The Apostle Paul

His Life, Thought, and Letters

Stanley E. Porter

• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781467445405
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Studies

In this comprehensive introduction to the apostle Paul, Stanley Porter devotes serious consideration both to the background and major contours of Paul's thought and to the unique contributions of each of his letters. Porter begins by introducing the Pauline tradition and outlining the basics of Paul's life, the chronology of his ministry, and his several imprisonments. Porter then discusses the background to Paul's thought, examines some of the major themes of his writings, and treats issues concerning the Pauline epistles, such as pseudonymity and canon. Finally, Porter delves into all thirteen of Paul's letters individually, placing them within their historical contexts and examining critical issues relating to the content and interpretation of each letter. The result is a thorough, balanced treatment of one of the most important figures in Christianity.

Part 1

The Pauline Tradition

1

Paul the Person

1. Introduction

What transformed a Jew who persecuted Christians (Phil 3:6; Acts 8:1; 9:1–2; 22:4–5; 26:9–12) into perhaps the single most important follower of Jesus Christ of his (or any) time—as theologian, writer, missionary, preacher, and church planter? No study of the early church can neglect Paul and his writings. In fact, any such study must put Paul near the center of its account, right after Jesus himself as the most important figure in the development and spread of Christianity from an initially regionally located sect of Judaism into a movement that came to be recognized, even by the Romans themselves, as a distinctive religious movement. The story of Paul’s life and ministry is intriguing and enigmatic, and it continues to be so as scholars vigorously debate many of the important issues related to him, such as the most significant influences on his pre-­Christian life and on his turning to belief in Jesus as the Christ, and especially the meaning and value of his letters.1 This first chapter discusses the person of Paul, as an initial attempt to ground further discussion of his thought and writings in the realia of his life. This chapter, therefore, discusses Paul’s place within the early church, his physical appearance, his upbringing and education, his relationship to the Roman Empire, his occupation, his religious and ethnic background, his conversion, his relationship to Jesus, and, finally, the relationship between the book of Acts and Paul. These various topics are all discussed in order to help situate Paul within his world of the first century. At points, fairly extensive footnotes are provided in order to provide guidance to subjects that are of current importance in Pauline studies.

2. The Value of Paul for the Early Church

Paul’s value for the study of the New Testament can be summarized in three major points. First, Paul is probably the earliest writer of the New Testament. Some might put the book of James prior to Paul’s letters.2 Even if Paul was not the earliest, however, he certainly made the most sizable contribution at an early date. Paul is therefore the writer closest to early Christianity in terms of its most significant early events, such as the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which had a crucial role in the formulation of his theology. At times, Paul is concerned to make sure that his readers know that the message he proclaims, his gospel or good news regarding Jesus as the crucified and resurrected Christ, is his own and was not simply derived from others.3 As he says in Gal 1:16–17, “I did not consult any person, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was” (NIV slightly altered). However, he also makes it clear that his gospel is in continuity with that of the other apostles (e.g., Gal 2:1–10, where he goes to Jerusalem to consult with the apostles; and 1 Cor 15:3–11, where he passes on tradition that he received) (see below on Paul’s status as an apostle). Earliest Christianity—that is, the Christian belief and practice most closely tied to Jesus Christ and Christianity’s formative events—has always occupied a privileged place in Christian history and belief, and Paul has pride of place in this hierarchy.4

Second, Paul is rightly known as the apostle to the Gentiles (Rom 11:13; cf. 1:5, 13; 15:16, 18; Gal 1:15–16; Acts 26:17–18).5 He was instrumental in carving out a Gentile Christianity free from the strictures of Judaism, including obedience to the Old Testament law, especially as it was manifested in circumcision, Jewish forms of worship, the practice of food laws, and the celebration of certain feasts (see chapter 4 §3A). Christians today still live in light of Paul’s thinking on such a vital issue as the relation of Christian belief to its roots in Judaism. Paul was able to carve out this Gentile ministry through the course of a number of highly interactive missionary ventures that took him well beyond Palestine, across Asia Minor, and into Europe (Macedonia and Achaia in what we now call Greece, then Italy, and possibly even Spain).6 These ambitious adventures were instrumental in establishing and maintaining a foothold for Christianity in Europe and afforded an opportunity for Paul to compose a number of letters that, although not written primarily as works of timeless theology, are still seen to be relevant in addressing issues in contemporary Christianity.7

Third, Paul was the first and perhaps the greatest Christian theologian. He has often been called the second founder of Christianity,8 a comment indicative of the crucial role that his thinking and writing played in forming early Christianity as a movement. In some senses, this statement is wrong, as Paul did not found Christianity but expanded the scope of its message. In another sense, however, it is exactly right. Paul was not the only one involved in early Christian missionary endeavors (at the commencement of his first missionary journey he was apparently under the authority of Barnabas, according to Acts 13:1–3; cf. Acts 10 and Peter’s evangelization of Cornelius), but he was certainly the most successful and is now the best known. He played a sizable role in transforming Christianity from a regional religious sect of Judaism, confined to certain areas of Palestine, into a genuine world religion, and this all within his own lifetime. It is not an understatement to say that Christianity today is essentially Pauline Christianity, at least in the West.

The importance of such an individual would lead us to believe that there should be an abundance of primary material about him available for assessment. But this is simply not the case. There are two primary sources of evidence for Paul’s life and ministry—his letters and the book of Acts (although many would minimize the importance of Acts; see §10)—though some other later sources from church history are also important. Among his letters, certainly his major letters are important sources of information about him and his thinking, but it must be remembered that they were written to specific church situations and people, and so must be interpreted before they can be used for historical reconstruction. Within any particular context, there is no compelling reason why Paul should have revealed everything about himself or the totality of what he thought about a given topic or issue. One would only expect him to state what he thought was appropriate for the situation.9 There is the further issue, to be discussed below, of how authorship of the letters is to be evaluated. Whereas thirteen letters are attributed to Paul in the New Testament, many scholars doubt the authenticity of many of them, to the point where a number of scholars believe that only seven of them are authentic (Romans, 1–2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, and Philemon). The second source of information regarding Paul, the book of Acts,...

Table of contents

• Contents
• Abbreviations
• Preface
• Part 1: The Pauline Tradition
• Part 2: The Pauline Letters
• Conclusion
• Index of Modern Authors
• Index of Ancient Sources