• Those sources that were written closest to the time when Jesus himself lived are probably the most accurate.

• Although the gospels claim to tell of the life of Jesus, Paul's letters were probably written before them.
• This means that any information that Paul has to tell us about Jesus must be considered first.
• The problem is that, although Paul is the best represented writer in the NT, he tells us the least about Jesus.
• There are two reasons for this:
  • Paul apparently never knew the "pre-Easter" Jesus- only the resurrected Christ.
  • He apparently taught those whom he evangelized about Jesus when he was with them- and in his letters he assumes that the reader is already familiar with this information. 

• Thirteen of these bear Paul's name, and   
• LtHebrews has long been associated with Paul.
• Scholars today debate whether or not all of these letters were in fact written by the apostle himself, and
  • only seven are generally accepted as from Paul's own hand;     
  • the rest are believed to be from a "Pauline school," of Paul's devoted followers who sought to apply the apostle's teachings to new and changing situations in the developing church.

• The letters in the NT that bear his name and
• The account of his missionary activity found in the Acts of the Apostles.

• probably because it was not uncommon for Jews in the Diaspora to have two names:
  • one for Jewish circles (Saul) and
  • another for Hellenistic circles, and Paul was a common Roman name.

• 5-15 AD: Birth  
• 30 AD: Arrival in Jerusalem
• 36-34  AD: Encounter with the Risen Lord       
• 37-39AD: Visit to Jerusalem
• 45-49 AD: First Missionary Journey
• 49-52 AD: Second Missionary Journey
• 53-58 AD: Third Missionary Journey  
• 61-63 AD: Arrival in Rome
• 64-68 AD: Death

• between 50-64 AD, roughly 15-20 years after his encounter with the Risen Lord.
• The seven undisputed letters of Paul in the New Testament are thought to be the earliest written books of the NT, and
• therefore the books closest to the time when Jesus actually lived.

• Born in Tarsus, located in Asia Minor
• From the tribe of Benjamin, and named after a famous Benjaminite, King Saul.
• He was a Pharisee (Phil 3:5), righteous under the law (Phil 3:6), advanced in Judaism beyond many of his own age (Gal 2:14), and zealous for the traditions of his fathers (Gal 2:14).
• He was a tentmaker by trade (Acts 18:3) and continued to do this throughout his missionary activity.
• He was present at the stoning of Stephen (the first Christian martyr, Acts 7:58) and approved of it.
• Paul was probably fluent in at least three languages:
  • Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic.
  • In his letters, he most often cites the Septuagint.
• His letters reflect both a classical Greek education and rabbinic training.
• At some point in his life, Paul had an experience of the presence of Jesus after his resurrection that caused him to change from a life of persecuting Jesus' followers out of zeal for Judaism to spreading the message of the very people he had persecuted.
  • As a result, Paul began several missionary journeys during which he spread the Christian message or Kerygma throughout the Roman Empire, to both Jews and gentiles alike, but with far greater success among gentiles.
• Paul established many church communities throughout the empire based on his interpretation of the gospel message, and
• he sought to preserve and maintain these communities even in his absence through the writing of letters carried by his most trusted and respected companions.

• Although there may have been others who preached the gospel to gentiles before him, Paul was able to form entire communities of gentile believers with little or no attachment to Judaism.

• letters addressed to communities are first, arranged according to length from longest to shortest.
• letters addressed to individuals are next, again from longest to shortest.

• they address specific situations at specific times, and they are written for specific audiences.
• They often assume of their audience a certain amount of shared background information. They are a little like listening in on one side of a telephone conversation:
  • We don't know exactly what the other person has said to elicit the response we find in the letter.
  • To correctly understand a given letter, we need to know, as much as possible, the circumstances in which the letter was composed.
  • Because Paul's letters are occasional, they do not contain everything he believed or thought, and they are not "systematic."
  • As will become clear from a reading of the letters, Paul apparently believed that Jesus would return within his own lifetime. 
    • He never expected his letters to be collected, bound together, and published to be read in churches other than those to whom they were written- 
    • and he certainly never expected such a process to continue for 2000 years.

• 1 Thessalonians 50-51
• 1&2 Corinthians  54-57
• Galatians 54-55 or 57
• Philippians  50-60
• Philemon  55-63
• Romans   57-58

A Summary of Paul's Thought & Importance

• It is clear from Paul's letters that to him, the supreme significance of Jesus was found in his death and resurrection.

  • In Jesus' death, Paul saw the ultimate obedience to God's will, and a sacrifice that had been foreshadowed in the "songs of the suffering servant" found in the later chapters of the book of Isaiah. 

  • This obedience had counteracted the disobedience of the first man, Adam, and had neutralized the harmful effects of Adam's sin on the rest of humanity. 

  • Adam, through his disobedience, had allowed sin to enter the world; Jesus, through his obedience, had allowed grace to enter the world. 

  • The entry of grace into the world defeated the power of death, and Jesus' sacrifice "took away" our sins.

• In Jesus' resurrection, Paul saw a defining moment in history that opened up the possibility for humans to be judged righteous by God and therefore participate fully in salvation. 

  • To take advantage of this opportunity required only one thing on our part: faith, just as Abraham had shown faith and had it "credited to him as righteousness."

• According to Paul, God made a promise to Abraham that through him all the nations shall be blessed. 

  • "The nations" are those who, like Abraham, have faith, and the "blessing" is an opportunity to be judged righteous by faith just like Abraham.

• What is righteousness? For Paul, it is "right relationship with God." 

  • It is a closeness to God that comes from trying to be as much like God, or as much like God wants us to be, as possible. 

  • And yet, at the same time, it is something earned or achieved, like an acquittal or a verdict of innocence. 

  • Paul seems to blend Greek and Jewish notions of righteousness when he uses the term.

• The Letters of Paul
• Paul's Worldview

• The Journeys of Paul
• Map of Corinth, ca. 150 AD
• Paul's Aegean Mission, from PBS's "From Jesus to Christ" Site
• Paul's First and Second Journeys