NOTE: These are a series of notes from students in Paul Kraft's Christian Origins course. They are not in logical order, and can be repetitive. Read through them and pick out ideas and facts that you need for your presentation.
Who is Paul?
Paul: lived when exactly? Most likely wrote most of his material between 30 and 75 CE.
Paul becomes a missionary and sees the expansion of the Christian world from Palestine north and west (counterclockwise) to Rome (and beyond?)
Earliest preserved "Christian" materials = letters of Paul (i.e. he was writing before Gospels were written).
He comes to believe Jesus is the expected Jewish "Messiah" (not a "conversion"; continued to be a Jew throughout his life)
Paul goes around preaching the end-times message, from Jerusalem north and west through Syria, Asia Minor, Greece, to at least Rome (if not beyond to Spain and Britain)
Paul refers to his experience of joining the Jesus movement as a "call"; he was called to be an apostle (commissioned representative); at that time "apostle" had not taken on the specific meaning of one of the twelve earliest followers of Jesus, but referred more generally to a person "sent out" for a particular reason; Paul consistently uses "apostle" of himself, as the "apostle to the Gentiles"
After Paul travels to Antioch, Asia Minor (Galatia) and Greece (Corinth); we lose sight of him planning to go to Rome. There are traditions that Paul traveled to Spain and even some that say he reached Britain, but these are problematic. According to tradition, Paul was executed (beheaded) in Rome. There is no suggestion that Paul traveled in Egypt or North Africa, but he is said to be in contact with some people from those regions (see Acts).
Paul’s Message: End has begun
"Eschatology" is the study of the "end times" (of the world, of one's own life). It is very important, because Paul thought that he was living in the end times. For Paul, Jesus is God's agent for the end times. Paul expected that Jesus would return at any moment -- that the end was imminent.
Paul's message: end has begun (eschatological, apocalyptic); he uses economic language (resurrection = downpayment); he sees himself as living by appropriating Jesus' resurrection (life "in Christ") but always in danger of being pulled back by the flesh (place where sin operates); says that the "body of Christ" is the collective church living by the spirit of God/Christ
*Paul takes his stance on Christianity because he thinks the end times have already begun, so he was living in a time of fulfillment where people were looking towards God and didn't need a cultural filter (i.e. The Law), only faith to reach God
*Paul had an experience that told him that his previous stance on Jesus (i.e. his persecution of Jesus-followers) was wrong
*Paul believed that Jesus came to earth because people couldn't be rescued from the power of sin, Jesus provided a way of overcoming sin:
* Adam & Eve fell from perfection, this resulted in the loss of the image of God, humans also left with death as consequence
* In Romans->Adam sins and he dies, death was a punishment for sin, and everyone else after Adam dies, Jesus is resurrected, which is a hope for the rest of us for eternal life, we are now freed from death
Paul still sees himself as Jewish. It is not until later in the first century that Christianity in general comes to view itself, and to be viewed, as an identifiable separate religion from its Jewish origins, but even this does not happen all at once for everyone everywhere.
It is probably misleading to attribute "second coming" (of Jesus) language to Paul, who thinks of a continuity from Jesus death/resurrection to the resurrection of Jesus' followers. "Day of the Lord" is shorthand for Judgement Day. Some people felt that the end is already coming or has started to come.
parousia = presence (of Jesus); indicates the hope and expectation that Jesus will soon be present with his followers again
In the Book of Acts (NOT written by Paul), the author attempts to compensate for the delay of the parousia. It was probably written in the late 80's, or possibly even later. The author is aware of eschatological hopes, but does not have the same intensity as we find in Paul.
David ~1000 BC (see Romans 1.3)
Moses ~1300 BC (e.g. 1 Corinthians 10.2) Abraham ~1700 BC (e.g. Galatians 3.6)
Who was David? David was a warrior king, supposed author of some psalms, founder of a dynasty that lasted in Judah until 587/586 BCE.
The Messiah Concept
Much debate surrounded (and still does surround) who the Messiah was supposed to be. Was he to be a political/military deliverer? A priestly/religious figure? an "otherworldly" spiritual savior -- as Jesus came to be interpreted. We are led to believe, rightly or wrongly, that most Jews seemed to favor the messiah as a "second David," one who would lead them to political salvation. Although much debate surrounds Paul's "call/conversion," it is clear that he had some sort of experience that convinced him Jesus was the expected messiah.
Different groups and individuals held different views about messiah. He may have been expected to be a military or political figure. Emperors and popular figures were sometimes called "messiah" (anointed by God). Some Jewish groups even expected multiple messiahs (e.g. priestly and political).
Judaism in Paul's Day
Synagogues, brought about by the diaspora, existed in Paul's day. They served as houses of prayer and gathering places for Jews. The one "official" Temple in Jerusalem, on the other hand, was marked by priests, sacrifices, and the calendar of centralized observances. Of the many groups associated with these institutions, we are led to believe that Sadducees were especially tied to the Temple, while Pharisees were more "popular" in their goal to uphold the law while expecting God to act eschatologically in history. This leads to another question: was Paul associated with one of these two groups? If so, which one? It seems likely that Paul would be considered a Pharisee if anything -- as is explicitly claimed in Philippians and Acts. He certainly felt a concern for the law and for eschatology, and this perhaps explains his early animosity toward the claim that the crucified Jesus was Messiah. More on Paul and the Law later...
Larger Questions
What is Paul's relationship to both Jesus and Christianity? Prof. Kraft
mentioned the "Last Temptation of Christ," in which Paul tells Jesus he
doesn't need him for the religion/message he brings. Is this true? Is Jesus
as "Christ" the basis for a religion, but Paul the actual founder of the
Church? Who is Paul in Christianity? Some call him THE Church father, while
others label him as the anti-Christ, perverting Jesus' message through
his establishment of the separate, "new" religion. This is a question that
needs to be considered when studying Paul.
Paul and Jewish Law
Paul repeatedly attacks the idea of blindly following Jewish Law – e.g. "outward" signs of devotion.
Why does he do this? What does he mean by it?
For Paul, the law is still important, but not as a means of obtaining life before God. For Paul the law is internalized. This is related to Paul's idea of union with the messiah (aka life "in the Spirit").
Paul vs. the Law:
Paul does not believe that keeping the Law is wrong, but it is unnecessary. The Law served as guidance before the arrival of Jesus. The law affords no special privilege to its adherents (other than a chronological superiority of Jews before Gentiles during the apocalypse?) and believing otherwise is wrong.
Paul did not think of "Christianity" as something distinct from Judaism. Christianity was the eschatological realization or form of his Judaic heritage. The coming of the messiah transforms Judaism. The NT conflict between "Christian" Jews and "non-Christian" Jews is an in-house conflict, not a battle between two different religions.
Paul’s notion of how Messiah ushers in Salvation:
History of Salvation:-Start: glory, perfection-first Adam: disobedience, sin -bondage, slavery; Torah (law) until closer understanding -last Adam (Jesus); possibility-Restoration: Jesus' resurrection -obedience, suffering of Jesus' body (his followers)-End: perfection, glory
For history of salvation ideas see chart "Paul’s Eschatological Perspective"
The chart is on-line at: