Paul Takes the Gospel to the Gentiles

Introduction

Paul made the Jesus movement for everyone, not just Jews

Saul (Paul, Latin) of Tarsus

  • Third pillar of faith
  • Tribe of Benjamin Jew
  • Pharisee of Pharisees
    • Because zeal for tradition
    • For example, stoned Stephen for speaking against tradition
    • Story is disputed because Paul never mentions it, but Luke does
  • Acts 9 (written by Luke) Damascus Road — Paul has his awakening to Jesus
    • Blinded and spoken to by Jesus: “why do you persecute me”
    • Jesus tells Ananias to seek out Saul and cure him of his blindness
    • Saul becomes a fervent follower
  • Paul’s account in Galatians
    • Nothing about blindness
    • Wandered around Arabia and the Risen Lord appeared to him and Paul accepted the call to teach to the Gentiles
    • Then he travels to Damascus and begins work with the early Christians
  • Paul sees it as “accepting a call” not a “conversion”
  • There was tension between apostles and himself because of their unwillingness to accept the Hellenistic Christians and Gentiles
    • (Seen by Paul, Luke plays it down)

Jerusalem Council

  • Acts Account:
    • Arguments over circumcision
    • Done since Genesis (Abraham) — Jewish tradition
    • Peter gives speech over circumcision and agrees with Paul
    • Gentiles should not have to become Jews and practice Jewish tradition when Jews didn’t even always follow it
    • James the Just also supports Paul and Peter and creates a decision
    • Agrees to give them the “bare bones” of the law:
      • Abstain from meat sacrificed idols
      • Abstain from sexual immorality
      • Abstain from meat of animals strangled and drinking of the blood
  • Galatians Account:
    • Peter is uncomfortable with the Jerusalem Council
    • Paul made no concessions with respect to the law and didn’t recognize the authority of the apostles over the law (up to Jesus, not them)
    • Agreed they should remember the poor

Paul’s Journeys

  • Antioch
  • Speaks out in synagogues and people that follow him when he gets kicked out get grouped with Hellenist Christians to form a Church
    • Creates more tension
  • Paul was a Jew and always went to the Jews first to convert them
  • Three Missionary Journeys
    • Organizes the movement by giving them their individual churches and treating them as one church
    • Presented as an apostle to the churches (Corinth, for example, didn’t accept him)
    • More accepted and eventually became the dominant leader of the Jesus movement (especially to Hellenist Christians)
  • Faithful to being a Jew
    • Died considering himself to be a Jew
  • Martyred for his faith at the end of the book of Acts
    • Beheaded in Rome because he was a Roman citizen and was given more rights (more humane death than crucifixion)