Paul's New Vision of Christianity
HOW THINGS WORK – CONSIDERATION #147
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Tuesday July 30, 2024
“In the last century, scholars have come to appreciate Paul as the actual founder of the religious movement that would become Christianity.”
– Rebecca Denova, Paul the Apostle (World History Encyclopedia)
PREFACE
Welcome Everybody!
After the Pentecost, the apostles proclaim the message of Jesus with great success, bringing them to the attention of the Jewish authority. Now having the same power to heal and perform miracles as Jesus had, their incredible message of a “resurrected Messiah” takes hold with the people, causing great consternation among the Pharisees and Sadducees.
“The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. But many who heard the message believed; so the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand.”
Acts 4:1-4
The Jewish leaders want to punish the apostles, but after the healing of a local man the crowd is with them. Although forced to release the apostles, the Sanhedrin expands their persecution of the new Jewish sect and its believers.
“After further threats they let them [apostles] go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened. For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.”
Acts 4:21-22
After another healing the apostles are again brought before the Sanhedrin , who wants to put them to death. They had ordered that the apostles not teach the message of Jesus and are outraged that they continued with such contempt.
“The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. ‘We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,’ he said. ‘Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.’”
Acts 5:27-28
However, Peter rebukes them, holding them responsible for Jesus’ death and being hypocrites. The outraged leaders become irate, wanting to kill them immediately. But a respected Pharisee named Gamaliel talks them out of it, and they have the apostles flogged instead.
“When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death. But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while… His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.”
Acts 5:33-34; 40
The persecution peaks when the apostle Stephen confronts the Sanhedrin and is stoned to death, becoming the first Christian martyr. Among the crowd demanding the apostle’s death was a zealous Pharisee named Saul.
“At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.”
Acts 7:57-58
The stoning of Stephen becomes the beginning of a massive persecution of the followers of Jesus. A young pharisee who participated in the stoning seeks to destroy the new blasphemous church and eliminate the followers of Jesus completely.
“On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.
Acts 8:1-3
Most of the disciples, and some apostles, were forced to flee Jerusalem to survive the extreme persecution.
Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.
Acts 8:4
One man, Saul, refuses to let them go; seeking permission to track them down and bring them back to Jerusalem for trial and likely execution. Ironically, while on the road to Damascus to eliminate this blight on Judaism, he encounters the “resurrected Christ.”
CONSIDERATION #147 – Paul’s New Vision of Christianity
Saul of Tarsus is on the way to Damascus to capture and bring the fleeing followers of Jesus back to Jerusalem for trial. However, on the way he is blinded by a brilliant light that knocks him to the ground; shattering his previous reality.
“Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’”
‘Who are you, Lord?’ Saul asked.
‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. ‘Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.’
The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.”
Acts 9:1-9
The Lord tells one of the disciples, Ananias, to go and care for Saul, however the disciple is skeptical; having heard of Saul’s extreme persecution of Jesus’ followers. It is revealed that Saul has been chosen to bring Jesus’ message to the Gentiles.
The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”
“Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”
But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.
Acts 9:11-19
Saul spends several days in Damascus preaching the message of Jesus; many are astonished that the man who came to arrest the followers of Jesus had now become one of them.
Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name?And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.
Acts 9:20-22
Some of the Pharisees seek to kill Saul, but he escapes from Damascus and goes to Jerusalem. However, the disciples did not trust him, because he had persecuted many of their friends. One of the apostles, Barnabas, supports Saul’s story and helps the other apostles accept him. However, many others in Jerusalem also seek to kill Saul, so he leaves and goes to the city of Tarsus.
When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him. When the believers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
Acts 9:26-30
This would become the first step in transforming the new religion into a new vision of Christianity, which at times greatly differed from the vision of those who knew Jesus personally; particularly, those in charge of the Jerusalem church. Saul had absolutely no relationship with the living Jesus; his relationship had been divinely inspired by the resurrected Christ.
POSTSCRIPT
Saul, now called Paul, travels to Cyprus, Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Syria preaching his vision of the gospel. However, ironically, his version of the message is not Jewish enough for many of the other disciples and apostles. Therefore, Paul goes before the council of the Jerusalem church to explain. The specific issue under discussion is the ritual of circumcision. Paul does not believe that circumcision should be required for Gentile converts. Others disagree.
Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the believers very glad. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them.
Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”
Acts 15:1-5
Peter supports Paul’s understanding of Jesus’ message, suggesting that neither Jesus, nor the Holy Spirit, distinguished between Jews and Gentiles. In addition, he argued it would be unfair to burden them with a tradition that even they and their ancestors had been unable to bear. Jesus’ message was not about the Law, it was about redemption; for everyone.
After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”
Acts 15:7-11
James agrees that it should not be made overly difficult for Gentiles to convert to Christianity.
James spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me... “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.
Acts 15:13,19
After more discussion a compromise is reached about the requirements for Gentiles becoming part of the “new faith.” Essentially, they did not need to convert to Judaism or follow traditional Jewish practices. However, they did suggest some critical laws they believed would be beneficial for them to follow.
It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.
Acts 15:28-29
This is the beginning of a shift in focus for the new church from one of being a Jewish sect to one of being a new religion that had been inspired by Judaism, but had moved beyond its essential tenets. Paul becomes a metaphor for this transition. A righteous Pharisee seeking to wipe out Jesus and his message; now arguing that Jewish practices and traditions should not be imposed on the Gentiles. Christianity was no longer a Jewish movement, or a Jewish sect. Christianity was beginning to become its own unique faith with its own unique message.
Ironically, Paul, who had never heard the words and teachings of the living Jesus, would become perhaps the most prominent influence in this transition and the overall development of Christian theology.
Next week we will consider Peter’s influence on the new church…
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What is the essence of Western science? What is the essence of Western religion? What are the common metaphysical roots connecting science and religion? What is the distinction between scientific theories and theological theories? Why is faith a fundamental principle in both science and religion? How did science and religion become adversaries in their endeavor for the ultimate truth about reality? These are some of the knots we will attempt to untangle in this week’s podcast. That’s a lot of science and religion for one podcast! “So, let’s get started…”
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