Source: “Paul: The Pagan’s Apostle”, by Paula Fredriksen, 2017.
Introduction To Paul The Pagans Apostle.wav
This podcast explores the foundational belief of Paul and the early Christian movement: the imminent arrival of the Kingdom of God. It highlights Paul's conviction that he lived in history's final hour, a remarkable stance given that the "Kingdom" was already "late" by the time he wrote his letters. The text explains how Paul's mission differed from Jesus', notably in taking the message to pagans and shifting the focus of repentance from strict adherence to the Torah to the transformative figure of Jesus himself as the Christ. Ultimately, the author emphasizes that the belief in Jesus's resurrection was the singular claim that propelled the movement forward, solidifying the apocalyptic expectation of the End-time and the establishment of God's Kingdom.
Topic 1: Paul's Profound Conviction in the Imminent End of Time Paul's entire worldview and actions were fundamentally shaped by his firm belief that he was living in history's final hour and that the Kingdom of God was at hand. This conviction remained unwavering, even though, by the mid-first century, when he wrote his letters, the establishment of the Kingdom seemed "late" from a historical perspective. While we, looking backward, see Paul's epistles as "early" in Christian history, Paul himself was experiencing a significant passage of time since what he understood as the revelation of God's son to him around 34 C.E. He expected the Kingdom to follow closely after this event. Despite two decades passing before he wrote to the Corinthian community, and even later in his letter to the Romans, he continued to assert the nearness of the End, urging his readers to "awake from sleep" because "salvation is nearer now than when we first believed." This persistent certainty, despite the delay, highlights a central mystery and driving force behind Paul's life and mission.
Topic 2: Paul's Unwavering Jewish Identity and Mission The sources emphasize that Paul lived and operated entirely within his native Judaism, holding his core convictions as a committed Jew and enacting them as such. He saw himself as God's prophetic messenger, designated from birth to carry the good news of impending salvation to the "nations," the non-Jewish peoples. This perspective contrasts sharply with later historical traditions that, looking back, incorrectly transformed Paul into a "convert," an ex-Jew, or even an anti-Jew, and ultimately, the founder of Gentile Christianity. However, Paul himself was unaware of these future developments, such as the destruction of the Jerusalem temple or the crystallization of gentile movements hostile to Judaism around his letters. His self-introduction in Romans further underscores this, presenting him as a "slave of Jesus Christ," called to be a messenger, set apart for God's good news promised beforehand through the prophets in the sacred scriptures, concerning Jesus Christ.
Topic 3: The Dual Contexts Shaping Paul's World To truly understand Paul, it is crucial to place his letters within two primary "generative contexts": the scriptural and the social. The scriptural context refers to the rich world of ancient Jewish biblical and extrabiblical traditions, particularly how Jews in the late Second Temple period interpreted these in light of fervent apocalyptic hopes. This was a distinctly Jewish environment where the idea of the non-Jewish nations played various significant roles. The social context, on the other hand, was the vast Greco-Roman urban landscape, which formed Paul's apostolic sphere. This was an explicitly pagan environment, though one where Jewish populations had been comfortably established for centuries by Paul's time. Paul's actions and convictions were shaped by his understanding of both these worlds, which were filled with a diverse array of actors, from pagans and Jews to healers, prophets, angels, demons, Greeks, Romans, and even hostile superhuman forces and cosmic gods.
Topic 4: The Evolution of the "Good News" from Jesus to Paul While both Jesus and Paul proclaimed the "good news" that the Kingdom of God was at hand, significant shifts occurred in the intervening period regarding the audience and content of this message. Jesus, speaking Aramaic, focused his mission on fellow Jews in Galilee and Judea, urging them to repent by returning to the Sinai covenant and the teachings of the Torah, particularly the Ten Commandments. This call to repentance was linked to the dire consequences of apocalyptic judgment, aiming to spur listeners away from sin. Paul, however, operated in a much larger, Greek-speaking world, traveling widely and specifically taking the "good news" to pagans. Furthermore, the content of the message itself transformed: Jesus became a central figure in Paul's evangelion, identified as Christos, God's "son" and messiah, intimately connected with the definitive End-time event of the resurrection of the dead. While Paul occasionally urged adherence to the commandments and spoke of God's wrath, his letters also contained warnings against the Law, suggesting it was under the power of sin and death, a significant departure from Jesus's emphasis.
Topic 5: The Foundational Significance of Jesus's Resurrection The conviction that God had raised Jesus from the dead was the singular claim that distinguished Jesus's movement from other contemporary prophetic movements and propelled his followers beyond Jerusalem. Paul is presented as the earliest written source for this tradition, describing a series of visual experiences where Christ "was seen" by various individuals and groups, including Peter, the twelve, 500 followers, James, all the apostles, and finally Paul himself. While later gospel accounts varied regarding the locations, initial witnesses, and even the nature of Jesus's resurrected body (spiritual versus flesh-and-blood), the core belief in Jesus's resurrection was central. This was not a single event but a protracted series of visionary experiences occurring in diverse places over an extended period, in Paul's case, several years after Jesus's crucifixion. Despite the inconsistencies in the sources, this conviction was the catalyst for the movement's spread.
Topic 6: Jesus's Resurrection within Apocalyptic Frameworks The claim of Jesus's resurrection is understood within two distinct, yet ultimately reinforcing, apocalyptic frameworks. The "older and traditional" framework centered on Jewish convictions about God's Kingdom as an End-time event, realizing God's promises to Israel, with the resurrection of the dead being a communal and eschatological act. Jesus's individual resurrection would have been anomalous by these standards because it concerned an individual and did not immediately usher in the expected End. However, Jesus's followers also operated within a "recent and particular" apocalyptic framework rooted in Jesus's own teaching: the Kingdom was not just coming, but coming very soon, and his activities like healings and exorcisms demonstrated its immediate proximity. When combined, these frameworks powerfully intertwined: Jesus's individual resurrection was interpreted as a sign, the "first swallow" of the impending eschatological spring, reinforcing his original prophecy that the Kingdom truly was at hand and heralding the coming general resurrection and the establishment of God's Kingdom.
Topic 7: Paul's Understanding of His Apostolic Calling Paul's self-introduction in his letter to the Romans reveals much about his understanding of his divine calling and role within the burgeoning Jewish movement. He identifies himself as a "slave of Jesus Christ" and a "messenger" (apostolos), explicitly stating that he was "set apart for God's good news." This good news, he explains, was not a new invention but had been "promised beforehand through his prophets in the sacred scriptures" and concerned God's son, Jesus Christ. Through Jesus, Paul states he received "grace and apostleship." The purpose of this apostleship was to bring about the "obedience of faithfulness" among "all the nations," including the former pagans who now followed Christ in Rome. This highlights Paul's sense of continuity with Jewish prophecy, his direct divine commission, and his specific mission to the gentiles, acting as God's prophetic messenger on the precipice of the End.
Topic 8: The Dynamic Nature of the "Good News" The "good news" (evangelion) was not a static concept but underwent significant transformation from the time of John the Baptizer and Jesus to Paul's ministry. Initially, it primarily referred to the imminent arrival of God's Kingdom, prompting calls for repentance and adherence to the Torah. However, by Paul's era, the content had dramatically shifted, with Jesus himself becoming the central feature of the message. Jesus was now proclaimed as the Christos, God's son, and messiah, and his resurrection was intimately connected with the definitive End-time event. Most pivotally, the mission associated with this good news expanded beyond an exclusively Jewish audience. What had originated as a message for Israel, foretold by Israel's prophets in Israel's scriptures, was now declared by Paul to be meant for the ethne, the "nations," signifying a momentous and surprising inclusion of pagan hearers into this Jewish movement.
Topic 9: Discrepancies and Ambiguity in Resurrection Accounts Despite the foundational importance of Jesus's resurrection for the early movement, the historical accounts of this event, particularly regarding the details of the appearances, present confusions and contradictions across the sources. Paul, as the earliest source, details specific visual experiences of Christ being "seen" by various individuals and groups. However, he remains silent about the specific venues of these original experiences. Later evangelists, writing a generation or two after Paul, offer differing narratives, situating the initial appearances variously in Galilee or around Jerusalem, and naming different initial witnesses (female followers, Peter, or anonymous disciples). Furthermore, there is a divergence on the nature of the resurrected body: Paul insists on a spiritual body, while some later evangelists emphasize a flesh-and-blood body. The timing of Paul's own vision also differs from the gospel accounts, suggesting it occurred several years after Jesus's crucifixion in distant Damascus. These inconsistencies highlight the challenges in reconstructing the precise historical events, yet the conviction that Jesus had been raised remained central.
Topic 10: The Challenges and Opposition Faced by the Movement The spread of this "good news" and the expanded mission to pagans were not without significant opposition. The very nature of this idiosyncratic Jewish message, extended to non-Jews and centered on a resurrected messiah, was bound to provoke hostility. The study anticipates exploring how this mission and its message would incite animosity not only from other Jews, who might view it as a deviation from traditional Judaism, but also from other pagans, who might find its monotheistic claims or its challenge to their own deities objectionable. Furthermore, the movement would confront resistance from Roman magistrates, representing the imperial power, and even, as Paul himself complained, from "pagan gods," suggesting a perceived spiritual opposition. These challenges underscore the difficult and often dangerous environment in which Paul and the early followers operated, highlighting the disruptive nature of their message within the established social and religious orders.