Terrence C. Smith, Raymond Alberta Stake
Thanks to the Apostle Paul
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Paul did not invent the epistle (letter) as a literary form. Letters were a common means of communication and instruction in the Near East in antiquity. We have correspondence written by pharaohs in Egypt to instruct and teach others from 2,500 years before Paul’s day. Doubtless similar things were produced wherever there was written language.
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Paul’s letters were written sometime between AD 48 to AD 64. They almost certainly predate the Gospels and Acts and so are the earliest existing writings that we have concerning Jesus’ teachings and the doctrinal and organizational development of the early Church.
Paul’s religious teaching always valued religious experience over scripture, although he was a prodigious quoter of the Hebrew Bible. We miss many of his references because we don’t know the Old Testament well enough, and because he was quoting the Greek translation—the Septuagint. Therefore, the wording of his quotations differs from our English King James’ version of our Old Testament.
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Despite his reverence for scripture for the foundations of his belief, he continually went back to his experience in meeting Jesus and his personal revelations. He had previously been zealous in defending the Torah, but later, after his vision, he particularly defended the One who had given it.
For eighteen centuries, the Christian Church interpreted Paul’s letters as being authentic, that is, having been written or dictated by Paul himself. In the 19th century, secular scholars began to examine Paul’s thirteen letters and to speculate that he had not written all of them. However, most of our Church leaders and scholars generally have felt that Paul himself wrote, or collectively wrote with others, all thirteen epistles bearing his name during his ministry in the mid-first century AD. This would currently be a minority position in most theological colleges.
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Paul’s writing was varied
Paul’s epistles were occasional. That means that they were written for specific occasions. If there had been a problem, then Paul wrote to correct it. If the Church congregation appeared to believe or was acting on something that wasn’t true or was against the cultural norms of the gospel, then Paul wrote to address that issue.
At times Paul wrote parts of some letters to raise money. At other times he was being criticized and he wrote some letters to justify or explain his actions. There were more letters written by Paul than we have, and we do not have any of the letters that came to Paul that prompted his replies. Therefore, what we do have is a fragmentary conversation.
Paul’s letters were authoritative. He wrote as an apostle to members of the Church. Although they were written with the expectation of respect, he would probably have been surprised to know that he was writing scripture. Indeed, it might have horrified him to think that his writings would be in a book valued alongside of Torah one day.
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His letters were, however, meant to be read to the Church generally and obeyed in their context. All Paul’s letters were written to people who had no experience in the Church beyond a few years at most. These branches were all in their infancy. The members of the gentile churches, who were the recipients of most of his letters, had had little experience with a Church community. Most had never attended a synagogue. At best, they might have been members of social clubs, trade guilds, funeral societies, or the army.
Paul wrote all his letters in Greek. They were written to address different situations in varying styles and rhetorical techniques common to his culture. At times, he wrote like a Jewish Torah scholar, which he was. At other times, he wrote like a Greek rhetorician, which he was. He had a foot in each of those two cultural camps.
He spoke, wrote, and read Aramaic and Hebrew and had grown up in Jerusalem under Jewish teachers using those languages. He had also had very good instruction in the Greek language and culture. He wrote Greek very well. To have a language is to possess a culture and all that accompanies it. Paul’s varied themes, images, and ideas reflected both ancient cultures.
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Placing Paul in a cultural context
These cultures, familiar to Paul in antiquity, are two thousand years from ours, and it requires some work on our part to get back to what his intent in writing was. Most readers of Paul have read their own issues, more than Paul’s, into his story. What someone says about Paul likely tells you more about her or him than about Paul. What Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Joseph Smith and others have said about Paul and his writings definitely has told us more about those men than about Paul. They each saw him and interpreted him in the light of their own needs, personalities, times, places, and personal inspiration. They likened him unto themselves.
In Paul’s time, no one read silently to himself as far as we know, and many in the Church likely could not read. These letters would all have been read aloud, with all the rhetorical gestures and flourishes of that time. They were written to be read aloud. It helps to better understand them if we hear them read aloud to us. The church scripture site allows that. You might try it. Or perhaps a flamboyant family member could read a chapter or two aloud to give you more of the flavour of their use in Paul’s time.
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Letters were Paul’s last resort. His preference in ministry was to go himself and deal with issues. His second choice was to send a trusted associate like Timothy or Titus. His last choice was a letter. He would have much preferred to talk with us face to face than to have us read his 2,000-year-old letters.
The letters were meant to be passed around to different congregations (1 Thessalonians 5:27; Colossians 4:16). From what we can tell, their use was largely confined, for the first hundred years or so, to the city or area to which they were sent. Only later were they collected and circulated throughout the wider Church. Corinthians and Romans, because of the density of their doctrinal content, were the two books first sent around more than locally. Christian writers of the second century AD quoted First Corinthians more than any other book, followed by Romans.
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The Pauline epistles became the starting point for the New Testament
Paul’s letters were first collected in the early second century AD into something resembling the order in which we have them now. In AD 110 Ignatius, the bishop in Antioch, mentioned that Paul’s letters had been collected. Their present order was set by about AD 150. The general epistles from other apostles followed as part of the grouping of writings that became our New Testament.
The writings of the Apostle Paul, more than any other author, have shaped Christianity’s understanding of its relationship to Judaism and to the Old Testament in particular. But his greatest role in Christianity has been his teachings on what man must strive to do to be right with God, and what God does for all of us through His persistent grace.
References
. Katharine Doob Sakenfeld, et. al. (ed.) The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, 5 vol., Abingdon Press, 2008.
. Brown, Raymond E., Fitzmeyer, Joseph A., Murphy, Ronald E. (ed.) New Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, 1990.
. Carson, D.A., et. al. (ed.), New International Version: Biblical Theology Study Bible, Zondervan Press, 2011.
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As an enthusiast deeply versed in the subject matter, let's delve into the concepts presented in the provided article discussing the Apostle Paul, his letters, and their historical and cultural context.
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Letters as a Common Means of Communication in Antiquity: The article highlights that letters were a prevalent form of communication and instruction in the Near East in antiquity, well before the time of the Apostle Paul. This assertion aligns with historical evidence of various civilizations, including pharaohs in Egypt, using correspondence for instructive purposes.
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Dating of Paul's Letters: The article mentions that Paul's letters were likely written between AD 48 and AD 64, making them some of the earliest existing writings concerning Jesus' teachings and the development of the early Church. This dating places Paul's letters before the Gospels and Acts, emphasizing their historical significance.
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Paul's Religious Teaching and Use of Scripture: Paul's approach to religious teaching is characterized by valuing religious experience over scripture, despite being well-versed in the Hebrew Bible. The article notes that Paul's references may be missed due to unfamiliarity with the Old Testament and his use of the Greek translation—the Septuagint.
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Authenticity of Paul's Letters: It discusses a historical shift in the 19th century when scholars began speculating that Paul might not have written all thirteen letters attributed to him. The majority view, however, is that these letters were authentic and written by Paul during his ministry in the mid-first century AD.
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Occasional Nature of Paul's Epistles: Paul's letters were occasional, addressing specific situations or issues within the Church. This contextual approach is highlighted, indicating that if a problem arose, Paul would write to correct it or address misunderstandings.
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Variety in Paul's Writing: The article emphasizes the diverse nature of Paul's writing, reflecting different occasions, styles, and rhetorical techniques. Paul wrote in Greek, using elements of both Jewish Torah scholarship and Greek rhetoric, showcasing his dual cultural background.
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Paul's Cultural Context: It discusses the necessity of understanding the cultural context of Paul's time, emphasizing the vast difference between his world and ours. The article cautions against reading one's own issues into Paul's story, noting that interpretations of Paul often reveal more about the interpreter than about Paul himself.
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Use of Paul's Letters in Early Christianity: Paul's letters were authoritative and meant to be read aloud to the Church. The article mentions that they were passed around to different congregations, contributing to a fragmentary conversation. Over time, they were collected and circulated more widely, becoming foundational for the New Testament.
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Formation of the New Testament: The article provides insights into the early collection of Paul's letters in the second century AD and their subsequent arrangement, setting the stage for the formation of the New Testament. Paul's writings, particularly his teachings, played a pivotal role in shaping Christianity's understanding of its relationship to Judaism and the Old Testament.
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References: The article concludes by citing references such as "The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible," the "New Jerome Biblical Commentary," and the "New International Version: Biblical Theology Study Bible," underlining the scholarly basis for the information presented.
In summary, the provided article offers a comprehensive exploration of the historical, cultural, and theological dimensions of the Apostle Paul's letters, shedding light on their significance in the early development of Christianity.