Defending the Apostle Paul: Part 3

Supporting Evidence:

Having now given a basic outline of who the Apostle Paul was and what he saw as his mission and life’s work, I would now like to give supporting evidence for:

1.     The Apostle Paul’s beliefs, attributes and actions, as well as,

2.     His character traits.

The historical context also needs to be investigated to confirm whether or not it clarifies and implicitly argues for these  conclusions.

The Apostle Paul was and remained his entire life a Torah observant Jew:

Firstly, from his own words:

“So the Torah is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. ... For we know that the Torah is spiritual” (Romans 7:12-14)

“For it is not those who hear the Torah who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the Torah who will be declared righteous.” - Romans 2:13

“Do we, then, nullify the Torah by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold Torah.” - Romans 3: 31

“For in my inner being I delight in God's Torah” - Romans 7:22
“Keeping God's commands (Torah) is what counts.” -1 Corinthians 7:19

“We received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.” - Romans 1:5.
That is obedience to Torah.

“Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Yeshua.” -1 Thessalonians 4:1,2.
The instructions of God i.e. Torah.

“So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.” - 2 Thessalonians 2:15.  
He was teaching Torah.
“Now, in the name of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah we command you, brothers, to stay away from any brother who is leading a life of idleness, a life not in keeping with the teaching you received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you must imitate us, that we were not idle when we were among you.” - 2 Thessalonians 3:6-7.  Again, the teaching of Torah.

“What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Messiah Yeshua.” - 2 Timothy 1:13

“And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.” - 2 Timothy 2:2.  Note that Paul declares that he had many witnesses to his teaching of Torah.

“… and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.” - Philippians 3:17.  Note here, and in 2 Thessalonians 3:7 above, the call to imitate the lifestyle of Paul and the other messengers or ‘apostle’s’/agents of Yeshua.

“I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.”
- 2 Timothy 1:3
Note his likening of his lifestyle to his forefathers; that is to other Torah observant Jews.

“We know that the Torah is good if one uses it properly.” - 1 Timothy 1:8

“What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people." "Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you." "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty." Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. - 2 Corinthians 6:16 - 7:1
Note both the positive quoting of the Tanakh and the further endorsement of it, by his call to obey Torah through purification, a commandment of Torah.

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. "Honor your father and mother"--which is the first commandment with a promise-- "that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth."  - Ephesians 6:1-3.
Again, note the endorsement and support of commandments of Torah, specifically the 10 Words.

Secondly, from the words/writings of other NT authors (here Luke is quoting Paul):
“However, I admit that I worship the God of our fathers as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that agrees with the Torah and that is written in the Prophets, - Acts 24:14.

“When Paul appeared, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many serious charges against him, which they could not prove. Then Paul made his defense: "I have done nothing wrong against the Torah of the Jews or against the Temple or against Caesar." - Acts 25:7-8

"The Jews all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child, from the beginning of my life in my own country, and also in Jerusalem. They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that according to the strictest sect of our religion, I lived as a Pharisee.” - Acts 26:4-5

“Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, "My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day." - Acts 23:1.
In speaking to the highest Jewish court in the land, and arguing that he had fulfilled his duty to God, he is arguing that he is Torah observant.

“Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, "My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. I stand on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead." - Acts 23:6.

Here Paul is arguing that it is not the breaking of any of the commandments (mitzvoth) that brings him as an accused before the court, but his advocacy for the resurrection of Yeshua and hence the coming resurrection of all. This was very much a Pharisaic and Jewish belief.

“A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of Torah and highly respected by all the Jews living there.” - Acts 22:12.
After Paul’s Damascus road experience, it is a Torah observant Jew who visits him. Clearly The Way, this sect of the proto-Judaism of the day that believed that Yeshua was the Messiah, were at this time composed of Torah observant Jews.

“When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: "You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the Torah." - Acts 21:20.
This verse is further confirming the Torah observance of the believers in Yeshua and in giving this as encouraging news to the Apostle Paul, they are including him by inference as Torah observant.

“Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everybody will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to Torah. - Acts 21:24

Some of the Pharisees argued vigorously, "We find nothing wrong with this man." - Acts 23:9.  It is doubtful they would have said this about Paul, if he was not following Torah.

“For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers.” - Gal 1:13-14.

While there are a number of issues with this translation and the general context of this statement that I can return to, it should at least be clear of Paul’s grounding in Torah, Torah-observance and in observing the ‘Oral Torah’, the ‘traditions of the fathers’.

“After three days Paul called a meeting of the local Jewish leaders. When they had gathered, he said to them: "Brothers, although I have done nothing against either our people or the traditions of our fathers, I was made a prisoner in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans.” - Acts 28:17. 

You may note an issue here. Luke tells us that even at the very end of Paul’s life, he was still observing Torah AND the ‘traditions of the fathers’, the Oral Torah. I will return to this question when I discuss the (apparently) conflicting evidence.

The Apostle Paul also stated that we should be imitators of him as he was of Yeshua – 1 Corinthians 11:1; Philippians 3:17; 1 Thessalonians 1:6; 1 Thessalonians 2:4. Yeshua was unquestionably Torah observant.

There are at least two other ways in which we can see the faith and behaviour of the Apostle Paul was Torah based. They are that he observed the Feasts, the Festivals of God, and that he condemned the Hellenistic and pagan practices of the Gentiles in the Roman cities where he was helping to establish Messianic communities of The Way.

Paul observed and/or supported many of the Feasts, New Moons (Yom Teruah) and the Sabbath, either by a direct reference to it, by attending the festival, or making a supportive reference to it:

•  Shabbat(Sabbath): Acts 13:14-16; Acts 18:4;  4:16
•  Pesach (Passover) – 1 Cor 5:7; Acts 27:9
•   Festival of Unleavened Bread – Acts 20:6
•   Shavuot – 1 Cor 16:8; Acts 20:16
•   Yom Teruah – 1 Cor 15:52; 1 Thess 4:16 (New Moon Day, Rosh HaShannah)
•  Yom Kippur – Acts 27:9 (the Fast Day)
•  Sukkot – Acts 18:21

Paul also stated:  “Your boasting is not good. Don't you know the saying, "It takes only a little hametz to leaven a whole batch of dough?" 7 Get rid of the old hametz, so that you can be a new batch of dough, because in reality you are unleavened. For our Pesach lamb, the Messiah, has been sacrificed. 8 So let us celebrate the Seder not with leftover hametz, the hametz of wickedness and evil, but with the matzah of purity and truth.” (1 Corinthians 5: 6-8). While he is clearly using observance of the Passover as an analogy to introduce a higher purpose here, there can be no doubt that he is supporting the observance of the Passover Seder.

Paul also condemned paganism. I present here just a couple of examples.

“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Messiah.” Col 2:8

The most likely reading and understanding of the terms  ‘philosophy and empty deceit’, ‘elemental spirits of the world’ [1],[2] and even ‘human tradition’ refer to Hellenistic or Greek mindsets. So we see first here that Paul is arguing against a Greek and pagan mindset. While the term ‘human tradition’ may sound similar to ‘traditions of our fathers’, he is clearly speaking to Gentiles here about their traditions. The ‘traditions of the fathers’ or Oral Torah, are not as clearly ‘human’ as they were believed to have initially come from the Almighty and relayed through the spoken words of Moses.

The term ‘philosophy (Strongs #5385) and empty deceit’ is clear cut. The word ‘philosophy’ is not found anywhere else in Paul’s letters or the New Testament. The use of the word ‘philosophers’ is found in Acts 17: 17 where it is used to describe some Epicurean and Stoic Greek philosophers[3]. For more on this context of Colossians 2, I recommend my article ‘Colossians 2:16  and the Sabbath’.

FF Bruce (and some other scholars) in ‘Paul, Apostle of the Heart Set Free’ refers to an Iranian Gnostic myth that was current in the Near East at the time. In the literature of this myth the term "the elementary principles" is used to refer to the stellar spirits which were identified with the heavenly bodies. Thus, the Apostle Paul was arguing against this Gnosticism or paganism.

We also see the terms asceticism and worship of angels in Col 2:18 “Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind,”

The term  'worship of angels' was clearly Gnostic as it was condemned by the Rabbis in the Talmud (eg. Amora R Judan). If any Jewish sects did participate is such a practice they were certainly not mainstream proto-Rabbinic but rather, very liberal and Hellenistic.

“Still stronger opposition than that evoked by prayer to, and worship of, the angels was aroused by the views that made the angels partners in the creation of the world; and needless to say, the tradition that the whole world was created by angels, inculcated by various Gnostic doctrines, appeared even to apocalyptic circles (which assigned a considerable role to Princes, and angels, and even to angels of destruction, and angels of Satan, Belial and Mastema [hatred]) to be in conflict with Israel’s Torah.

In condemnation of the worship of angels a Baraita teaches: ‘If one slaughters. . . to Michael, the Prince of the Great Host. . . it is as flesh offered to idols.”  - “The Sages – Their Concepts and Beliefs” by  Ephraim Urbach.

Plato introduced dualism which led to Gnosticism and this involved asceticism[4] – this is a mode of living that is a far cry from any typical Jewish lifestyle.

Some argue of evidence at Qumran for the Jewish sect the Essenes,  embracing a form of asceticism, but there is evidence that this was partly due to Hellenistic influences. Certainly Yeshua did not himself embrace asceticism.

“These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and asceticism, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.” - Col 2:23.

Asceticism is a mode of life that included dietary limitations, (but not the dietary laws of the Torah) and to which the phrase in verse 23 above is so clearly referring to, is Gnosticism[5].

While it may be true that such a form of ascetic Judaism (or ‘non-conformist’ Judaism to use FF Bruce’s term), was present in Colosse there appears little evidence for it. On the other hand there is good evidence for the existence of Egyptian cults that practiced ‘absurd asceticism’ (to use Schurer’s term):

“And so we find that since the third century B.C. Egyptian cults had come to be very widely practised throughout Greece generally. Besides these, other Oriental worships, and that in strange admixture, are also to be met with particularly in the islands of Greece and in Asia Minor.”
 – ”The History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ”  Schurer p301.

Thus, there is plenty of evidence that asceticism has its foundations in Greek (Pythagorean) and Egyptian or Persian cults, not in Judaism and that the Apostle Paul clearly rejected paganism and Hellenism.

Next: Paul's Character

or to read the whole book go here

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[1] ‘Elements’ (Greek word ‘stoicheion’ - Strong’s #4747) – translated variously as rudiments,  elemental things, elementary principles.

[2] Clearly this is contentious. James Dunn argues that the term in Col 2:8, “the elemental spirits of the world”  is a Jewish reference (“The Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon: a commentary on the Greek text” James D. G. Dunn, p150). The problem is that he uses Gal 4:9 as support, yet this passage is clearly addressing Gentiles before they knew God and thus is addressing Greek/pagan mindsets, not Jewish ones.

[3] Further support is seen in ‘Palestinians & Diaspora Judaism in the First Century’, Christianity & Rabbinic Judaism (1993)  by Louis Feldman, where he states that no rabbis distinguished themselves in philosophy or wrote any treatise in Greek nor did they use any Greek philosophical terms in the talmudic corpus (of the time). 

[4]  Asceticism: Extreme self-denial, self-mortification and austerity. A doctrine that the ascetic life releases the soul from bondage to the body and permits union with the divine. As the TaNaK and 1^st Century Judaism taught the unity of soul and body and rejected the immortality of the soul, asceticism then is a Platonic/Hellenistic not Hebraic or Judaic belief. FF Bruce rejects the argument that the Colossian heresy is some form of Gnostic Essenism based on what is missing from the text such as there being no mention of ‘ceremonial washings’. Another scholar,  Ephraim Urbach indicates that asceticism is not Judaic: “The reasons for this opposition were many and varied; we shall mention only those that give expression to the antithesis between the Halakha and asceticism.” (p447) ‘The Sages: Their Concepts and Beliefs’ (Halakha/Halacha means ‘the way’ or right living).

[5] see Marvin Wilson, ‘Our Father Abraham’ p 169http://www.amazon.com/Defending-Apostle-Paul-Weighing-ebook/dp/B009TLLK0U/