My View of the Apostle Paul:[1]
I will first present my understanding of who the Apostle Paul was
and then try to show how this is confirmed through evidence from his writings;
the writings of other NT authors and from other historical evidence.
I believe that the Apostle Paul was and remained his entire life a
Torah observant Jew; a Pharisee and even more, a Pharisee from a particularly
strict sect of the Pharisees. I believe that he was from the Diaspora, that is,
that he had grown up outside of the Land of Israel (in Asia-Minor), and therefore within a
Hellenistic culture, though clearly living within a Jewish community within
that culture that was still able to practice its faith. I will refer to the
faith of Israel in Paul’s day as ‘Judaism’ or proto-Judaism though the orthodox
Rabbinic Judaism of today developed after this time.
I believe that the Apostle Paul was a Torah scholar of the very highest
order who studied under the leading Rabbi’s of his day, but who also understood
very well the Hellenistic philosophies of his day such as Platonism, Stoicism,
and Cynicism.
I believe that the Apostle Paul did in fact have a revelation
about Yeshua that convinced him that the Resurrection was for real; that Yeshua
was the ‘end-times’ Messiah, and that therefore the Coming Age, the Kingdom of
God was dawning; in a sense that it was early morning, a time where the present
evil age still existed but that the New Age was entering and that this meant a
new way, a new time and approach had also arrived.
Until the dawning of this Coming Age, the God of Israel, while he
has always been the God of Israel, was not in a sense the God of the Gentiles.
Israel had been called to be a light to the Gentiles. Gentiles who saw the
light, who became God-fearers could expect to have a place in the age to come,
but they were still guests in the Kingdom, they were not full and equal members
of the Kingdom of God. Only by becoming Jews could they become full and equal
members[2].
Until his Damascus Road revelation, the Apostle Paul had most
likely shared this position. He now needed to re-assess his understanding of
the times; now that he believed the world had entered the ‘end-times’. It is
vital that we appreciate that from his Torah based understanding of redemption
and salvation, the Apostle Paul did not need to change his Jewish customs and
traditions and most definitely, he did not need to change his Torah-observant
behaviour[3].
He would have clearly rejoiced though that he now knew that the
long-awaited Jewish Messiah had arrived! He would clearly want to share that
joy and knowledge; to join with the sect of Judaism that had already, for the
last 2-3 years or so, been rejoicing in this knowledge[4].
But I believe that the Apostle Paul saw something that perhaps no-one else saw, not even any of the 12 Apostles and original disciples of Yeshua at the time, and that it would not really be until the events at Cornelius’ House some 10+ years later that the rest of the disciples would be fully convinced of Paul’s new understanding.
But I believe that the Apostle Paul saw something that perhaps no-one else saw, not even any of the 12 Apostles and original disciples of Yeshua at the time, and that it would not really be until the events at Cornelius’ House some 10+ years later that the rest of the disciples would be fully convinced of Paul’s new understanding.
That new
understanding was that Gentiles were now able, to become full and equal members
in the Coming Age WITHOUT becoming Jews[5].
That is, the God-fearers, those Gentiles who attended synagogues
to learn about the One True God of the Universe, could now become equal members
in the family of God; have equal status as children of Abraham, without
becoming Jews. Furthermore, the Apostle Paul believed it was even vital that
they DIDN’T become Jews; and that they didn’t undergo the ‘works of law’ or
‘circumcision’.
A crucial definition is in order here. The term ‘works of law’[6]
that the Apostle Paul uses frequently, for example in Galatians, does NOT mean
obeying Torah (Law). Both this term and the use of ‘circumcision’ in this
context were metonyms for ‘the actions of proselyte conversion’. While the
Rabbi’s have known this all along, it was only with the rise of the ‘New
Perspective’ on Paul that scholars like James DG Dunn came to understand and
document this important understanding.
The Apostle Paul did not want them, at least corporately, to
undergo proselyte conversion as had been the norm, because if they all did,
then the great end-times prophecy to Abraham could not be fulfilled. Abraham
had been promised that he would one day be the father of many nations. This led
to huge problems as I will come to.
It is possible that Yeshua
had explained the implications of full Gentile inclusion, but it is not obvious
that the Apostles had grasped this revelation. Certainly it would appear that
Peter needed some significant prompting and help to appreciate that something
new had occurred in Cornelius’ house.
In having this incredible revelation about Gentiles becoming full
and equal members of the family of God, that is children of Abraham, but not becoming
citizens of Israel, I believe that Paul then desired to be involved in
promoting this belief.
He also believed he was empowered as an agent or emissary (Hebrew
= shaliach, translated to apostle in English) to the Gentiles. He believed that
in bringing Gentiles into the faith in the One True God he was hastening the
arrival of the Coming Age.
As I will detail later, to convince these Gentiles, who were
joining the Jewish communities and becoming part of Jewish sub-groups who
believed that Yeshua was the Messiah, that they were to remain Gentiles, was a
most difficult challenge because of the societal protocols and expectations of
both the Roman administration as well as the Jewish communities which these
Gentile believers had joined.
As Prof. Mark Nanos explains: “The
mixing of multi-ethnic peoples within a specific ethnic cultural system is a
messy proposition”[7]!
The Apostle Paul believed that his mission was to announce the
good news of the beginning of the full restoration of Israel. He believed that
part of the proof to his fellow Israelites would be the rejection of idolatry
and unrighteous behaviour by many Gentiles as they joined Israel in worshipping
the One True God. He believed that this historically unique movement, where a
great many God-fearing Gentiles were joining with Jewish communities to
recognize and honour the Creator and King of the Universe, would also lead many
Jews to recognize the validity of the Messiahship of Yeshua.
Next: Supporting Evidence
[1] While I have
developed this view over some years and it is demonstrated to some degree in a
number of my older articles such as ‘Circumcision: A Step of Obedience’ and the
first article on this question, ‘The Apostle Paul: Disciple or Fraud’, I am
much indebted to Prof. Mark Nanos, who essentially presents a very similar view
in all his books and articles and has done a great deal more study and
scholarship to clarify, support and document this view. I strongly recommend
perusal of his books, and articles, at www.marknanos.com
[2] This was essentially
the position taken by the great Rabbi’s Hillel and Shammai (early 1st
century CE).
[3] For some details on this issue, I recommend my article ‘Righteousness
Before Messiah’ at www.circumcisedheart.info
[4] The historical and textual evidence appears to indicate that the
Damascus Road event occurred around 33-34 CE some 1-3 years after the
resurrection. I hope to flesh out some of this detail further on in this book.
[5] A crucial aspect
and perspective to view this statement from, it to appreciate that God has
always remained the God of Israel; he did NOT replace Israel with the Church or
make the Church the ‘Israel of God’.
[6] Please see appendix for a little more analysis of this important and
very misunderstodod phrase
[7] Quoted from ‘Four Views of the Apostle Paul’
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