“The First Paul” A Book Review

I have to write this post in 2 parts because it's full of fascinating stuff about Paul-his life-and those who wrote in his name after he was dead.

Joshua and Paul are my favorite bible characters. I was lurking around Borders the other day and saw a book titled The First Paul. So right away I picked it up to read and I couldn't put it down. Nor could I buy it-yet. So I came back every day for a week. Then my 40% off- Borders coupon came in an e-mail and I printed it out-walked in to Borders with pride and bought the book.

The authors are Marcus J Borg and John Dominic Crossan. Borg is a Lutheran and Crossan is a Roman Catholic-a Catholic and a Lutheran. Bar jokes aside, I like this combination because Augustine and Luther were influenced by the life and teachings of Paul.

The authors describe themselves as Mainstream theologians. That's fancy talk which means they study scholarship from mainline denominations. I turned the book over to see the endorsements and became skeptical because author Elaine Pagles who wrote Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas gave an endorsement. Then I read they are both Evangelical-that's good because F.F. Bruce is an Evangelical Theologian and he is The Man when it comes to the study of Paul.

The book is well written and stays away from unintelligible-hermeneutical-professor speak. They get right to the point and describe an evolution of Paul-from a radical who rocks the Roman world with radical ideas to a conformist with a go-along-to-get-along attitude. The radical Paul writes of a life "In Christ" which promotes a radical equality for all-including Slaves and Women.

That's the Paul I know (and Jesus for that matter). But something odd happens to Paul. He sheds the Radical reputation and morphs into a conformist as he instructs slaves to obey their masters and women to remain silent.

What happened to Paul? He becomes de radicalized. The book tracks this de radicalization. But first the authors give some background: There are 27 books in the New Testament 13 of which are attributed to Paul but not all were written by Paul. Second it is important to place his letters in historical context. Third his message, his teaching, his Gospel is grounded in his life changing and sustaining experience of the risen Christ. This is the evangelical part of the book I agree whole heartily-our lives are transformed by the risen Christ.

But a fascinating thing happens-3 Paul's emerge in the 13 books attributed to him: The First Paul is The Radical Paul-the Second Paul is the Conservative Paul and the Third Paul is the Reactionary Paul. Will the real Paul please stand up?

Paul changes his radical tune and he blends in more with Imperial Rome-he still preaches the Risen Christ but with less offense. The First Paul is the genuine apostle. The 2^nd and 3^rd Paul's were most likely followers of his who wrote in his name at a later date- when Nero was persecuting the church.

So let me sum this up so far: Out of the 13 books/letters attributed to Paul-7 was written by him-3 are disputed and 3 are not written by him. The three Pauls' are identified in each category. Looking at the hot political and moral issue of Slavery, we can see this shift of attitudes in each category. I broke it all down below:

7 letters written by Paul: The Genuine Letters

Romans-1&2 Corinthians-1 Thessalonians-Galatians-Philippians-Philemon

This was the Radical Paul who repudiated the hierarchal norms of Imperial Rome

An example is the letter to Philemon: Paul instructs Philemon to free his runaway slave Onesimus and treat him as a brother in the Lord-freely and equally

3 letters are disputed: The Disputed Letters

Ephesians-2 Thessalonians-Colossians

This is the Conservative Paul who conforms to hierarchal norms of Rome- The author writes of mutual requirements between Slave and Master

An example is Eph 5: 6-9 (I abbreviate) "Slaves obey your Earthly Masters (as you obey Christ)-Masters-do not threaten them for you both have the same Master in heaven.

3 letters NOT written by Paul: The Pastoral Letters

1&2 Timothy and Titus

This is the Reactionary Paul who conforms to hierarchal norms of Rome but removes the mutual instructions and writes directly to the Master and not the Slave.

An example is Titus 2:9: "Tell slaves to obey their masters in every respect…"

Next post I'll tell you the reasons of why the change and other cool stuff in the book…