Paul’s writings are naturally cosmopolitan, his being influenced by Hellenistic culture and philosophy as well as Judaism. As a result, Paul’s contributions indelibly and significantly transformed the mode, meaning, and implications of Christ’s message. As Scholz (2013) points out, Paul penned almost half of all New Testament texts: thirteen books. Paul’s theology is “one of the cornerstones upon which the Christian Church is built,” (Zetterholm, 2009, p. 1). What also makes Pauline texts different is that unlike the synoptic gospels, Pauline letters reflect the author’s own theology. Reading and re-reading Pauline theology offers insight into how early Christian theology evolved and was influenced inevitably by historical, cultural, and contextual variables. Moreover, the Pauline letters show how later Christian theologians would revise and reinterpret the teachings of Jesus and his disciples.Most likely, Paul viewed himself as a theologian, one who felt an intense personal responsibility to travel, preach, and teach to people in variable geographical and cultural conditions. It is impossible to fully understand Paul without understanding Paul’s self-conscious relationship with Judaism. One of the main themes of Pauline letters is that Judaism had become outdated, irrelevant,...
21). Paul developed a distinctly “pejorative view” of Judaism and became a self-defined “outsider” to the religion that would have been his main milieu (Scholz, 2013, p. 22). While it has previously been assumed Paul developed his theology as an oppositional one, a sort of polemic against Judaism, the truth is far more nuanced (Zetterholm, 2009). By critiquing Judaism, Paul hoped just as much to revitalize the old faith, as he did to present a new one based on faith in Christ. Paul’s main beliefs centered around faith in Christ being essential to salvation, and to developing a more personal relationship with the divine than Judaism would have allowed in Paul’s time. The central principle of Pauline theology is that faith, not works, is the key to spiritual salvation.
There are several potential challenges to understanding Paul. One is that Paul’s writings may have led to misinterpretations or misguided assumptions about the state of Judaism at the time. As Scholz (2013) points out, faith and grace were not absent from Jewish theology and worldview. The fact that adherence to the law, merit, and works were all part of Jewish custom and tradition…
