Paul was a inexperienced of Jesus who emerged as by far the record valid silhouette in the inappropriate multiuse building of Christian theology. His reserved name was actually Saul or Shaul, and he came from the town of Tarsos in Asia Insufficiently. His script shows that he had standard a Jewish rabbinical surroundings, and Acts claims (no grievance properly) that he had at one deliberation arduous under the zealous Rabbi Gamaliel in Jerusalem.
"Paul as imagined by Rembrandt"
He became a adjunct of the devotedly saintly Jewish group much-admired as the Perushim or Pharisees. At peak a firm challenger of the new Christian fight, he became its record vigorous follower overdue concern a earth-shattering knowledge on the path to Damascus: he claimed that the resurrected Christ had appeared to him.
Seven of Paul's letters, dating particularly from the 50s, are conserved in the New Shrine. Time Paul writes new about the older Jesus - not astoundingly, when he was not personally aware with him - his reflections on the Christ of confidence enfold played an offensively most important share out in the multiuse building of Christian theology, and of Protestant theology in picky.
A distinguished work for Paul was the utter of the Jewish religion and its design to Christianity. He grappled with this apprehend with some delicacy in his murder to the Romans, and refined up adopting a progressive and shifty fraud. Judaism and the Law of Moses, he intended, were simply of God, but they were up till now evil and awkward. Period the older Jesus had admirable the Law, Paul assumed that it had been superseded by the new distribute of Christ. To give birth to an atmosphere to it was erroneous, if not convinced disloyal.
Paul's view of Jesus is add-on admirable than that of some other New Shrine writers, but less so than that of directly older Christianity. Paul normally refers to God and Jesus Christ as untie beings, and regards Christ, 'the Lord, as for one person novice to God, 'the Flinch. He seats colossal substance on the crucifixion and reappearance of Christ. The Blessed Pliability has an inauspicious place in his theology, but he (or somewhat it) does not yet seem to be as a reserved entity: somewhat, it is specialized by God and by Christ to believers, and bestows spiritual gifts upon them. (God is afterward at work within believers, and Christ dwells linking them.)
Paul's writings are heartily dualistic. He normally makes oppositions in the company of God and idols, the spirit and the flesh, light and gloom, salvation and death, and so on. One of his record inauspicious oppositions is in the company of Judaism ('Israel of the flesh') and the new religion of Christianity ('Israel of the vigor) - though he does recognise that Christianity was element voguish Jewish and Gentile wings, and regards himself as the 'apostle to the Gentiles' (the leaders of the Jewish Christians for one person Peter, James and John).
Paul is brutally distressed with the trouble of salvation - he normally speaks of 'the saved' and 'the cold and damp, and teaches that the deep-rooted poverty ignore the multinational of the later. He afterward refers to believers as 'the holy ones', who enfold been selected by God. Rescue comes throw down feeling somewhat than throw down the Law, and is accessed by type of confidence in Jesus Christ. His preaching on this subject provided the theory for the Protestant ideology of "sola fide", salvation by confidence lonely, but there are some indications that he saw a person's salvation as for one person in some way mass on their works (though this is admittedly not the highest substance of his preaching).
Paul emphasised the themes of love and blamelessness. Christians, he preached, poverty get on together in camaraderie. He normally refers to his man believers as 'brothers', though he afterward regards himself as their shock. He condemned, amongst other stuff, sexual sins. He regarded marriage as a band evil, and saw celibacy as a type of rescue the participate to change on the stuff of God. This fits of laughter with the add-on total flesh/spirit dichotomy found in his writings.
Paul says some mature that the end of the world - 'the day of Jesus Christ' - is coming soon. On that day, Jesus would come down from fantasy with his later than usual blissful ones', the dead would be raised, and living believers would be baffled up voguish the air. Thereafter, the formulate would rob high-ranking resurrected bodies and succeed to the native land of God. God or Christ would sit in judgment all the human race. The reasonableness of the reappearance of the fit was jittery by Paul: it was one of the discrete beliefs that he took with him from Pharasaism to Christianity. Paul suggested that the rostrum judgement would force fire, and he seems to enfold assumed in a careful of purgatorial ideology, implying that some believers would enfold to be cleansed throw down fire up to that time inward bound fantasy. At one deliberation, Paul avers that Christians heart sit in judgment the rest of consideration, and even angels.
THE Ancient PAUL: A Summation
o Paul had not much-admired Jesus, but claimed to enfold seen him supernaturally.
o He claimed that he continued to rob divine revelations overdue his alteration.
o He was celibate.
o His school clean typically contains repartee and vocal oppositions (e.g. the spirit v the flesh).
o In Paul's writings, God is "Flinch", Jesus is "Lord", and other Christians are "brothers".
o The the twinkling of an eye coming of Christ and the rostrum judgement are prospect. They heart rivet divine spleen and fire.
o The themes of Paul's letters rivet love and the think about of for one person "saved".
o Satan exists, miserable with other demons and worldly spirits.
o Indictment up to that time God comes throw down confidence.
o Clerical activities included prophesying and communication in tongues.
o The rite of launch was performed, as were healings and miracles.
o Paul gross live in in the church who remained associated to Jewish observances, together with circumcision.
