22.5.‟07.
38
Ibid, p. 21.
39
Ibid.

9
Paul also uses the term “flesh”(sarx) to describe the humanity of Jesus sent by God
“in the likeness of sinful flesh(en homoiomati sarkos hamartias) (Rom.8:3). 40
Enigmatically, says Longenecker, 41 Paul identifies Jesus with a spiritual rock that
followed the Israelites around in the wilderness(ICor.10:4). This is a strong metaphor
that gives us a glimpse of Paul‟s poetic vision, even when talking of Jesus.It‟s
pertinent here to point to 1Enoch62:7-9:”For the Son of Man was conceived from the
beginning.” The same as Phil.2:6,7 who sees Christ as pre-existing, before he became
human, as a being in the morphê of God, and thence adopted the morphê of a servant
as a human being. In Col.1:18 there is a word:archê, meaning “beginning”, but it is
not stated specifically in what sense Christ is the beginning. Possibly here it means
“the first-born from the dead.”42
So, after Paul, perhaps influenced by him, the four Gospels, written later, treat
both the man and the divine of Christ. It‟s true that the four Gospels represent Christ
from different perspectives, since the three Synoptists set forth the humanity of Christ
while the fourth, Christ‟s life, not from the human aspect but as an expression of the
glory of the Divine person manifested to man as in visible form.
Nonetheless Paul insists both on Christ‟s humanity and on His divinity. Paul‟s
world whirls around three centres in the same circle, if geometrically this can ever be:
God, the human world and the Mediator who is both God and man.43
(1) Let me talk first about Christ‟s humanity. Expressions as “form of a
servant”, ”in habit found as a man” and “in the likeness of sinful
flesh”(Phil.2:7;Rom.8:3); our Lord manifested in the flesh(I Tim.3:16;Col.1:22),
made of woman (Gal.4:4; Rom. 1:3); but not the Law(Gal.4:4); physical human
weakness(2Cor.13:4), life of suffering(Heb.5:8), Passion(Ibid.1:5; Phil.
3:10;Col.1:24); but sinless(IICor.5:21;Gal.2:17;Rom.7:3);representing the whole
human race(Rom.5:12-21; ICor.15:45-49). Paul looks at Christ as self-effacing. The
words here used are: ”emptied himself”(séautón ékénose)(Phil.2:6,7). Rightly defined,
this has a special value:
 it assures us of God‟s love;
 it reveals the true nature of God‟s sacrifice, i.e. complete self-surrender; and
 self-effacement is a work of perfect human character.44
(2) But Paul also wanted to teach the divinity of Christ. According to Paul the
superiority of the Christian revelation is derived from Christ being the Son of God.
Paul called Jesus the „Messiah‟(in Greek it means „Christ‟=the anointed one).
But of this Messianship Paul uses little, although he uses the word.The sort of
Christ(Messiah) in whom Paul believes is essentially a rejected one in whose death
and new life those who believe in him may share. For him Jesus was the end of the
Old Age and the dawn of a New One.
If we search in the New Testament, and for reason‟s sake we say that nothing
proves Christ‟s divinity, the first 14 verses of the 4th Gospel would suffice to convince
us of it. The doctrine of the Prologue is the fundamental idea of the whole Johannine
theology. The whole Gospel is a history of the Eternal Word dwelling in human

40
Richard N. Longenecker, Pauline Christology,avaliable
from<:http://www.abu.nb.ca/courses/pauline/Jesus-htm> accessed on 20.5.‟07.
41
Barry D. Smith, Pauline Christology, ibid.
42
Ibid.
43
A.J. Maas,Christology, Catholic Encyclopaedia, available
from:<http://www.ewtn.com/Library/CHRIST/CE_CHRIST.HTM> accessed 26.5.‟07.
44
Francis J. Hall, The Humiliaion of Christ, Ch.18.Q.108, from:Theology Outlines, available
from:<http://disseminary.org/hoopoe/dogma/2005/08/ch_xv> accessed 26.5.‟07.

10
 nature, the same teaching found in the Johannine epistles. Now, according to the
Apocalypse Christ is the Alpha and Omega(1:8;21:6;22:13). He is associated with the
Father(V.13,17:14).45
Paul believed wholly in the parousia (coming)(I Thess. 4:13-18;ICor.15:20-28)
who will finally hand our power to the father(ICor.15:23-5). The idea of the nearness
of the Lord haunted Paul.This is largely felt in I Thess. more than elsewhere in his
letters. Jesus as Messiah is the key to salvation, he is the key figure of the end of
human history.46
But the notion dominating Paul‟s thoughts is the expectation of Christ who
will soon return(Thess. 1:10). This is contemplated mostly in Thessalonians, the
earliest of Paul‟s letters. Here we find him hoping for his coming but he did not
formally teach Christ will come very soon. But yes Paul presupposes he‟ll come soon.
His primary purpose was to persuade them the end is not quite yet. They should
continue to hope. There is no point of brooking further for any further deliverance,
since the cross and resurrection were the last significant event in history. Hence the
Christian must go on quietly working(Thess. 3:12).So the union of the Christian with
Christ is greatly desired even now(Cfr.Colossians, Ephesians). 47
This central thought of Paul i.e. the death and resurrection of Christ, was so
felt in him that it dragged him into the Athenian Areopagus (Acts 17:22-31) when he
was in that city of artists, writers and philosophers (AD 51).48
Luke records this visit in Acts 17 and makes Paul‟s missionary visit and
speech one of the highest points of his Book. Indeed it has been more of a theological
message than a Christological one, since it is without a direct reference to Christ in its
final part(v.31).49 Here we assist at a fierce clash between Christianity and paganism.
For those listening, Paul brought “strange things” which were the great news of
salvation. What is interesting in this speech(Acts 17:28) is that Paul cites the
Phaenomina of Aratus(late 4th, early 5th century BC), a Greek poet, by which he
wanted to show his audience that their religion amounted to idolatry. Here Paul shows
he is also familiar with the writings and beliefs of the Greeks, refuting their beliefs
using the ad hominem arguments. He uses a line from Aratus and in the midst of
Stoics and Epicureans philosophers, Paul showed them that the inscription on the
Areopagus “To the unknown God” was not about their god, an anthropomorphic god,
but about the true God he was preaching, and he cites Aratus to convince his audience
that God can‟t be represented “by the art and imagination of man”.
The three principal divisions of the address are:
 God, creator and Lord of the world requires no temple, because He is without
needs(vv.24,25);
 God made man with the destiny that he should seek him(vv.26,27), and
 The affinity of man with God should preclude all worship of images(vv.28,29).
Now these divisions betray Hellenistic writings.

45
Ibid.
46
John Ziesler, ibid.,pp.23-46.
47
Henry Wandbrough,OSB, The Lord comes like a Thief, in The Theology of St. Paul, The Mercier
Press, Cork,1968,ch.1,p.12.
48
Dr Riemer Faber, The Apostle and the Poet:Paul and Aratus, available
from:<http://www.premier.mb.ca/clario..html>accessed 21.5.‟07.
49
Stelian Tofana, from summary to the article:The Apostle pauil‟s Discourse in Areopagus or the First
Confrontation between the Heathen Philosophy and the Word of God in the European World,from
Sacra Scripta, Issue no.1-2/2005, publ. By Centrul de Studii Biblice-Universitatea Babes-Bolyai,
Romanis, available from:<http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/issuedetails.aspx?issueid=> accessed 29.5.‟07.

11
 Notwithstanding this, the speech as a whole represents a significant development of
theology in the soil of Greek culture.50 Paul‟s final advice here was for repentance and that,
before the dreadful day of judgement would come, there are days of grace and salvation. By
the way, does not this fall in line with Peter‟s words in 1Pet.3:19? In this address, the
declaration concerning the significance of the resurrection of Christ overshadowed the Cross.
Note the wording: Christ “that died, yea rather (my underlining) that was raised from the
dead.”(Rom.8:34).
Here Paul wanted to teach that God is the centre of the universe, who commands all men to repent
since he had fixed a day when he will judge the world by Christ whom he had appointed.
Here I wish to make two interferences. First, it‟s curious how Dibelius shows
this speech is inconsistent with the teaching of Paul in his epistles. Second, according
to Albert Schweitzer, 51 the quote: ”In Him we live and move and have our
being”(17:28) expresses a God-mysticism which is Stoic rather than Christian and,
instead of a transcendent God, Paul depicts an immaneistic view of the world.
Schweitzer goes as far as to conclude that this speech is unhistorical, i.e. Luke had
his liberties in it.
The early Christian movement created a kind of Christological monotheism,
including Jesus in the unique identity of the one God of Israel. God was the creator of
all things, and creation cannot be delegated to a creature. So the early Christians had
to include Jesus in the escathological identity of God. This was the early Christians‟
Jewish way of presenting monotheism against ditheism that was bound to crop up.
Instead of adding to, they included Jesus to the unique identity of God52. Here Neil
Richardson uses the rather precise term: ”theological inclusio” which means that God
is the source and goal and Christ is the mediator.53
Against the pagan pantheon, Paul presents the true God revealed in Jesus
Christ. Paul makes use of a Jewish formula (the Shema=Hear(O God)54 which is the
most basic expression of Jewish monotheism and places Jesus at its centre. So, instead
of : “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one”(the Septuagint of Deut.6:4
reads: akoue Israel kyrios ho theos hemon eis estiv), we have:
One God
The father, from whom are all things and we with
Him
and: One Lord
Jesus the Messiah, through whom are all things/through whom are
we(I Cor.8:6).
Now, what has Paul done here? According to Wright, Paul expanded the formula in a
way quite unprecedented in any other text known to us, so as to include a gloss on
theos and another on kurios in this way:
All hemin
Eis theos
ho pater, ex out a pavta kai eis autov
kaj eis kurios
Iesous Christos di out a pavta kaj hemeis di autou.

50
Dibelius, Paulus auf dem Areopag, 1939.
51
The Mysticism of Paul the Apostle(Die Mystik des Apostels Paulus), 1930,L.T.1931.
52
Richard Bauckham, Paul‟s Christology of Divine Identity, available
from:<http://www.forananswer.org/Top_JW/Richard_Baukha> accessed on 22.5.‟07.
53
Richardson, Paul‟s Language, 301.
54
In Maltese, an Arabic dialect, we have the word:isma’(hear) coming from the same root of Shema.

12
So Paul has glossed „God‟ with „father‟(ho pater), and „Lord‟(eis kurios) with „Jesus
Christ‟, adding a phrase in each case. Thus Paul has placed Jesus Christ within an
explicit statement from the Old Testament.55 In this manner, Paul has redefined the
Shema, already widespread in Judaism as the Jewish daily prayer, thus producing a
sort of Christological monotheism. So much so that when Paul writes in 1
Cor.11:11:”Be imitators of me as I am of Christ” he redefined the monotheism of 1
Cor. 8:6 and put it in practice. Besides, Paul discovered that the Gospel of the
crucified and risen Christ continued “the power and the wisdom of God”(1 Cor.
1:24).56 One can now understand Paul‟s thought, that living and dying in Christ is
gain(Phil.1:21), because through Jesus one goes to the Father, nay one is in the Father.
I have just shown how Paul stressed that Christ is the image of God(eikôn tou
theou) (2 Cor.4:4). There are three passages, where Paul explicitly identifies Jesus as
God. These are: Rom.9:5, Tit.2:13, and 2 Thes. 1:12, where Paul says that Christ is
over all and God is blessed for ever and ever. Here Paul meant that Christ is God,
notwithstanding the difficulties brought by exegetes. Smith seems to indicate that
these passages are unjustifiably disputed.57
Although Paul identifies Jesus Christ with God, he also distinguishes both.
Paul always distinguishes between Jesus Christ, son of God(huios tou theou). Jesus
Christ is subordinated to God. The subordination quality is found in Rom.1:3,4,9;5:10;
8:3,29,32; 1Cor.1:9;2Cor.1:19;Gal.1:16;2:20;4:4,6; Eph.4:13;Col.1:13;IThes. 1:10).
Besides, the son‟s relationship of subordination to God is expressly stated in
1Cor.15:28. In other references to Christ as son in Paul‟s letters, the relationship of
subordination is clearly implied by the use of “son”.58
By Son of God, the apostle understands an eternal and immanent relation with
Christ to the Father. If Paul uses the term “form of God”, “image of God” when
speaking of Christ‟s divinity to show distinction between the Eternal father and the
Divine Son(Phil.2:6; Col.1:15), Christ is not merely the image and glory of
God(1Cor.11:7) but also the first born before any created beings(Co.1:15) and “who is
over all things, God blessed forever.”(Rom.9:5).59
The Christological title:”Son of God” as used by Paul originates from the
Hellenistic Church.60 In the Palestinian Church, “Son of God” means the Messiah; in
the Hellenistic world it means „having a divine origin‟. Hence the development of the
“divine man”(theois anêr). This latter assertion is meant when Paul says “Son of
God”(Bultmann).61 Paul assured us that Jesus was declared Son of God through the
Spirit by the resurrection from the dead. This so much was in Paul‟s heart that in
Rom.1:3,4 he aesthetically displays it in the following chiastic structure:
Peri tou hiou autou A
Tou genomenon B
Ek spermatos Dauid C
Kata sarka D

55
N.T. Wright, One God, One Lord, one people, from „Ex Auditu‟, Journal of North park Symposium
on the Theological Interpretation of Scripture, availed of from
<http://www.northpark.edu/sem/exauditu/papers/eright> accessed 20.5.‟07.
56
Ibid.
57
Prof. Barry D. Smith, Pauline Christology,, available from:
<http://www.abu.nb.ca/courses/pauline/Jesus-htm> accessed 23.5.‟07.
58
Ibid.
59
A.J. Maas, Ibid.
60
Bultmann, Theology of the New Testament, NY, Charles Schribner‟s Sons, 1951,1955.(mentioned
by Barry, ibid).
61
Barry D. Smith, Ibid.

13
Tou horisthentos hiou Theou
eu dunamei B‟
kata pneuma hagiôsunês D‟
ex anasteseôos nekrôn C‟
Iêsou Christou tou kuriou hêmôn A‟
Now what are the usual casual appellations of Paul with regards to Christ?
First:the most common title Paul uses in relation to Jesus Christ is “Lord”(kurios). In
the salutations of his 13 letters(with the possible exception of Colossians and 1
Thessalonians) Paul sends greetings from God the Father and Lord(kurios) Jesus
Christ. In relation to this, in 1 Cor. 16:22 Paul uses the words: Marana Tha(=Oh
Lord, come!). Why has he used these very old words in the Aramaic language?
(Remember also the other very much used word Amen). Perhaps to show that
Christians speaking Aramaic have done this from ages ago.
“Lord” meant also authority first on individuals, then on the Church, on the
cosmos. For Paul that sovereignty was established at the
resurrection(Rom.10:9;Phil.2:9).62 In the same instances when he refers to Jesus as
Lord, Paul ascribes the tetragrammaton to Jesus. He often uses ho kurios to mean
YHWH in accordance with the Old Testament usage(e.g. Rom.4:8=Ps.32:2;
Rom.9:28-29=Isa. 10:22,23; Isa.1:9; Rom.14:11=Isa.49:18;
63
45:23;Rom.5:11=Ps.117:1; 1Cor.1:31=Isa. 40:13.
Secondly:the title “Son of God” is little used by Paul compared with “Lord”.
Because to call Jesus Son of God is not an exalting attribution. Perhaps this is why
Paul refers to Jesus sometimes as the „Son of God‟(1Cor.15:28;2Cor.1:19) or as „his
own Son‟(Rom.8:3) or simply as „his Son‟ (Gal.4:4).
To sum up: according to Paul “There is one God and one mediator between God and
man, the man Jesus Christ”(1 Tim.2:5). On few occasions Paul refers to “the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”(Rom.15:6; 2 Cor.1:3; 11:31) or “the God of our Lord
Jesus Christ”(Eph.1:17). But Paul goes deeper still explaining that Jesus is the
Messiah(=Christ), pre-existing in human history in the morphê and the eikôn of God,
i.e. sharing the essential nature of God. Nonetheless, Paul distinguishes between Jesus
and God, Jesus who subdued himself to God.64
Jesus is also Spirit(1Cor.15:45), he is equated with the spirit(IICor.3:16f).
Spirit is the mode of God‟s presence in the world.Hence, he is the agent of
life(Gen.1:2). So he is the content that fills the whole world. Notwithstanding this, the
spirit and Christ should not be confused, although Paul passes from one to another
freely. 65 (Rom.8:9f; Rom.8:9;Rom.14:17; Phil.4:4). For Paul spirit-experience is
Christ-experience and all this is anchored in the concrete person of historical
Christ(Rom.8:14ff;1Cor.12:3;2Cor.3:8).66
Paul looks also to God in relation to Wisdom(Sophia). True wisdom is to be
found in Christ alone(1 Cor.1-4), or better Christ is the Wisdom of God and the
revelation of God‟s mystery. The Jewish use of this word is the key to open for us
Paul‟s meaning. It is identified with the Torah for it is in it that knowledge of God is
found(Eccles. 24:23). So Paul identifies Christ with wisdom.Philo uses the word

62
Ibid.
63
Ibid.
64
Ibid.
65
Ziesler, ibid,pp.23-46.
66
Ibid.

14
Logos(Word). Here we have the concrete figure of Jesus Christ not the activity of
God.(1 Cor.8:5; Rom.11:36).67
We are frequently using the words Jesus Christ together, as it should be. But
there is a cause for this. The title was coined over a hundred years ago, precisely in
1892 by Martin Kähler to distinguish between the historical Jesus and the Christ of
the Gospels. This to understand better the „humanity‟ of Jesus and his „divinity‟ in
speaking about Jesus as the God-man.68
As we said before, Christ is the Redeemer, the redeemer from bondage. Paul
literary uses three words for this:
 exagorazō in Gal.3:13 and 4:5;
 lutroō in Tim. 2:14, and
 apolutrōsis in Rom.3:24;8:23;ICor.1:30;Col.1:14;Eph.1:7,14;4:30.
They all mean transfer from slavery to freedom. Paul does not mention that the
death of Christ was the price paid to set man free, although he concentrates it on
the cross(Gal.3:13;Rom.3:24).69
If one were to ask what Christ redeems us from, there are three answers:
1. He frees us from the Law and its curse(Gal.3:13;4:5);
2. He frees us from sin and its power(Rom.3:24);
3. He gives us the final freedom of life with God at the End(Rom.8:23).
Now for Paul Christ is not individualistic.70 Rather he is the centre of a new
people, although fulfilling the historical Israel. All are one in Christ(Gal.3:28), as one
body. For body Paul uses sōma for the community of believers. This idea is
significantly developed in Colossians and Ephesians. As the body is composed of
different parts that have different functions, so we are in
71
Christ(Rom.12:4f;1Cor.12:12-30). The total picture is one of unity in diversity.
Christianity has brought a complete reversal of standards. For a
Christian the very wisdom now became Christ. But the wisdom of God is not
knowledge, so dear to the Greeks, but love. All this is found in 1 Corinthians.Love is
in fact the only guide-line, the yard-stick, which Paul provides for Christian conduct72
Love is the way faith expresses itself(Gal.5:6), a slavery to each other(Gal.5:13). Love
is the characterization which shows that the spirit of God is present(Rom.15:30;
Gal.5:22;Cor.13:13;Col.1:8). No passage sums up its character better than 1 Cor.13:4-
8): Love is…Love is… .
The primitive gospel contained six elements, according to Dodd73:
a)The arrival of the messianic age as foretold by the prophets;
b)The inauguration of this age in the ministry, death and resurrection of Christ;
c)The exaltation of Jesus;
d)The presence of the Holy Spirit in the church as a sign of Christ‟s power and glory;
e)The imminent return of Jesus as the consummation of the messianic age;
f)The call to repentance coupled with an effort of forgiveness.

67
Ibid.
68
Richard N. Longenecker, The Jesus of History and the Christ of Faith:Some Contemporary
Reflexions, available from:< http://www.mcmaster.ca/mjtm/2-51.htm> accessed on 20.5.‟07.
69
Ziesler, ibid. pp.23-46.
70
John Ziesler, ibid. p. 47.
71
Ibid.
72
Henry Wansbrough, ibid.ch.1.
73
C.H. Dodd, The Apostolic preaching and its development, Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1936,pp.
21-23.

15
This gospel is the same as that of Paul from his very first epistle to the last. To
corroborate them, there are three elements that crop up in Pul‟s letters, although not
necessarily together. Here is how they are found:
1. Prophecy fulfilled: Rom.1:2
2. Messianic Age inaugurated in Jesus who was born of the seed of David:
Rom.1:3
Died according to the scriptures: Ga. 1:4; 1 Cor.15:3
Was buried: 1Cor.15:3
And raised: 1Thess. 1:10;1Cor.15:4
3. Who was exalted Rom.8:34;Phil.2:9
4. Presence of the Holy Spirit: Rom.8:26ff; 1Cor. 12:1ff
5. Who will come again: 1Thess.1:10;Rom.2:16
6. Call to repent: Rom.10:974
With Christ, one is in a new world(2 Cor.5:17).From the old Adam to the “last
or second Adam”. The Adamic myth is rarely mentioned in the Old Testament and the
Gospels, but it occupies a prominent place in Paul‟s letters.75 The following passages
are important in this relation:
1. Romans 5:12-21:
Here Paul contrasts the last Adam with the first.Through the disobedience of
the first Adam,”many were made sinners”(Rom.5:19); through the last Adam
came life(5:18), when with the former came death(5:21). But Paul did not
endorse the doctrine of original sin. This is not seminal transmission. Each
person became his or her own Adam.76
2. 1 Cor.15:
Corinthians didn‟t understand how Christ‟s resurrection applied also to them.
Paul argues that the resurrection is the first instance of the general ones(1
Cor.15:20). His rising signals the arrival of God‟s kingdom. Paul argues that
as we are born in the image of the man of dust(Adam), so we shall inherit the
new man(Jesus)(1Cor.15:19).
3. Phil.2:6-11:
Here Paul quotes a Christian hymn in which scholars see the context of Jesus
and Adam, although no direct mention of Adam is made.Where Adam sought to
exalt himself, Christ humbled himself; when Adam rebelled agaist God, Jesus was
obedient till death. The last Adam serves as both the medium and the model of a
restored humanity.77
There is continuity between the message of Jesus and that of Paul. Jesus‟two
focal points were:
a) ”the way” as a path of radical personal transformation, and
b) “the kingdom of God” as a vision.In the Gospel Jesus speaks about the “narrow
way leading to life and “taking up one‟s cross”. Paul speaks about “dying and
rising with Christ”(Rom.6). Jesus speaks about “the kingdom of God”; Paul
proclaims “Jesus is the Lord”. Both are parallel in meaning. Paul‟s way is not
about believing doctrines but a path of psychological and spiritual transformation.
But is not Jesus‟ ”kingdom of God” the same as “Jesus is the Lord?” Paul is one
with Christ:”Be imitators of me as I am with Christ.” 78 Besides, in the

74
Roetzel, pp. 42-43.
75
Roetzel, p. 89.
76
Roetzel,p. 90.
77
Roetzel p. 91.
78
Ibid.

16
 introduction to his letters, Paul presents himself as “servant-slave of Jesus Christ”
and in his preaching he shows he wants to know of Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ
crucified.(I Cor.2:2) and “Christ is my life”(Ph.3:10).He always wants to bring
everything together under Christ as head(Col.1:10).Paul puts emphasis on
oneness:”One Lord, one faith, one baptism.”(Col.4:5; Cfr. Alldo:2:14:-18). The
same thing he expresses in Philemon, the shortest of his surviving letters. All this
is founded on the principles of Colossians and Ephesus: the master and slave are
united in brotherhood, for:”there is only one Christ; he is everything and is in
everything.”(Col.3:11).
I would like to open a bracket here mentioning the letter to the Hebrews. This
may not have been written by Paul, although it contains teachings resembling
those in his other epistles. Now,this epistle revolves around the spirituality of
Christ‟s priesthood and sacrifice to those of the Old law. This letter is the supreme
document of the New Testament on Christ‟s priesthood, who learned to obey
through suffering(5:8) and underwent the experience of temptation(2:17,18). As a
priest, he is eternal and his intercession also eternal (7:25), he is the perfect
expression of total dedication through his redeeming work(10:1-18). Christ is the
leader who‟ll guide us to salvation(2:10), after a pilgrimage to the heavenly
Jerusalem. This is a new Exodus.79

79
Henry Wansbrough, ibid, p. 84.

17
 4. At loggerheads with the Jerusalem church

In this chapter I‟ll treat about the curious stand (or stands, since it happened twice)
that Paul took when he met the leaders of the Jerusalem Church in order to iron out
differences, forwarding his idea that now it‟s faith in Christ that should have
precedence over the Law. I‟ll show how his arguments persuaded the leaders to
accept his new doctrine. Then comes my statement that Paul was somewhat arrogant
and egoist in his disposition, and how Christ never behaved in such a way, so much so
that whenever He commanded something he commanded it to one and all not to one
alone.

To begin with, the Law, “reviving the soul and rejoicing the heart”(Ps.19),
translates the Hebrew „Torah‟ which in its root-form means „to direct, to instruct‟.
Paul never says the Law is sin and death. When in Rom.8:2, he says he is
being set free from “the law of sin and death”, we should read: set free “from the
principle of sin and death.”80
Paul‟s missionary campaign began ca 44 in Antioch, then he went to Cyprus.
After journeys in Asia Minor, he returned to Antioch. His second missionary
journey(51-53)took him as far as Corinth, and in his third(54-55)he had a three year
stay in Ephesus. It was during these missionary journeys that he wrote the Epistles. In
them there is a basic outline of doctrine that Paul shared with the primitive
Christianity, and although his interpretation of the kerygma differed from that
emanating from Jerusalem, the latter nonetheless finally approved of his
gospel(Gal.2:2).
At the heart of Paul‟s theology and also of Christianity, we find the notion of
justification as a means of liberation. This means that people are sinful and can‟t win
God‟s acceptance for their “good works”, simply because the divinely appointed way
of acceptance is grace through faith(Rom.2:1-3:20;9:30-10:40). So acceptance with
God(justification) is not by human achievement. Justification(this noun is rare,
occurring only in Rom.4:25 and 5:18) rather than the verb „to justify‟ means in plural
to restore people to their proper relationship with God. It comes close to
foregiveness(Rom.4:6-8). So here we have the restoration to fellowship. Justification
occurs only through Christ and in Christ. According to Gal.3:16, a man is not
justified by works of the Law but through faith in Jesus Christ. This is why Gentiles
needed not, nay must not need circumcision, since this is under the Law. Paul uses the
words:”in Christ” and “with Christ” side by side(1Cor.15:22;2Cor.5:14;17:21).
This explains the other facet of Paul‟s argument: that Christ had not died
instead of us but to enable us to die, just as he rose to enable us to
rise(1Cor.15:22;2Cor.5:15).81 And when Paul says that “For us Christ is the end of the
Law”, he does not mean that Christ brings the Law to a termination, but to a
fulfilment. He uses the word telos (=‟end‟, which has both meanings:Christ is the
fulfilment of the Law; the Law is God-given(Rom.7:12;9:4) and finds its true
meaning in Christ(cfr. also Gal.3 and Rom.4).82
Now the new Christians of Galatia came to know that, according to the Jewish
Scriptures, to become children of Abraham one has to be circumcised, and
consequently God‟s sons, and this according to Gen.17:10‟s covenant notice to
80
Calvin J. Roetzel, The letters of Paul, SCM Press Ltd., 1975. Cfr also: Rom.7:23 and 3:27.
81
Ibid,p. 90-98.
82
Ibid.p.99.

18
Abraham. And he who would not receive circumcision will be cut off from his
people(Gen.17:14). Paul warns the Galatians against “freedom in the Spirit”(Ga.
5:13ff). They knew that the Jewish Christian church of Jerusalem, led by Peter and
James, kept the Law and sought to impose it on Paul‟s congregations which now,
after Paul‟s teachings, believed in justification by grace. But Paul got angry and was
astonished that his people, the Gentiles, were deserting him so quickly, him who
introduced them “to the grace of God”(Gal.1:6). He even goes to the extent of saying
that those who receive circumcision are severed from Christ(Gal.5:4).Notwithstanding
this, when Paul visited Jerusalem, he always maintained his independence and gained
acceptance for his gospel, and on one occasion he even rebuked Peter for his duplicity
on the issue of eating with the gentiles. Paul defends his theory of faith against
circumcision, to be righteous in front of the Lord, because Abraham ”believed in the
Lord”(Gen.15:6) before his circumcision. So it is faith not circumcision which tied
them to Abraham.
Paul‟s new religion had the advantage of being attached to the Hebrew
Scriptures which he now interpreted as forecasting the salvation-death of Jesus. This
Pauline Christianity attracted Gentiles, but met with disapproval from the Jewish
Christians of Jerusalem Church, who regarded the substitution of Jesus‟death for the
absence of the Torah as a lapse into paganism. He was summoned (ca 50) to
Jerusalem by the leaders:James, Peter and John to explain his doctrine. They finally
agreed that Paul‟s Gentile converts did not need to observe the Torah. After this, the
laissez-passer was released. The situation passed from being at loggerheads to
legitimate acceptance.He was thus confirmed in the role of “Apostle of the Gentiles”
(Rom.11:13;15:16;Gal. 1:16) and this by divine appointment.83 with full permission to
enrol gentiles without requiring full conversion to Judaism..
Paul‟s Damascus experience conforms rather closely to the pattern of the Old
Testament prophetic calls. Like Jeremiah and Isaiah, Paul says:God “set me apart
before I was born.”(Gal. 1:15. Cfr. also:Rom.1:1;Jer.1:5; Is.49:1).Paul is concerned
with the salvation of the individual (1 Cor.5:5) but in a wider and cosmological
aspect.(Rom.8:19ff). “By the grace of God I am who I am, and His grace which was
bestowed upon me was not in vain.”(I Cor. 15.
This somewhat puffed up Paul and he wanted to be counted alone. The wanted
to be the sole „Ipse Paulus‟ of the „new gospel‟ seceded from the Jerusalem one. But
this was contrary to what Jesus wanted. First of all, there was equality between the
apostles. Jesus sent all the apostles to teach all nations(Mt.28:18; Mk 16:14); he came
in their midst and showered on them peace telling them that as his Father sent him, so
also he is going to send them, he gave them the Holy Spirit. The apostles in Jerusalem
sent Peter and John to those of Samaria, not Peter alone. Even when Cornelius knelt
down to kiss Peter‟s feet, the latter cried that he was only a man like
him(Cornelius)(Acts 10:26). This means that even though Peter was the
„Petra‟(=Rock), he was not privileged by his fellow-apostles and also by Christ, who
excluded all idea of superiority among the apostles. Once Jesus told them:”If your
brother does not hear you, go tell that to the church.”(Mt.18:17).He didn‟t say „go tell
that to Peter‟. In another instance, Christ told them not to accept the title of „chief‟ or
„master‟, for He was the master, par excellence (Mt.23:8).84

83
John Ziesler, ibid., pp. 1-17.
84
La Primauté de Pierre Refutée par l‟Evangile, from L‟Eglise Gallicane, available
from:<http://www.gallican.org/primaute.htm> accessed 31.5.‟07.

19
 According to St Jerome, 85 the church was not built on Peter but on the
apostles equally. St Ambrose86 declares that the keys given to Peter were also given
to the other apostles. Even St. Augustine 87 says that when the keys were given to
Peter they were not given to a particular person but to the unity, the Church.88
Paul was a restless person. He contributed to engage the new movement in
personal struggles and dogmatic discussions by “polémique personelles” and
“discussions dogmatiques.” 89
In his writings he frequently says:”my gospel”. It is true that the revelation he
received was only his, away from the other apostles‟influence. But he is jealous by
nature. He affirms, not without some infatuation, that the “theophany” or
“christophany” was equal to that of the other apostles. That‟s why he met with
conflicts because of his intransigence. That‟s why he passed from crisis to crisis. If
it‟s true that he served the cause of the new-born christianism, he contributed
nonetheless to engage the „sect‟ in polemics and discussions.
It was he who divided Christianity into two worlds:the Judeo-Christian and the
pagan-Christian. When the circumcision affair cropped up, and the central question of
the “Council of Jerusalem” asked the key question: does to be a Christian, one has to
pass through Judaism? This gave two answers: one on Paul‟s side in his epistles to the
Galatians, the other in the Acts. But in fact, this meeting at Jerusalem was not a
reconciliation but a deep fissure in the relationship between the Jerusalem Church and
Paul. In fact in AD54, i.e. two years after the Jerusalem meeting, another conflict
cropped up, that of Antioch when Paul rebuked Peter. From then on, things changed
drastically, so much so that Paul saw some of his adherents drifting away from him
precisely owing to his dogmatism, when his influence and authority were at their
highest. It‟s in this atmosphere that he dictated 2 Corinthians where the first chapters
are a deliverance song and its last 90 an ironic outburst. 91 It‟s here that Paul‟s
personality is most felt.In a word, it tells you: love me or hate me.

85
Advers Jorim lib.1.
86
In psalm.38.
87
De Ag.cap.30.
88
St Augustine, Serm.149 and 295.
89
M. Vernes, Saint Paul,vn.25,N.113-115 from L‟Encyclopédie de l‟Agora, available
from:<http://agora.qc.ca/motorst/Dossiers/Saint-Paul> accessed 29.5.‟07.
91
Ibid.

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 5. That Light that disturbed him, disturbed others

In this chapter I‟ll show how the light that disturbed Paul disturbed also others that
took shelter under his name to save their face. Then I‟ll show how Paul influenced the
outlook of exegetes with regard to their evaluation of his gospel.

“It is always a marvel to me that the street preacher goes straight to the point
in Paul, and finds all his answers, where the ninety-and-nine just men find all their
difficulties.”92
This shows that many wonder how others find difficulty to understand Paul, or
even to misunderstand him.
Paul‟s Gentile mission had so succeeded that it went its own way with its
theology, and left behind the Jerusalem Church on its own. This is a reality and no
one may disregard it.
Anyhow, different minds and different tastes speak differently. So one finds
that Paul is charged by seriously disturbing the message of Jesus. In fact it is true that
he seldom refers to Jesus‟teaching; not only, some tells you, but he replaced the
message of Jesus by a message about Jesus.Perhaps this is due to the fact that not
everything under his name was written by him, since according to modern scholars,
of the thirteen letters attributed to him, at least three were not, and there are 1 and 2
Thimothy and Titus, while Ephesians, Colossians and 2 Thessalonians are. 93
According to Loftin, Paul, as an itinerant apostle is second in importance only to Jesus.
He is the first Jewish mystic from whom we have first hand account of his mystical
experience(2 Cor.12:1-4). Because Jesus left no writings, most of what he taught
is lost forever. Jesus preached an enlightened form of Judaism, Paul created Pauline
Christianity. So Jesus was not the founder of Christianity as we know it today. 94
On the other hand, some assert that while Jesus may be the founder of
Christianity 95 , Paul is regarded as the great interpreter of Jesus‟mission and who
explained how Jesus‟life and death fitted into a cosmic scheme of salvation, stretching
from Adam to eschathology. Even the Gnostic Marcion placed Paul over his Jewish-
Christian rivals.
We were talking about Paul‟s influence on Christianity. Before the 2nd century,
Christianity was often reviewed as distinguishable from Judaism. Afterwards, Judeo-
Christianity became isolated and went its own way.96
Before Marcion‟s revival of Paul‟s theology, Christianity was nothing more
than the Old Testament.When the former openly published the first New Testament in
Rome(AD116), there arose four divisions in Christianity. These groups were
denominated:Gnostics,Catholics,Judeo-Christians and Marcionites.But even before
Marcion‟s publication of his first Christian Bible, Paul divided Christianity in to

92
Quoted by F.F. Bruce in „Some Thoughts on Paul and Paulinism‟, from „Vox Evangelica 7, 1971, p.
5, available from:<http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/vox/vo107/paulii> accessed 29.5.‟07.
93
Marcus Borg, Paul‟s Unconventional Wisdom, available from
< http://www.beliefnet.com/story/142/story_14275.htm> accessed on 20.5.‟07.
94
Lewis Loftin, ibid.
96
Ray Embry, Marcion, available from:
<http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Ithaca/3827/marcion.html> accessed on 27.5.‟07.

21
groups: the Judizers and the Pneumatics(=the spirituals). The former were attached to
Peter and James, while the latter to Paul‟s gospel of freedom.97
In any case, the accusation against Elijah by King Ahab:”You troubler of
Israel”(1 Kgs.18:17) could be easily levelled also against Paul who appeared from the
first as a controversial figure in the history of Christianity. This Christianity began as
“the domain of the Nazarens‟(Acts 24:5,14;28:22) and to generations later as
„Christians‟.
All in all, Paul joined those whom he had persecuted(Acts 9; Gal.1:13-16) to
win Gentiles to the Gospel of Christ(Rom.11:13;15:18-20). But he continued to be an
inspiration to Marcion, and Valentinian Gnosticism. Tertullian called Paul “the
apostle of the heretics”. 98 Some of the early Christians regarded Paul as a great
apostate, an arch enemy(Epistula Petri 2:3; Clem. Hom.17:18-19).
At the end he became more domesticated, but his influence was incalculable.
Infact he was called, as we already mentioned:”the second founder of Christianity”. It
was through him that Iraeneus and Tertullian steered Christianity through heresies in
the second half of the 2nd century. The reputation through its justification by sola fides
became a kind of Paulinism. After the 1st world war, Karl Barth inaugurated a new
place for Paul in the 20th century theology.99
Great studies have been carried out regarding Paul‟s influence in transforming
a Jewish messianic renewal movement into a religion which became the dominant
intellectual and religious influence on European thought and culture.
The fight was between the two factions that shaped the history of the first two
centuries: the Petrine position, and Pauline Christianity and freed Christianity from
Jewish particularism. In this conflict, Ferdinand Christian Baur 100 saw a
foreshadowing of the Reformation conflict between Catholicism and Protestantism. In
short Paul‟s work was the „hellenization‟ of Christianity.101
Jewish Christians still attack Paul‟s interpretation of the Gospel even over a
century after his death.The writers of the pseudo-Pauline letters, i.e. Hebrews, 1 & 2
Timothy, Titus, etc.) used his name to legitimate their writings. Augustine and Luther
cite him. Paul‟s power is so vast that he is deemed to provoke and to excite.102 Paul
was used by diverse factions in the primitive church to interpret their own side
beliefs.103 These are the Gnostics(Gnosticism=knowledge) with their problem of evil
in the world and the Pelagians with their problem of sin. Second century Gnosticism
almost conquered under the banner of Paul. Gnostic sects displayed hatred for the
world and for things of the flesh. Through their return to the divine source, through
dreams, visions, one is liberated from the body-prison. But according to Paul, the
body is an enemy(1 Cor. 9:26-27; Rom.7:18,24) and especially 1 Cor.15:50 where
Paul says:”flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.” By these verses of
Paul, the Gnostics showed that even Paul shared their exaggerations, but they isolated
them from their broader context. In him they found support for their radical dualism
between the world above and the world below. When in 2 Cor.4:4 Paul says that the
god of this world blinded the minds of the unbelievers, he referred to the devil, but

97
Ibid.
98
Adv. Marc.3.5.
99
James D.G.Dunn, ed.,Introduction, Cambridge Companion to St. Paul, available from
<http://assets.cambridge.org/052178&/1558/excerpt/052> accessed on 20.5.‟07.
100
Ferdinand Christian Baur, Paul, the Apostle of Jesus Christ,2003, p. 212.
101
James D.G. Dunn, ibid.
102
Roetzel,p. 117.
103
Roetzel,pp.117-138)

22
the Gnostics interpreted these words to refer to God; so the evil god entangled the
minds so much that they remember him no more. They insisted that it was Yahweh
that was the evil god of this world. 104
Now regarding the Pelagians: in the problem of sin, Paul was the wedge that
entered between Augustine and Pelagius. Rom.5:12 was the crux. Both contended
their side: one picks up man‟s failure and God‟s grace, while the other is confident of
man‟s ability to live a faithful life far from sin. And those two words:”in quo” of
Rom.5:12 meant a world to both contenders. 105 Augustine misred Rom.5:17 but
Pelagius fails to appreciate fully either the power or mystery of human sin.
Justification by faith(Rom.1:17), centre of gravity of Paul‟s letters, was also noticed
by Luther who placed it at the centre of his teachings.106
It‟s interesting to note How Cardinal Newman , studying Paul, has digested
some of his sayings and from them extracted “The Christian Philosophy of life.”107
Hence, says Newman, the following are the duties of the Christian according to Paul:
a) Slave of Christ: “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of
righteousness”(Rom.6:18);
b) With a spiritual mind: “The kingdom of God is not in word but in
power”(1 Cor. 4:20);
c) The Christrian religion is not the “religion of the day”: “Let‟s have grace,
whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For
our God is a consuming fire”(Heb. 12:28,29);
d) Is no self-wise enquirer:”Let no one deceive himself. If any man among
you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may
be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is
written “He taketh the wise in their own craftiness”(1 Cor. 3:18,19);
e) A man of eternity: “While we look not at the things which are seen but at
the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporal
but the things which are unseen are eternal”(2 Cor. 4:18);
f) A man founded in Christ:”If ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of
the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye abject to
ordinances(Touch not, taste not, handle not which all are to perish with the
using) after the commandments and doctrines of men”(Col. 2:20-22);
g) A man looking towards Christ‟s intercession: “It is Christ that died, yea,
rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also
maketh intercession for us”(Rom.8;34);
h) A man waiting for Christ:”To serve the living and true God and to wait for
his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus, who had
delivered us from the wrath to come”(Ep.1, Paul and Thessal. C.i.v.9,10).
And these so many interpretations that differ from each other are
consequences of the difficulty of having a perfect picture of the first century of the
Christian Church and this in its turn, owing to scanty of information of that period.
2Timothy were the last works of Paul, where he relished his moving
remembrances waiting death with tranquillity in Rome‟s prison under Nero‟s

104
Ibid.p.120.
105
Ibid.p.121-125.
106
Ibid.,p.125.
107
The Mind and Heart of St. Paul, A Newman Anthology of Saint Paul, by Henry Newman, selected
by Malachy Gerard Carroll, St Paul Publs, England, 1959,pp. 113-184.

23
rule.(2Tim.4:7ff.). Trocmé ably winds up Paul‟s life by the very touching words: La
vie tourmentée de Paul s’achève misérablement.”108
Frédéric Godet has given us a litany-compendium of appellations
characterizing Paul combined with the principal activities that encompass, as on a vast
canvas, the various colours of his evangelization and where one may find them
written . Here it is:
 Prophet, tracing the double picture, black and white, of the end of things with
the epistle to Thessalonians;
 Polemist, fighting Judaism, in Galatians and Colossians;
 Luminous doctor, exposing with calm the Christian salvation and its road, in
Romans;
 Psalmist, celebrating the magnificent work of incorporating pagans in God‟s
net, in Ephesians;
 Pastor, safeguarding the herd that‟s ready to leave the way, in Corinth;
 Father of a family, encouraging, in Philippians;
 Friend interceding for another friend in front of another friend, in Philemon;
 Practical administrator, taking care of his work which he is going to leave
behind, in the Patoral letters.

108
Trocmé on Saint Paul, Paris,P.U.F., ch. 7, col. „Que sais-je?‟ no.3662,2003, from l‟Esprit et Vie,
available from:<http://www.esprit-et-vie.com/article.php3?id_article=5> accessed 30.5.‟07.

24
 6. Conclusion

The Christian conception of Paul is not composed of pieces glued together but
of a whole of which parts are tightly placed; it‟s the salvation accomplished and
interpreted by Christ; it‟s a whole programme, and Paul executed it faithfully; he
executed faithfully what Christ had prepared and foreshadowed.109
Paul‟s appearance on the scene of Christianity was of tremendous importance
for the transmission of Christianity. It was only when he emerged as leader of the
Church of Antioch that he began to exert an important influence upon the Church
as a whole.The dispute that arose for the Gentiles that filled Antioch, whether
Jewish or Gentile Christians could eat together without the Jews incurring
defilement(Gal.2:11-16), Paul assured that the Law had been superseded by the
new and universal Gospel that one can be saved by faith in Christ.
Now, at the Council of Jerusalem(ca AD 49), Peter took Paul‟s side after
hearing the latter‟s explanation(Gal.2:14; Acts 15:7-11). In time this led to
severance of the Christian Church from the Jews.110 Paul has continued to exercise
a strong and creative influence on those who take Jesus seriously, and even to
fascinate many who do not share his faith.111
The same Light that he experienced on the way to Damascus was the same
dazzling Light that appeared on Mt. Sinai(Ex.34:29-35), which reminds us of the
Trans- figuration.112 This goes also for the Christian who is transformed by Christ‟s
brightness and through this he transfers it to others(Phil.4:6).This occurs because
Christ is “the image of God” who reflects God‟s Light(2 Cor.3:18-4:6).
Paul exercised the greatest influence on world history.113 Paul was a poet and a
mystic and that‟s why he attracted besides many others Henry Newman. For Paul, as
for Newman, the very essence of Christianity is its spiritual optimism based on the
Mystical Body of Christ. The Christian vocation is one of light and joy,
notwithstanding all that is “glissant et tènébreux” in the human nature(Bossuet).114
Through the call of Abraham, God broke the primitive unity of the human race
and introduced in history that dualism resulting from theocratic particularism. But
through Paul God put a full-stop to particularism to elevate humanity to universalism
of salvation, infinitely superior to that of natural primordial unity.115

I think that in this thesis I have shown to my capability how Paul obeyed
Christ‟s call with great scrupulosity and according to that Light that struck him on the
way to Damascus, notwithstanding opposition from brethren that were preaching the
same Christ.
If I were to write a post-mortem to this thesis, I would try to scrutinize what
remained of Paul‟s Gospel today, how is Paul‟s Christ being attended to and what do
modern Christians think of Christ‟s simple teachings. Above all do these Christians

109
Frédéric Godet, ibid, General conclusion about Paul‟s Epistles.
110
Richard heard, ibid,ch.14:The Growth of the Church.
111
JohnZiesler, ibid.,pp.140-144.
112
Henry Wansbrough, ibid.
113
Frédéric Godet, ibid, General conclusion about Paul‟s Epistles, accessed 1.6.‟07.
114
Malachy Gerard Carroll, The Mind and Heart of St. Paul, Introductory Essay,
St. Paul Publ., England, 1959,
115
Frédéric Godet, Introduction au Nouveau Testament, ch. 6:Les Epîtres de Paul, 1893, from „Soleil
d‟Orient‟, 2007, available from:<http://opelorient.free.fr/godet/godet_epitres_paul/goc> accessed
1.6.‟07.

25
still look at Paul as the Apostle of the Gentiles, or are they distancing themselves from
his views and would like to hear more of Jesus‟ simple words and imitate His actions?
But I stop here, the last stage in an unsafely frequented square where I feel I
have met Paul and shook hands with him.

********************

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***********************
NB- This article was presented as the thesis for the Master‟s diploma -- summa cum
laude -- in a course of Biblical studied (distance learning) in 2007 with Mount
Carmel Institute of Biblical Studies, Ca., USA.

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