Paul and the New Testament (Part Two)

Part Two of Survey of the New Testament Series 

Khen Lim



Image source: kennethwyatt.com

Introduction

It isn’t too far-fetched to say that the New Testament would have been the poorer for it had it not been for Paul’s major contributions, which amounts to thirteen letters (that we know of). Without them, we’re left with a hole a quarter the size of the whole New Testament. 

Paul’s incredible influence is both enormous and seminal in how we understand Christ and in his works alone, God has, through him, laid down a larger plan not just for Christians and the church all over but also for the entire humanity to learn and embrace.

Formative Years

Paul was born in Tarsus in Cilicia, Asia Minor around 1AD-5AD (Acts 21:39, 22:3) to parents of strong Jewish and Palestinian persuasion. During those days, a person can have more than one name because of citizenry as well as cultural heritage. While Paul was his Hebrew name, Saul was how he was better identified before his encounter on the road to Damascus.

Paul had long considered himself a Hebrew of Hebrews (Phil 3:5, 2 Cor 11:22); in other words, he was very overtly Jewish although he was also profoundly influenced in his formative years in Jerusalem (Acts 22:3) by the emerging Grecian culture. He wasn’t only a citizen of Tarsus but more crucially – and proven very invaluable in his later missionary years (Acts 16:37-39, 22:23-29, 25:10-12) – a citizen of Rome (Acts 22:28).

Saul’s Hebrew ancestry comes from his Benjamite lineage. Born of nationalist parents, it is not surprising that he would be zealous and legalistic at the same time. The Hellenisation effect would have been abhorrent to the Jewry and yet he proved quite adept at Greek and even Latin to some degree. His education was Pharisaic (Acts 26:5, 22:3, Gal 1:14, Phil 3:5-6) and he was tutored by the famous Gamaliel (Acts 22:3) from whom it can be said he inherited the “tradition of the elders” (Mk 7:3).

Paul notably embraced legalism against the rise of Christianity where he was notably infamous for his intimidation and persecution (Acts 22:4a, 26:9-11, Gal 1:13, Phil 3:6). Under Gamaliel, Saul mastered Jewish history, the Psalms and the prophetic works. Through the five to six years of tutelage, he learned to dissect Scripture and developed the ancient art of questioning and answering called ‘diatribe,’ which equipped him with the skill of aggressive debating to either defend or prosecute, an asset that worked very well around his zealotry.

In Acts 5:27-42, Luke records that Saul would have heard Peter’s testimony of the Gospel and of Jesus before the Sanhedrin. He would also have witnessed his tutor/mentor pacifying a raucous Council in his attempt in preventing Peter from being stoned. Yet his hatred for the Christians undergirded his determination to ruthlessly destroy them (Acts 8:3). Acts 7:58 tells us that Saul was there to witness the trial and eventual martyrdom of Stephen by stoning; in actual fact, he wholeheartedly agreed that Stephen should be put to death (Acts 8:1).

Complete About Turn

Image source: pinterest.com

Saul’s persecutory zeal came to a halting end on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-22, 22:6-11, 26:12-15, Gal 1:15-16). There in his astonishing encounter with Christ was the very formation and renewal of Paul’s theology. Some scholars suggest that Saul, in his younger days, would have known Jesus especially when the opportunity arose for him to witness Christ on the cross at Calvary.

Paul’s eventual meeting with an understandably apprehensive Ananias was episodic because it was purely based on instructions given to him by Jesus as to how he would receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:17) from which point he would become the “chosen instrument” to carry His Name before the Gentiles, kings and children of Israel and in doing so, he would suffer for it (vv.15-16).

Following his baptism, Paul regained his sight (v.18) but his road to redemption – and apostolic recognition – was a rocky one (vv.20-22). By 13:9, Saul would become known as Paul. His conversion to Christianity was Christ’s call to him to ministry (Acts 9:15, 22:15, 26:15-18, Gal 1:16) where his dedication would be almost exclusively directed at the Gentiles (Gal 1:16, 1 Thess 2:4, Rom 1:1, 5, 15:15-16).

Sources of Influence

Paul’s Christian influences began to grow as he shaped his ministry towards the Gentiles in the years that followed. Through them, as his authority became more identifiable and accepting to the people, we can also establish the six main sources that had exerted their influence upon him.

1.    Revelation from Christ

Paul’s understanding was not based on any human source (Gal 1:12) but was directly given by Jesus. In other words, no one but Christ revealed to him.

2. Jesus on earth

Paul might not mention a great deal about the events that took place during Jesus’ years of ministry (other than His death and resurrection) but contrary to what we are often led to believe, he certainly relies on His teachings. In that sense, his theology matches the Lord’s teachings.

3. Old Testament

It should not be surprising at all that in being a strict Jew and a Pharisee to boot, Paul’s knowledge of the Old Testament is beyond reproach to a fault. In fact he would quote impeccably from the old texts at least ninety times in all his letters. As a matter of fact, Paul views the Old Testament’s fulfilment of the Christ as an important reference marker. 

4. Greek world

Living amidst the strong Hellenic cultural influence, Paul’s understanding and use of the Greek language is not just evident; he in fact mastered the Greek rhetoric style of argument and made excellent use of it in his articulation and delivery of the Gospel throughout his missionary journeys. 

5. Judaism

Paul’s nascent understanding of his Jewishness in his youth wasn’t just used to persecute Christians. He could, in fact, draw deeply from his Jewish upbringing to appeal to the people he ministered to. From Gamaliel, he would have grasped the Torah from the contemporaneous Judaistic context of his day. 

6. Other Christians

Paul did unearth little nuggets of historical details and hymnal works from others, principally Christians (1 Cor 15:1-5, Gal 1:18, Phil 2:6-11).

Modern-Day Diversions

Whenever someone suggests there is an alternate way to view biblical doctrine, be forewarned – danger lurks. Today, Christian persecution is not only real but they exist in many different ways and the worst form of it comes from within our own kind. The purported ‘New Perspective’ on Paul (label given by James D.G. Dunn in 1982) is nothing but a deceptively-worded assault on Christian doctrinal truths that we must proceed with utmost caution. 

The word ‘new’ hides the fact that these long-standing allegations that modern scholars are levelling at Christianity are of things ancient that have been embraced by Christians for centuries. Despite the stupidity of all this, many modern scholars are bent on believing that the New Perspective is a ‘better’ authoritative statement on Paul. But we can see four myths that the New Perspective parades as ‘principles’:

-         MYTH 1 > Christians had little proper understanding of first-century Judaism

This is where modern biblical scholars make outrageous claims. Firstly they alleged that Paul was not against Jews in promoting a religion of self-righteousness and their subscription of works-based salvation. Secondly they asserted that the Pharisees were not legalistic at all, with E.P. Sanders claiming in 1977 that Martin Luther’s view of Judaism is incorrect. His argument was that legalism hardly characterised Judaism. What Sanders is saying is that the Jews did not have to be obedient to the law. By virtue of this obedience, the Jews were able to maintain their covenantal status, meaning they are already saved.

We know this to be untrue. Scripture tells us specifically that the Pharisees are contrary to these modern claims, saying that “they are full of greed and self-indulgence” (Mt 23:23-25). What modern biblical scholars are saying are, in fact, a complete and direct contradiction to Jesus’ own words, which the Bible can be used to substantiate. Sanders’ purported ‘covenantal nomism’ is nothing but pure nonsense, spouting a radical kneejerk but deeply flawed reaction.

The simple fact is this – when a religion bases itself on obedience to the law, the likelihood that legalism will surface is too evident to ignore even if Sanders is too blind to see it. It is a Jewish inclination to wrongfully believe that through such compliance, God would find favour. If that were the case, the entire Bible would be considered erroneous.

-         MYTH 2 > Paul wasn’t opposed to the Jewish doctrine of salvation

Again modern biblical scholars are saying things that do not exist. Here, they claim that Paul merely disagreed with how the Gentiles were treated. In other words, he had no difficulties accepting the Jewish doctrine of salvation or justification before a holy God. James D.G. Dunn alleges that Paul was only opposed to the Jews limiting salvation to their own nation and in the process, excluded the Gentiles. He goes further by saying that Paul’s disagreement with Judaism’s ethnic exclusivism had nothing to do with legalism.

Not surprisingly, none of this is true. Paul’s letters to the Galatians and Romans made it clear that he was opposed to it. In fact, he condemned the Judaisers’ works-based righteousness and in his revulsion of their attempt to lure the Galatians away from the truth of the Gospel, he said those who subscribe to anything other than the Gospel he had preached should be “eternally condemned” (Gal 1:8-9). In Rom 3:20, he further said that, “no human being will be justified in His sight by works of the law.” It is almost impossible to get the counter-message any clearer than this.

-         MYTH 3 > The Gospel is about Jesus and not personal salvation

In an outrageous twist, modern biblical scholars contend that Paul does not support the fact that the Gospel is about individual redemption from the condemnation of sin but instead, it is solely about Jesus.

Subtle lies like this one is potentially very dangerous because partial truth is still not truth at all. While the Gospel is most assuredly centred on Christ, we must also be aware that without being empowered by the Holy Spirit, it is not possible to make Christ his life and vice-versa. Furthermore unless we profess to be cleansed of sin by Christ and only Christ Himself, the Holy Spirit will yet dwell in us.

The traditional Christian understanding is perfected around Christ as our Saviour whose promise of salvation is shaped in His atonement for our sins through His very sacrifice on the cross for us. The Gospel, in its Greek origins, means ‘Good News’ (euanggelion) specifically because “it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek” (Rom 1:16).

-         MYTH 4 > Justification by faith is rejected as Christian doctrine

Being a non-negotiable theology in Christianity, this opposition is the most serious and dangerous. Modern biblical scholars now claim that Paul did not refer to personal and individual justification in which a guilty sinner is declared righteous purely on his faith in Christ. Instead they want us to believe that Paul actually meant to say how one could tell if a person was ‘a member of the covenant family.’

One of these scholars, N.T. Wright, said, “Justification in the first century was not about how someone might establish a relationship with God. It was about God’s eschatological definition, both future and present, of who was in fact, a member of His people.”

People like N.T. Wright purport to be biblical experts but they are the ones who tell us that we can still be Christians and embrace what they teach, which for all intents and purposes, go against the grain of Christ’s teachings. The contemptuous distortion of true biblical teaching on justification by faith is the overarching basis of Wright’s argument and that goes straight to the heart and soul of the true Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Cor 5:21).

In Paul the Apostle, we have someone whose theology is so far-reaching and influential that almost 2,000 years later, he is still provoking enemies of the cross who are now counter-proposing the ‘New Perspective’ in yet another attempt to dissuade followers of Christ from the real testimony of Scripture. What we have from modern biblical scholars is nothing but a completely unbiblical piece of work bordering on heresy.

If Paul were to be still alive today, he will certainly know the potential of Christians being led astray and will no doubt warn us that there are serious consequences for those who subscribe to this piece of work. And he will be correct because the ‘New Perspective’ wants to make fetching claims that Christians have been blindsided by the way we ‘wrongly’ understood Paul’s teachings. That is another way of saying that believers of Christ must now stand corrected and the ‘New Perspective’ represents just such an effort.

If there ever was proof of arrogance by the modern biblical scholars, this one would qualify easily – to say what they have mooted is not only misleading but in the strongest expressions I can think possible, it is audacious, unscrupulous and egotistical for them to even assume that they know Paul better than any of the Early Church Fathers who, two-thousand years ago, would have been closer to the action on the ground to understand the apostle himself better.

Under calmer pretensions, may I then suggest that the ‘New Perspective on Paul’ is nothing but a complete failure in properly interpreting the key Pauline texts in the New Testament. No other competing schools of thought could be so far from the truth than what the modern biblical scholars have proposed. The Pauline distinction of finding truth in the antitheses between faith and works remains unblemished as the means of seeking and finding God’s salvation and nothing that the clueless Sanders and company have said will change that.

CHRONOLOGY OF PAUL’S NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Image source: fellowshipoftheminds.com

Paul’s Missionary Career and Timeline

Year (approx.)	Event	Scripture Reference
34AD to 35AD	Paul experiences conversion on the road to Damascus Note: Can possibly be earlier	Acts 9:3-6, 22:6-11, 26:12-15, Gal 1:15-16
35AD to 37AD	Paul’s ministry begins in Damascus and the Nabatean Peninsula in Arabia	Acts 9:19b-25, 2 Cor 11:32-33, Gal 1:17
37AD	Paul visits Jerusalem for the first time since his conversion	Acts 9:26-30, Gal 1:18-19
37AD to 45AD	Paul ministers in Tarsus and Cilicia	Gal 1:21-24
45, 46 or 47AD	Paul visits Jerusalem for the second time, in relation to famine relief	Acts 11:27-30, Gal 2:1
46AD to 47AD (or 47AD to 48AD)	Paul commences his first missionary journey	Acts 13:1-14:28
	Paul and Barnabas leaves the church in Antioch, Syria to evangelise in the town synagogues but when they face mass rejection from the Jews, they finally recognise God’s call to witness to the Gentiles. In this journey, Paul faces his first ironic turnabout when the persecutor of Christians become the persecuted. Those who rejected his message of salvation now try to stop and bring harm to him. In one city, Paul was stoned and left for dead but God spares him and throughout all his trials, beatings and incarcerations, he found enough strength to continue preaching Christ. It was also in his first missionary journey that the controversy over who could and couldn’t be saved as well as how to be saved became a confronting topic. Note: It was around this time (46AD-48AD) that the Book of James was also written
48AD to 49AD	Paul attends the Apostolic Council in Jerusalem	Acts 15:1-29
	Between this and his second missionary journey, Paul took part in a conference in Jerusalem in which the subject of salvation was discussed and it was then that the consensus was reached in which the Gentiles could receive Jesus without having to submit to Jewish traditions and customs. Note: In 48AD, Paul completed his letter to the Galatians, that is, just before the Jerusalem Council convened.
48AD (possibly 49AD to 51AD)	Paul commences his second missionary journey	Acts 15:36-18:22, 2 Cor 11:7-9, Phil 4:15-16, 1 Thess 2:2, 3:1
	Following another stay in Antioch where he ended up building a church there, Paul is now ready for his second missionary journey in which he asks Barnabas to accompany him. Together they revisit the churches from his first missionary journey. However a disagreement ensues between them and they part ways. God, however, turns the dispute into a positive by now producing not one but two missionary teams. While Barnabas travels to Cyprus with John Mark instead, Paul goes on his way with Silas to Asia Minor but first, God redirects them to Greece in order to introduce the Gospel to the gateway of Europe. In the city of Philippi, they are beaten and gaoled but rejoicing in suffering for Christ, they sing while incarcerated. Suddenly a divinely-created earthquake occurs, forcing the doors to their cell to open, enabling Paul and Silas to be freed from their chains. Just as the stunned gaoler and his family believed in Christ, the government officials on the other hand pleaded with Paul and Silas to just leave them alone. Travelling on to Athens, Paul the evangelist finds an inquisitive audience in Mars Hill. There he proclaimed the One and only True God whom they can now know of and worship to without the need for man-made idols. While some sneer, others believe. Paul teaches that those who believe in Christ and established churches among them. In his second missionary journey, Paul did establish numerous discipleships from various backgrounds and among them was a young man called Timothy, a businesswoman by the name of Lydia and a married couple, Aquila and Priscilla. Note: In 50AD, Paul completes his first letter to the Thessalonians. Either in the later part of the same year or early the following year, he completes his second letter to the same church in Thessaloniki.
52AD to 57AD	Paul commences his third missionary journey	Acts 18:23-21:15, 1 Cor 16:8, 2 Cor 2:12-13
	Paul reaches out to Asia Minor in his third and final missionary journey with God affirming his messages with bouts of miracles for all to see. Acts 20:7-12 records Paul in a place called Troas where he preaches an exceptionally long sermon. Incredulously, there is a young man seated atop an upstairs window sill who dozes off and falls off the ledge. He is thought to be dead as a result but Paul revives him. In Ephesus, those who once were partakers of the occult now become new believers and they burn their ‘magic’ books but this stirs the ire of the idol-makers who views Paul as a troublemaker because they are now displeased with their loss of income on account of this One True God and His Son. One silversmith by the name of Demetrius decides to stir trouble in honour of their goddess Diana and a widespread riot ensues. Even as trials and tribulations follow Paul at every turn and corner in his missionary journeys, the effect was that such persecution and opposition undergirded the true Christian spirit and helped to spread the Gospel. As Paul nears the end of his final missionary journey, he becomes aware of the repercussions to come. Knowing of his impending imprisonment and possible martyrdom, he preaches his final words to the church at Ephesus where he displays the full spectrum of his devotion to Christ, saying, “You yourself know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials, which came upon me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house, solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me. But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the Gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:18-24). Note: Some have questioned if there were was a fourth missionary journey for Paul. While early Christian history appears to support such an idea, we have no clear or distinctive evidence in Scripture for one. If it were to have occurred, it would have been immediately after the close of the Book of Acts. Note: In this time period, Paul completes his letters to the church of Corinth. His first letter is now lost, which inevitably made his second letter, written in early 55AD, into what we now called First Corinthians. A year later (56AD), he wrote his second to them. Another further year on (57AD), he wrote the letter to the Romans.
57AD to 59AD	Paul is arrested in Jerusalem and imprisoned in Caesarea	Acts 21:15-26:32
	Note: Around mid-50AD, Paul completed his letter to the Philippians. If it is true that he wrote the letter from Ephesus, then it’s likelier that the date was early 60AD.
59AD to 60AD	Paul voyages to Rome	Acts 27:1-28:10
	Note: Between late 50AD and 60AD, Mark wrote and completed his Gospel.
60AD to 62AD	Paul is arrested and imprisoned in Rome for the first time	Acts 28:11-31
	Note: It was this period (around early 60AD) that he completed his letters to Philemon, the Colossians and Ephesians, making up three of the four-set Prison Epistles.
62AD to 64AD	According to writings by the Early Church Father, Paul was ministering in the East
	Note: In the early part of this period (around 62AD-63AD), the first of Peter’s letters was completed (1 Peter).
64AD to 65AD	Paul is arraigned and imprisoned in Rome for the second time	2 Tim 4:6-8
	Note: This was a busy period for Paul but it was also the final end for him. From early to the middle of 60AD, he completed his Pastoral Epistles (letter to Titus including the first and second to Timothy). Around that same time, the Book of Acts was finished. From middle to late 60AD, we saw the completion of Jude’s letter as well as Luke’s Gospel. Shortly before 65AD, Peter finished his second letter (2 Peter). Just before 70AD came Paul’s letter to the Hebrews and the completion of Matthew’s Gospel. Well after his martyrdom, the Apostle John finished his Gospel around 80AD to 85AD. Five years later came his three letters (1,2,3 John) before the Book of Revelation came in 95AD to 96AD.

Part Three (Book of Acts) will appear on December 23 2015.