The First Paul part 3

As Ignacio say's to Encarnacion in the movie Nacho Libre- let's get down to the nitty-gritty.

The authors of The First Paul are not espousing Liberation Theology or Marxism. What they do believe is that Paul teaches Distributive Justification in contrast to Retributive Justification. There is a dispute among theologians about the type of Justification Paul has in mind. Andy Johnson writes in his Reclaiming Paul blog the different views http://www.reclaimingpaul.org/?p=103

To be sure, both positions hold that Justification is given to us freely by Gods' Grace through Faith: This is Paul's battle cry of the Gospel-Martin Luther marshaled in the reformation with these words. So what's the difference?

Let's start with Retributive Justification: We are sinners and fall short of the Glory of God-our works of righteousness are not enough to put us in a right relationship with Him. But righteousness is possible for us through Jesus Christ and what He accomplished on the cross. God declares us righteous-it is imputed to us and is activated by our faith-Justification by grace through faith.

The authors present Distributive Justification, which is also freely given to us by God's grace and activated by our faith. But righteousness is not imputed to us-God does not declare us righteous. Instead God's righteousness is transformed in us-distributed through us-as a part of God's character. After being transformed through faith, we distribute God's justice including,radical equality to the world. This is God's way of making the world just.

I do agree with the premise of this book that the Radical Paul preached that a radical Kingdom has been ushered in through a risen Christ-in direct opposition to the Kingdom of the world. Paul spoke a kingdom language that is summed up in famous terms. This Kingdom language put Imperial Rome on notice and drew lines in the sand-a demarcation that would eventually lead the believers to their death. What were these terms that brought the ire of Caesar? Here are some:

Jesus Christ Is Lord: Before Paul introduced the phrase Jesus is Lord this was already a divine designation to Caesar-Caesar is Lord. There could be only one Lord and for Paul it was Jesus. Caesar had been dethroned.

Christ Crucified: Paul says Jesus was crucified not killed or murdered why? The term Crucified places the execution of Jesus in the hands of Imperial Rome. For Paul it was a Roman cross. Rome crucified those who challenged the iron rule of Caesar which the Kingdom of God did.

Life Together In Christ: this was
Paul's vision of believers living together as the Body of Christ-one body-one spirit and contrary to the ways of the world. The radical equality of living in Christ was experienced in the community-from there to the neighborhoods and then to the world.

The book also discusses the $64 thousand dollar question nagging all believers-What was Paul's Thorn in the Flesh? Its conjecture but what they say makes sense:

Thorn in the flesh: I once heard a preacher say that people have a natural tendency to mimic famous characters-so if we knew what Paul's thorn was, we would all have it. The authors speculate that Paul's thorn in the flesh was the symptoms of Malaria he contracted as a boy in Tarsus which had an overabundance of marshes and mosquitoes. The authors reference the work of Mitchell Ramsey and his book: St Paul and the Traveler and Roman Citizen: He combines Gal 4:13 with 2 Cor. 12:7 and concludes this Stake in the Flesh or Thorn was a species of chronic malaria fever: Paul had contracted malaria during his youth at Tarsus from a climate that easily produced the chills and fevers, the uncontrollable shivering and profuse sweating, the severe headaches, nausea and vomiting of chronic malarial fever.

The First Paul is a good read and it clarifies the 3 different Paul's we see develop over time in his writings-as a fan of Paul I was re introduced to this great man and apostle of Jesus.