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Theology of Paul

Saint Paul (originally named Saul of Tarsus) was one of the most influential individuals in the Christian world and a person who is largely responsible for how society perceives Christianity. Even with the fact that he was not one of the original Twelve Apostles, his involvement in taking Jesus' words further increased his role as an imposing Christian figure. Paul's letters to individuals and churches were meant to provide these bodies with more information concerning Christianity. The Apostle likely considered that it was essential for the world to gain a complex understanding of the religion and thus wanted to avoid a series of errors that people experienced as a result of having problems comprehending each doctrine.

Paul considered that many of the churches he wrote to tended to wander away from the actual ideas they were supposed to promote. As a consequence, he wanted to play an active role in getting these institutions to concentrate on putting across Christ's message effectively. Not all of his letters were meant to correct people and institutions concerning their failure to comprehend Christian teachings, as some were actually meant to praise such people on account of their thorough involvement in promoting Christianity. Many of his letters were intended to encourage individuals in order for them to be able to improve their sermons and to continue to give them in environments that were hostile with regard to the religion.

II. Paul's life

a. Early life

While there is little information in Acts to describe Paul, his letters compensate for this lack of information and paint a complex picture of his persona. He was an individual who managed to overcome his physical problems with the purpose of dedicating his life to Christianity. To a certain degree, he can be paralleled to Jesus as being one of the most important individuals in the Christian world (Moore 1).

Paul was born in Tarsus in a Jewish family and moved to Jerusalem during his teen years, this period also being important on his personal development as a consequence of how he started to be recognized for his appreciation of Jewish religious values. What is especially surprising about Paul is his initial tendency to reprimand Christian believers. "He took charge of Stephen's stoning -- the first Christian martyr (Acts 7:58), and subsequently he became the chief persecutor of the early church." (Moore 1) His involvement in persecuting individuals whom he considered to be against Judaism had a strong effect on the early development of the Christian church, as he was known to invade homes and to imprison women and men as a result of expressing interest in Christian belief.

b. Conversion

Paul saw reform in his life at the time when he experienced a spiritual episode which led him to change his perspective on religion. Ananias' preaching of God and Christian ideas further shaped his understanding of the world and led to his baptism. He then (around 35 A.D.) inaugurated a ministry as Apostle of the Gentiles, this concept being visible in Romans 11:13-14 -- "I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them"

Paul concentrated on promoting God's word after being baptized, but his desire to do so in areas where he would be provided with criticism on account of his actions reflected negatively on his development. He travelled to Arabia and to Damascus only to be persecuted and chased because he planted churches and irritated leaders. His presence in Jerusalem did not provide a better treatment, and, as shown in Acts 9:26-27, the Apostles did not want to assist him in any way. Even Jesus criticized Paul and ordered for him to be taken out of the city on account of associating him with a plot to murder him. Barnabas was the only person in Jerusalem who felt that Paul had a positive effect on Christianity and was able to complexly understand the religion's main principles.

c. Ministry

It was Barnabas who found Paul in 44 A.D. And encouraged him to take up work at Antioch. In spite of his cooperation with the church, he, as the Apostles of Antioch, were removed from the institution as a result of the Holy Spirit intervening and urging church leader to take this action. It was then that his name was changed from Saul to Paul, as his companions believed that this would positively affect the way that Gentiles perceived him (Acts 13:9).

Paul's missionary tours can be divided into four separate periods, as he travelled to Cyprus and Asia Minor (45-48 A.D.), to Macedonia and Achaia (49-51 A.D.), to Ephesus (52-56 A.D.), and to Spain, Palestine, and Rome during the last years of his life. Numerous notable Christian figures joined him on his journeys, among the most important being Silas, Timothy, and Luke. He was imprisoned around 67 A.D. And then Nero ordered his beheading outside of Rome (Moore 1-2).

Paul's journeys are characterized by a series of actions he performed with the purpose of being as effective as possible:

1. He got involved in synagogues and consequent to being rejected moved on to the more general Gentile community.

2. He installed churches by first relating to the death and resurrection of Christ and then attempted to influence elders in the communities he was visiting to join him in promoting his agenda.

3. He focused on locations that were visited by a large number of individuals (cities like Ephesus, Athens, Corinth, and Rome were among his main choices when considering places to preach).

4. He always left someone in charge of preaching once he left a place.

5. He did not accept money from churches at the time when he installed them, as he relied on funds coming in from churches he planted in the past and then expected the newly established churches to assist him in future endeavors.

6. He concentrated on maintaining his self-confidence in spite of the fact that his actions were often criticized. He endured beatings, he was imprisoned, and he was harshly penalized on account of his beliefs. "After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks." (Acts 16:23-24)

III. Paul's letters

Paul's letter to the Romans is the most extensive document that provides information on the apostle's life and on his principal interests when addressing other Christians. This letter relates to how Christian faith affects non-believers, with Jewish persons in particular being addressed at this point. What is intriguing at this point is that he did not attempt to criticize Jewish belief, as he simply emphasized some of Christianity's main ideas. The apostle emphasizes the importance of the Law of Moses but then proceeds to show how salvation can only come through Christ. Faith and grace were concepts that were not available through Judaism and thus needed to be addressed by adopting a Christian lifestyle and belief.

As a result of acknowledging the degree to which the Christian population could negatively affect its own image, Paul addressed gentile Christians in particular. The letter to the Romans attempted to have gentile Christians understand that they needed to express acceptance toward Jews and toward Israel.

For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! (Romans 9:3-5)

He thus adopted an attitude that was directed at getting Jewish people to appreciate Christian teachings as a result of making parallels between their own faith and Christianity. Paul probably realized that taking on hostile behaviors would end badly both for him and for the people he was trying to convert. As a consequence, he preferred to improve relations between Christians and Jews while influencing the latter to accept how it was in their best interest to appreciate Christian teachings (Romans 9:8).

While Paul developed a particular interest in Christianity during the second part of his life, he was largely influenced by Roman ideas throughout his existence. His letters reflect numerous principles characteristic to the Roman Empire. "Paul's letters were all written within the broad context of the Roman Empire, where the chief cultural feature was Hellenism, Greek culture as spread outside the Greek mainland." (Freed 4) Paul's experience in dealing with both Roman and Jewish ideas assisted him greatly in devising letters that would be more rational when seen from the perspective of their receivers.

Despite his tendency to relate to individuals outside of the communities that he wrote letters to, Paul mostly intended to improve his connections with these respective communities rather than with individuals living outside of them. His letters were not meant to address larger societies, as he was primarily concerned about groups of converts. By improving his relationship with these groups he would contribute to cementing Christian ideas in place and would influence converts in getting others to convert instead of attempting to reach out to non-Christians himself.

Witchcraft generated much controversy in the society contemporary to Paul. While the Old Testament harshly criticized such behaviors, there were numerous Jewish magicians throughout the Roman Empire and the masses seemed to appreciate their actions. In an attempt to discourage these behaviors, Paul got actively involved in fighting the practice. "Hence we find St. Paul classifying "witchcraft" among the works of the flesh (Gal. v. 20), and solemnly warning the Galatians, both in words and by his letters, that they who practice it cannot inherit the kingdom of God." (Conybeare 23)

Paul's letter to the Galatians was not the only one where he employed a hostile attitude in an attempt to express his point-of-view. His first and second letters to Corinthians demonstrate his understanding of the situation in Corinth and the way that he devised each of his letters in order to address the exact circumstances of the individuals he was addressing.

First Corinthians emphasizes the importance of unity as a key to success, as Paul was concerned with regard to how Christians in Corinth had a great deal of divergences about the behaviors that they needed to employ toward God.

In addition to providing teachings that would assist Christian Corinthians in being able to direct their strength toward serving God rather than fighting each-other, Paul was unhesitant about putting across a castigating attitude himself. One of the apostle's main concerns in this situation involved the presence of sexually immoral practices within the church. "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, "The two will become one flesh." But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit." (1 Corinthians 6:15-17)

Paul's letter to Philippians is distinguished through its most intimate nature. It is visible that he had a stronger relationship with this community and that he wanted to provide them with the opportunity to understand his love for them once more. The letter actually highlights his appreciation toward them on account of their "partnership in the gospel from the first day until now." (Philippians 1:5) The apostle's decision to write this text probably came as a result of him wanting to stay close to a community that he had a special relationship with. He wanted to share his happiness with them through the text and to eventually experience further success in reinforcing Christian communities, both the one in Rome and the one in Philippi.

In spite of the fact that he wrote the letter while being imprisoned in Rome, Paul felt optimistic with regard to his condition and actually seemed to want to simply reassure Philippians concerning the love he had for them. The apostle's letter was intended to inform Philippians about how his fate seemed to take a turn for the better. His trial had apparently fared well and he was about to be released, thus meaning that he could continue to have people in Rome better acquainted with the gospel (Lenski 812).

IV. How the contemporary church should read and interpret Paul's writings

An interesting concept about Paul's letters is that they are not necessarily connected to one-another. He produced them depending on the circumstances of the individuals to whom he was writing to. Many of them represent a complex set of ideas meant to address individuals in a diverse range of situations. Upon analyzing his letters, it is thus important to focus on also analyzing the condition of the individuals he was sending them to. Each letter needs to be understood in accordance with the situation "We must also try to understand Paul's ideas in the contexts in which they appear, not in the light of our own religious training or theological convictions." (Freed 5)