The
Life of Paul, Part I: To the Damascus Road
As we continue with our
study of the First Letter to the Corinthians, we note that
the first word of this letter is "Paul." "Paulos,"
in Greek. Right from the beginning, the author of this letter
identifies himself by name. But who really is this man beyond
his name? This and subsequent articles will explore this question.
Paul refers to himself as
"called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God"
(1Cor 1:1). And indeed he was the most effective missionary
of early Christianity and the church's first theologian. A
few have even referred to him as the "second founder of Christianity."
While there is debate concerning
his authorship of some of the books he is said to have written,
more than one-fourth of the NT has been attributed to him.
Thirteen letters of the NT are attributed to Paul, but
modern scholarship is of the opinion that some of these were written
by his followers. The list of more reliable writings of Paul
include Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians,
1st Thessalonians, and Philemon.
There are two primary sources
for what we know of Paul's life and thinking: his letters and the
Acts of the Apostles.
Paul's birth place is recorded
in his own words: "I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cicilia"
(Acts 22:3). The date of birth is believed to be around 10
AD. Paul identifies himself as a Roman citizen and adds, "I
was born one" (Acts 22:28). The way Paul uses Greek indicates
that his origin was that of a Hellenistic Jew of the Dispersion.
Paul was intensely loyal
to his Jewishness: "Circumcised on the eight day, of the race
of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrew parentage,
in observance of the law a Pharisee, in zeal I persecuted the church,
in righteousness based on the law I was blameless" (Phil 3:5-6).
His education brought him to this point: "I was brought up
in this city [Jerusalem]. At the feet of Gamaliel I was educated
strictly in our ancestral law and was zealous for God" (Act
22:3).
While there is no direct
evidence in the Acts of the Apostles or in his letters
that he became a rabbinic teacher, it is possible. His style
of argument reflects the methods of biblical interpretation used
by scholars of his age. In combination with this, he appears
to have been given a Hellenistic education; this can be seen in
how his language and rhetoric reflects that of the Greek world of
letters.
Paul took on the trade of
tent maker early in his life. "Because he practiced the
same trade, he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers"
(Acts 18:3). It was probably with this kind of labor that
Paul supported himself on missionary journeys: "You recall,
brothers and sisters, our toil and drudgery. Working night
and day in order not to burden any of you, we proclaimed the gospel
of God" (1Thss 2:9).
Before his conversion, Paul
became a determined persecutor of those who followed Jesus Christ.
During this time he was called Saul. The first mention of
him in the story presented by the Acts of the Apostles
is at Stephen's stoning: "Now Saul was consenting to his execution"
(8:1). The text goes on to point out "Saul, meanwhile,
was trying to destroy the church; entering house after house and
dragging out men and women, he handed them over for imprisonment"
(8:3).
Paul's endeavor to eradicate
the Christian church receives significant attention both by the
Acts of the Apostles and by Paul himself in his letters.
He became motivated to pursue this goal even to cities in other
countries: "I myself thought that I had to do many things against
the name of Jesus the Nazorean, and I did so in Jerusalem.
I imprisoned many of the holy ones with the authorization I received
from the chief priests, and when they were to be put to death, I
cast my vote against them. Many times, in synagogue after synagogue,
I punished them in an attempt to force them to blaspheme; I was
so enraged against them that I pursued them even to foreign cities"
(Acts 26:9-11).
This quest would took him
to Damascus: "Saul still breathing murderous threats against
the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him
for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, that, if he should find
any men or women who belonged to the Way, he might bring them back
to Jerusalem in chains" (Acts 9:1-2).
He received these letters:
"I persecuted this Way to death, binding both men and women
and delivering them to prison. Even the high priest and the
whole counsel of elders can testify on my behalf. For from
them I even received letters to the brothers and set out for Damascus
to bring back to Jerusalem in chains for punishment those there
as well" (Acts 22:4-5).
This role as persecutor
is corroborated by his letters. "You heard of my former
way of life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond
measure and tried to destroy it, and progressed in Judaism beyond
many of my contemporaries among my race, since I was even more a
zealot for my ancestral traditions" (Gal 1:13-14).
Paul's zeal for his ancestors
caused him to expect the followers of Jesus to live strictly by
the requirements of the law. He may, furthermore, have found
the identification of the crucified Jesus as the Messiah to be blatant
blasphemy. Paul expected a triumphant messiah, not one who
bore the curse of the cross: "Christ ransomed us from the curse
of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, 'Cursed
be everyone who hangs on a tree'" (Gal 3:13). As we see
in these words, his understanding of this curse of the cross eventually
took on new meaning for him.
At this stage of Paul's
life, there was this powerful set of convictions within him.
And being strong willed, he was driven to drastic measures to defend
what he held true. But it was in this context that he was
to meet a greater power that would change him internally and would
change the direction of his life.
That encounter with that
greater power would happen on his journey to Damascus.
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