"The First Paul": part 2

I finished reading this fascinating book called The First Paul. The book paints a clear picture of St. Paul-his life and teachings. But there are also a couple of positions the authors hold that need to be explored further in a third part-that is the belief that Paul taught a Distributive Justification and a Radical Equality to reconcile this world to God. I agree with much of what they write but there is some areas that may lead one towards a Liberation Theology. More on that in part 3.

But overall the book opens a window into Paul's radical life and vision to which I agree with. The book tracks the 13 letters attributed to Paul and chronicles how Paul-the radical-morphs into 3 different voices. (See Part 1): http://thepirateway-bob.blogspot.com/2009/06/first-paul-book-review_04.html.

The First Paul is the real deal. His teaching comes from the authority of a risen Christ and a radical Kingdom. This Kingdom comes into direct opposition to the Kingdom of the World-which in the time of Paul was represented by Imperial Rome. So it sets up a collision course of Two Kingdoms-Two Visions-Two Theologies-Two Destinations. With this entire backdrop, the authors state the problem:

"This is our first insight into how radical equality within Pauline Christian theology opposes and replaces the normal hierarchy within Roman imperial theology. And the tragedy is that the Paul of the post Pauline tradition is not only de-radicalized; he is Romanized."

Simply stated Paul (or others writing in Paul's name) softens his radical views on the issues of equality and conforms more to the views of Rome.

To find an answer to this dilemma, the authors start with an important aspect of biblical study-Historical Context.

I don't mean to jump hermeneutical on you, but a pretty good study habit is to peer into the cultural surroundings of a biblical text. The first thing to note is, Paul's letters were not intended for us to read. They were written to a particular person or group. Secondly the recipients of the letter had a pretty good handle on what was written . Finally Paul wrote his 7 genuine letters (see part 1) from around 50 AD to 67 AD.

Scholars place Paul's' death around 67 AD. The book points out that Paul and Peter and thousands of other believers were tortured and executed during the Great Persecution of Christians at the hands of Nero in the year 67 AD.

A day-in the life-of Paul could be viewed through 3 concentric circles (think of drawing a small circle-then draw a larger circle around that one and one more larger circle around both of them) The smallest circle is the people Paul wrote to-like the church at Rome or an individual like Philemon. The next circle is the religious times in which he lived-this was during the early Jesus Movement within Judaism and Judaism is within the largest circle-the Roman Empire. It would look like this:

Philemon>Early Jesus Movement>Judaism>Imperial Rome.

Claudius and Nero were the Roman Emperor's who ruled during this time. Rome was The Known World-there was no competitor on earth but there was a kingdom of much more power and authority-the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God was ushered in by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is the kingdom that radicalized Paul. Imperial Rome represented the Kingdom of the World and was espoused by Caesar-two violently opposing visions.

Here is a theological note: The kingdom of God is here among us through the death and resurrection of Jesus and it is yet to come. This is the filter by which Paul lived and saw life-the term he uses often of this kingdom life is: "In Christ." Paul's' vision of this kingdom life was-and is-the antithesis of the Kingdom of the World that was enforced by Imperial Rome.

Claudius was the emperor while Paul began writing the genuine letters and Christians enjoyed a mutual peace with Rome. But when Nero came along he began persecuting Christians. It is at this point we see the first stages of Paul becoming softer on the radical vision of equality and more in line with Rome's hierarchical norms.

This de-radicalization was happening because the young church wanted to remain viable and not come into disfavor with Rome. The authors provide a contemporary example of Dietrich Bonhoeffer-when he told relatives in Nazi Germany that saluting the Fuhrer was a small sacrifice for the larger battle against the evil of Nazism.

The book goes on to define Paul's language of the Kingdom of God as expressed in many of his famous phrases like:"In Christ" and "Jesus is Lord"-among others which I will discuss in the next post. I will also speak to the controversial issues in the book.

“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…

Living the Verse 25 Life

A Reflective look at Romans: Chapter 7:21-25

I am a big St. Paul the Apostle fan.

The only time Saint Paul put a pen to paper was to put his John Hancock on it. Paul laid out his prose freestyle-dictating it to Tertius his scribe. I could tell you how this went down: Paul is pacing back and forth like a trial lawyer making his case to the believers, the critics and the cynics. He cross examines the Pharisee, the Heretic and The Philosopher. In his mind he is arguing point/counterpoint with Seneca the Roman philosopher, his contemporary
and rival.
Paul and Seneca were equals in smarts. Paul probably met Seneca on the speaking circuit.

In Paul's letter to the church at Rome-Chapter 7:21-25-what takes place is nothing short of a street brawl. But this wasn't your typical meet you in the parking lot after school fight between a jock and a punk. The altercation takes place in Paul's mind between two parts of himself-God's Law and his Carnal Mind. The carnal mind is in open rebellion towards God-corrupted by sin-it can never bring us to a right relationship with God. We all have the carnal mind in us through Adam and as believers we have the mind of Christ through Jesus. Both are at war with each other. Paul is tormented by this fight. He is compelled towards sin but he wants to love God's law. The fight takes an ugly turn.

Paul comes face to face with the darkest part of his soul-the part that is hidden from others. I know this place all too well. You know it too. I hate this pace. I try to hide it-make believe everything is ok. When someone comes close to this place I defend it-don't go there.

I'm a spectator in Paul's fight right now. But I've been where he is. It reminds me a car accident, I don't want to see the wreckage yet I peek like everyone else and I think "I hope she is ok"-then I think "I'm glad it wasn't me". But it is me. I've been in the wreckage of the verse 24 fight. That's where Paul is now.

The battle escalates…Paul sees hell…the end is near…the fight is over…then he cries out what a wretched man I am who can deliver me from this body of death? This is verse 24.

Is this the end of the road for the Christian? If it is I'm done. I'm no better off than the fatalist who says nothing matters and we all die. If this is it then our faith is dead too.

But there is Good News-it doesn't end at Verse 24…there is a verse 25.

In Verse 24 we cry out in pain "what a wretched man I am who can deliver me from this body of death?"

In Verse 25 we cry out in Joy "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord."

In verse 24 we die to sin-in verse 25 we live in Christ.

In verse 24 we are humbled-in verse 25 Christ is exalted.

In verse 24 we can never boast look at how good I am-in verse 25 we boast look how awesome Jesus is.

In verse 24 we no longer live - we live in Verse 25.

This is the Verse 25 life

Live it…