Pauline Christianity
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pauline Christianity is a common form of Christianity based on the teachings of Paul of Tarsus, who declared himself the "Apostle to the Gentiles", and its development in his circle and among his followers. In the history of Christianity, Pauline Christianity is a term commonly employed to specify the eventually dominant form taken by "official" or "catholic" (signifying "universal") Christianity, though it is also used in a technical sense for the teachings of Paul as recorded in his undisputed letters, for example, when distinguishing Paul's theology from that of the Johannine works or the Gospel of Mark or the Epistle of James. Most scholars and Christians agree that Pauline Christianity evolved in to what are today the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, although there are certain churches who do not believe this. (see Landmarkism and Great Apostasy.)
Contents |
[edit] Origins and acceptance
The "Gentile church" as it was organized by Paul was amended by the tradition of Johannine theology in the 2nd century when it confronted and expelled heterodox teachings. In the 4th century, the "official" form of Christianity was protected by Constantine and formalized as "Nicene Christianity" at the Council of Nicaea (325), and was finally authorized by imperial sanction in the Theodosian decrees of 391 in both the Eastern and Western Roman Empire.
[edit] Rival doctrines
There were other interpreters of the message of Jesus: the Ebionites and Nazarenes form one contrast to Pauline Christianity; Gnosticism forms another. Paul and his followers denounced other formulations of the Christian oral tradition as heresies.
According to Epiphanius of Salamis, the Ebionites denied that Paul was even born a Jew: "They declare that he was a Greek . . . He went up to Jerusalem, they say, and when he had spent some time there, he was seized with a passion to marry the daughter of the priest. For this reason he became a proselyte [through the Sadducee movement, hence his working for the Temple police] and was circumcised. Then, when he failed to get the girl, he flew into a rage and wrote against circumcision and against the Sabbath and the Law" (Panarion 30:16–19). Ebonites were the only group known to have accused Paul of this, as there is no record of this in the Hebrew historical writings of the Talmud.
Though second-century interpretations such as Marcionism, Montanism, and the teachings of Valentinius may usefully be compared to Pauline Christianity, by the fourth century, when the Council of Nicaea (325) had excluded Arianism (and Quartodecimanism) from the continuation of the mainstream "catholic and orthodox" tradition, it is conventional to speak instead of mainstream Christianity as "Nicene Christianity," in order to differentiate it from contemporary emerging and competing doctrines.
[edit] Development and the apostle James
In the first couple of centuries after the Crucifixion, in opposition to this Pauline tradition—the forerunners of Catholicism—there were various rival philosophies and formalized churches evolving. An important figure presumed by some modern scholars to be excluded from Pauline Christianity was James, the brother of Jesus, also known as James the Just. James was Jesus' brother according to the Gospels (Mark 6:3; Matt 13:55–56) and Paul himself (Gal 1:18). "James the Just" was the head of the Christians in Jerusalem, according to Paul: "James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars" (Gal 2:9). Acts of the Apostles suggests that any conflict between James and Paul was resolved at the Council of Jerusalem, whose decision Paul and others were entrusted with delivering to the other churches; however, Acts 21:21 indicates that problems persisted:
But they have been informed about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs.
Paul defined the nature of his mission and, with disarming frankness to his Gentile audience, his technique in carrying it out effectively in 1 Cor 9:20–23:
And to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.
[edit] Modern viewpoint
Some modern revisionists, notably Robert Eisenman, see Pauline Christianity as a method of taming a dangerous sect among radical Jews and making it palatable to Roman authorities. The difference between the teachings of Christ as continued by James and those perpetuated by Paul, according to Eisenman and others, can be explained in terms of the audience. Jesus preached primarily to Jews. He was baptized by John the Baptist and probably shared some of his views. He spoke and acted against what he believed was corruption in Herod's Temple and 1st-century Judaism, which Josephus divided into Sadducee, Pharisee and Essene sects. James continued this teaching focus as leader of the Jerusalem Church, with both Aramaic speakers (Acts 1:19) and Greek speakers (Acts 6:1). It was an eschatological movement, as was the movement of Jesus and John, and as such they anticipated that the Gentiles would turn to the God of Israel as prophesied in Isa 56:6–8, for example.
The "Messianic Judaism" movement of the current era sees itself as manifesting the modern evolution of this teaching. They believe that Jesus was the manifest "Son of God" and the Messiah, but they identify themselves as Jews. In their view Paul, as the "Apostle to the Gentiles", was trying to take the teachings of Jesus and make them relevant and interesting to the polytheistic gentiles. In order for the fledgling Christianity to gain attention in the popular culture, the religion had to obtain certain characteristics common to the other gods and religions of that time.
The official teaching of Christian churches is that "Pauline Christianity" is a tautology, that Paul's organization is the only Christianity; furthermore, many conservative Christian scholars have concluded that Paul did not materially alter the teachings of Jesus. According to a common interpretation of Acts 15, James decreed that Christianity was for the Gentiles and not just for the Jews, and quoted the prophet Amos in support of this position (the Apostolic Decree is found in Acts 15.29,15.20,21.25). According to the New Testament report of it, the council of Jerusalem at which James presided entrusted Paul among others with bringing their decision to Antioch. Thus Christians question the supposed division between Paul and James the Just despite the tension between both groups recorded in Acts (in particular, Acts 21) and in the Pauline Epistles (for example, in 2 Cor 11:5 and 12:11 he calls his opponents eminent apostles, in 1 Cor 7:10–16 he gives his own teachings on divorce: "I say—I and not the Lord"). Romans 11 is cited as evidence of harmony rather than strife between the two parties. In contemporary usage Paul made the division between those circumcised and those not circumcised, for example, in Gal 2:7–9. These terms are generally interpreted to mean Jews and Greeks, who were predominant. However, it is an oversimplification as 1st-century Iudaea Province also had some Hellenized Jews who were no longer circumcised, and there were also some Greeks (called proselytes or Judaizers) and others such as Egyptians, Ethiopians, and Arabs who were.
[edit] References
- Adams, Edward and Horrell, David G. Christianity at Corinth: The Quest for the Pauline Church 2004
- Badenas, Robert. Christ the End of the Law, Romans 10.4 in Pauline Perspective 1985 ISBN 0-905774-93-0 argues that telos is correctly translated as goal, not end, so that Christ is the goal of the Law, end of the law would be antinomianism
- Bockmuehl, Markus N.A. Revelation and Mystery in Ancient Judaism and Pauline Christianity
- Brown, Raymond E. An Introduction to the New Testament 1997 ISBN 0-385-24767-2
- Brown, Raymond E. Does the NT call Jesus God? Theological Studies #26, 1965
- Bruce, Frederick Fyvie. Peter, Stephen, James and John: Studies in Early Non-Pauline Christianity
- Bruce, F.F. Men and movements in the primitive church: Studies in early non-Pauline Christianity
- Dunn, James D.G. The Incident at Antioch (Gal 2:11-18) JSNT 18, 1983, pg 95-122
- Dunn, James D.G. Jesus, Paul and the Law: Studies in Mark and Galatians 1990 ISBN 0-664-25095-5
- Dunn, James D.G. The Theology of Paul's Letter to the Galatians 1993 ISBN 0-521-35953-8
- Dunn, James D.G. The Theology of Paul the Apostle Eerdmans 1997 ISBN 0-8028-3844-8
- Ehrman, Bart D. Lost Christianities: The Battle for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew 2003
- Eisenman, Robert. James the Brother of Jesus : The Key to Unlocking the Secrets of Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls 1997 ISBN 0-670-86932-5
- Elsner, Jas. Imperial Rome and Christian Triumph: Oxford History of Early Non-Pauline Christianity 1998 ISBN 0-19-284201-3
- Gaus, Andy. The Unvarnished New Testament, A new translation from the original Greek free of doctrines and dogmas, ISBN 0-933999-99-2
- Holland, Tom. Contours of Pauline Theology: A Radical New Survey on the Influences of Paul's Biblical Writings 2004 ISBN 1-85792-469-X
- Kim, Seyoon. Paul and the New Perspective : Second Thoughts on the Origin of Paul's Gospel 2001 ISBN 0-8028-4974-1
- Martin, Dale. Slavery as Salvation: The Metaphor of Slavery in Pauline Christianity 1990
- Maccoby, Hyam. The Mythmaker: Paul and the Invention of Christianity 1986 ISBN 0-06-015582-5
- MacDonald, Dennis Ronald. The Legend and the Apostle : The Battle for Paul in Story and Canon Philadelphia: Westminster Press 1983
- Mount, Christopher N. Pauline Christianity: Luke-Acts and the Legacy of Paul 2001
- Pietersen, Lloyd K. Polemic of the Pastorals: A Sociological Examination of the Development of Pauline Christianity 2004
- Sanders, E.P. Jesus and Judaism 1987 ISBN 0-8006-2061-5
- Sanders, E.P. Paul the Law and the Jewish People 1983
- Sanders, E.P. Paul and Palestinian Judaism: A Comparison of Patterns of Religion 1977 ISBN 0-8006-1899-8
- Theissen, Gerd. The Social Setting of Pauline Christianity: Essays on Corinth 2004
- Westerholm, Stephen. Perspectives Old and New on Paul: The "Lutheran" Paul and His Critics 2003 ISBN 0-8028-4809-5
- Wright, N.T. What Saint Paul Really Said: Was Paul of Tarsus the Real Founder of Christianity? 1997 ISBN 0-8028-4445-6
- Ziesler, John A. Pauline Christianity, Revised 1990 ISBN 0-19-826459-3
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Early Christian Writings
- "Paul and the Origins of Christianity"
- PAUL...TRUE FOLLOWER OF JESUS...OR SUBVERTER OF THE FAITH OF JESUS
- Yahshua(Jesus) & Judaism vs. Paul & Christianity
- YAHOWSHUA OR PAUL?
- Church Myths - Church of Christ or Paul?
- Catholic Encylopedia entry on Judaizers
- New Perspective on Paul
