Posted on 11/23/2002 7:03:31 AM PST by Loyalist
Michelangelo painted The Conversion of Saul (as Paul was referred to initially), showing the apostle converting to Christianity while en route to Damascus. Prior to that, Paul denounced followers of Jesus.
Regarded today as Christianity's greatest missionary and the premier apostle whose writings in the New Testament promulgated Jesus' message, St. Paul would be "perplexed and dismayed" at the role ascribed to him as one of the principal founders of a new religion, says an American theologian.
"Paul would not be happy with this characterization -- he doesn't even use the term 'Christian,' " said Dan Schowalter, a professor of religion and classics at Carthage College, based in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Mr. Schowalter argues that Paul, a Jew, believed that Christ embodied the "fulfilment of Judaism" and was the genuine messiah of Jewish prophecy.
Yesterday, Mr. Schowalter delivered a lecture entitled, Paul was not a Christian, at the annual meeting of the Washington, D.C.-based Biblical Archaeology Society held in Toronto.
In an interview, he said while "select" teachings contained in Paul's New Testament epistles served as the "foundation" of the Christian Church, Paul's "intention was not to form a new religion" at the expense of Judaism.
"If we use the term 'Christian' to refer to Paul or any believer in the first century, we're oversimplifying and applying an anachronistic term to that situation," explained Mr. Schowalter.
However, he added that during Paul's lifetime, most Jews would not have regarded him as one of them as soon as he began advocating Jesus as their messiah and including Gentiles in the Jesus movement without them first becoming Jews.
Meantime, in the Book of Acts, Saul (as Paul was referred to initially) is depicted as a persecutor of the followers of the early Church who undergoes a conversion on the road to Damascus when he then becomes known as Paul. That scriptural reference to Paul's "spectacular experience" is intended to illustrate "how Christianity leaves behind Judaism and becomes a movement among the Gentiles," explained Mr. Schowalter, who added that Paul never referred to himself as someone who had been converted from one religion to another.
Mr. Schowalter said that in Paul's Letter to the Galatians, he describes how he underwent a revelation "and uses language reminiscent of the prophets Jeremiah and Isaiah and says that God gave him this vision that 'I might preach the Good News about him to the Gentiles.' Within the context of Judaism and the prophets, Paul sees himself being called to a new prophetic message that Jesus is the messiah, which opens up the possibility of people from outside Judaism to be among the people of God."
Paul only "modified" his Judaism but did not reject it, said Mr. Schowalter, a doctoral graduate in theology from Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
"He uses imagery from Judaism throughout his writings and there's compelling evidence that he continues to want to make a connection between his new views and his ancestry."
Other scholars have interpreted Paul's role in religious history along the same lines.
Internationally renowned Pauline expert, Calvin Roetzel, for one has argued that Paul was not only born a Jew, but also lived and died as one.
"Paul's intention was not to found a new church, but rather to take this message that he saw growing out of Judaism and share that with the world," Mr. Schowalter said.
"Historically, the problem is that once that message got going and incorporated more and more Gentiles, it was no longer something that could be maintained as part of Judaism and became something else."
He explained that Paul would have witnessed the emergence of the early Christian Church. In the 11th chapter of his Letter to the Romans, Paul appears to discourage the establishment of a new and separate religious entity when he uses the metaphor of an olive tree to warn the Gentiles not to be arrogant in their newfound belief in Jesus when comparing themselves to the non-believing Jews.
"If some of the branches were cut off and you, a branch of the wild olive tree, have been grafted in among the others and have come to share in the rich root of the olive, do not boast against the branches. If you do boast, remember that you do not support the root; the root supports you."
The view of Paul's continuing adherence to Judaism suggests a new way of looking at the historical figure whose teachings he advocated.
Jesus, a Jew, was also not calling for the establishment of a new church and he was not, as the term is currently used, a Christian, maintains Mr. Schowalter.
"Both Jesus and Paul fit better as a continuation of the prophetic traditions of the Jewish Bible."
© Copyright 2002 The Ottawa Citizen
Considering that Christians worship the Jewish Messiah in the way that the Jews should have, I would say that ~true~ Judaism and true Christianity are one and the same Religion.
There was simply a name change 2000 years ago.
Jean
...that is...until Dispensationalism reared its ugly head a little over 150 years ago.
Jean
"[THIS] Theologian Not a Christian, Says St. Paul"
idiot theologian nonsense ping...
I have been mulling over some of St. Paul's writings and interpretations of same for a while now. In fact,I was happy to read a paper by Cardinal Ratzinger that kind of addressed it while not naming Paul.
It's also always struck me that as effusive as Paul was, he wrote nothing of his sense of the holy places in his visit to Jerusalem; neither of Calvary nor the Tomb for instance, which one one would think the very reasons for pilgrimage, but actually seems to have been traveled to more for visiting and sermonizing.
Odd, I think.
Does the "old Israel" have a future as God's chosen people, or is God finished with them?
At least someone brought some true light from the Bible about the church, the Body of Christ, that dispels the myth about the church being spiritual Israel! This misunderstanding comes from what Peter describes as "twisting" the Word in order to reconcile what the Gospels teach and what Paul's epistles teach. They don't fit because they're different, and we'd better be glad they're different otherwise we'd all have to be Jews, or proselytes, to be saved. Now there's no difference between Jew and Gentile!
Is Israel named in Revelation?
This author is creating a controversy where none exists.
Hey! This is something we all are in agreement on! Miracles never cease ... :-) God bless!!!!
Acts 9:10-18
There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." He answered, "Here I am, Lord." The Lord said to him, "Get up and go to the street called Straight and ask at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is there praying, and (in a vision) he has seen a man named Ananias come in and lay (his) hands on him, that he may regain his sight." But Ananias replied, "Lord, I have heard from many sources about this man, what evil things he has done to your holy ones in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to imprison all who call upon your name." But the Lord said to him, "Go, for this man is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before Gentiles, kings, and Israelites, and I will show him what he will have to suffer for my name."
So Ananias went and entered the house; laying his hands on him, he said, "Saul, my brother, the Lord has sent me, Jesus who appeared to you on the way by which you came, that you may regain your sight and be filled with the holy Spirit." Immediately things like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight. He got up and was baptized.
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