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Pauline Christianity orPauline theology (alsoPaulism orPaulanity),[2] otherwise referred to asGentile Christianity,[3] is thetheology and form ofChristianity which developed from the beliefs and doctrines espoused by theHellenistic-JewishApostle Paul throughhis writings and thoseNew Testament writings traditionally attributed to him. Paul's beliefs had some overlap withJewish Christianity, but they deviated from this Jewish Christianity in their emphasis on inclusion of theGentiles into God'sNew Covenant and in his rejection ofcircumcision as an unnecessary token of upholding theMosaic Law.[3][4][5]
Proto-orthodox Christianity, which is rooted in the first centuries of thehistory of Christianity, relies heavily on Pauline theology and beliefs and considers them to be amplifications and explanations of theteachings of Jesus. Since the 18th century, a number of scholars have proposed that Paul's writings contain teachings that are different from the original teachings of Jesus and those of the earliest Jewish Christians, as documented in thecanonical gospels, earlyActs, and the rest of theNew Testament, such as theEpistle of James,[6] though there has been increasing acceptance ofPaul as a fundamentally Jewish figure in line with the original disciples inJerusalem over past misinterpretations, manifested though movements like "Paul Within Judaism".[7][8][9]
Pauline Christianity or Pauline theology, also called "Paulism" or "Paulanity",[2] is thetheology andChristianity which developed from the beliefs and doctrines espoused byPaul the Apostle throughhis writings. Paul's beliefs were strongly rooted in the earliest Jewish Christianity, but they deviated from this Jewish Christianity in their emphasis on inclusion of the Gentiles into God's New Covenant and in his rejection of circumcision as an unnecessary token of upholding the Law.
According toHans Lietzmann, the term "Pauline Christianity" first came into use in the 20th century among scholars who proposed different strands of thought withinEarly Christianity, wherein Paul was a powerful influence.[10]
Marxist writerAntonio Gramsci (1891–1937), who stressed the similarities betweenPrimitive Christianity andMarxism, used the phrase 'Christo-Paulinism' not only to indicate Paul's greater importance but also to distinguish between theological and ideological beliefs and the organization of the institutional Church.[11]
The expression is also used by modern Christian scholars, such as John Ziesler[12] and Christopher Mount,[13] whose interest is in the recovery of Christian origins, and the importance of Paul forpaleo-orthodoxy,Christian reconstructionism andrestorationism.
The first Christians were Jews.[14] According to Paul and the author of the Acts of the Apostles, he initially persecuted those early Christians, but then converted, and, years later, was called toproselytise among Gentiles.
An earlycreed about Jesus' death and resurrection which Paul probably used was1 Corinthians 15, verses 3–5 (plus possible additional verses). Probably originating from theJerusalem apostolic community, the antiquity of the creed has been noted by many biblical scholars:[15]
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve,...
There has been widespread acknowledgement of the view ofW. D. Davies that the essential Jewishness of Paul's Christian perspective has been underplayed.[citation needed] In Davies' view, Paul replaced theTorah, theJewish law orLaw of Moses, with Christ.[dubious –discuss].
In the view ofDaniel Boyarin,Paula Fredriksen and other notable NT scholars cited by them, writing with lived experience of the Jewish context, Paul did not replace Torah or Halakha with Christ for Jewish believers, but simply taught gentiles that observing thenoachide covenant as righteous among the nations was sufficient (along with faith in Christ), to merit a share in the world to come. This was a view shared by thePharisees and taught in theTalmud andMaimonides (with the except of the element of faith in Christ), but denied by (mostly gentile born)Judaizers who taught conversion to Judaism as a requisite for salvation.[citation needed] For example, hisepistle to the Romans 13 teaches the obligations of a righteous gentile under the Noachide covenant, with Romans 14-15 expansive commentary on dietary ethics.
According toChristopher Rowland, "the problems with which he wrestles in his letters were probably typical of many which were facing the Christian sect during this period".[16]
According toKrister Stendahl, the main concern of Paul's writings on Jesus' role, and salvation by faith, is the problem of the inclusion of gentile (Greek) Torah observers into God's covenant.[17][18][19][web 1] The inclusion of Gentiles into early Christianity posed a problem for the Jewish identity of the early Christians. Many of the Jewish Christians were fully faithful religious Jews, only differing in their acceptance of Jesus as theMessiah. Observance of the Jewish commands, including circumcision, was regarded as a token of the membership of this covenant, and the early Jewish Christians insisted on keeping those observances.[20] The new converts did not follow all "Jewish Law" and refused to becircumcised,[21] as circumcision was considered repulsive during the period ofHellenization of theEastern Mediterranean.[web 2][22]
Paul objected strongly to the insistence on keeping all of theJewish commandments, considering it a great threat to his doctrine of salvation through faith in Jesus.[23] For Paul, Jesus' death and resurrection solved this problem of the exclusion of the gentiles from God's covenant.[24] 'Dying for our sins' refers to the problem of gentile Torah-observers, who, despite their faithfulness, cannot fully observe commandments, including circumcision, and are therefore 'sinners', excluded from God's covenant.[25] Jesus' death and resurrection solved this problem of the exclusion of the gentiles from God's covenant, as indicated by Rom 3:21-26.[24]
Paul insists that salvation is received by the grace of God; according to Sanders, this insistence is in line with Judaism ofc. 200 BCE until 200 CE, which saw God's covenant with Israel as an act of grace of God. Observance of the Law is needed to maintain the covenant, but the covenant is not earned by observing the Law, but by the grace of God.[web 3]
There was a slowly growing schism between Christians and Jews, rather than a sudden split. Even though it is commonly thought that Paul established a Gentile church, it took centuries for a complete break to manifest.[26]
Irenaeus,bishop of Lyon, wrote in the latter half of the 2nd century that theEbionites rejected Paul as anapostate from the law, using only a version of the Gospel according to St. Matthew, known as theGospel of the Ebionites.
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Paul had a strong influence on early Christianity, transmuting Jesus theJewish messiah into the universal[note 1]savior. This thesis is founded on differences between the views of Paul and the earliestJewish Christianity, and also between the picture of Paul in theActs of the Apostles and his own writings. In this view, Paul is to be taken as pro-Hellenization orRomanization.
There are considerable differences of scholarly opinion concerning how far Paul did in fact influence Christian doctrine.[note 2]
According to the 19th-century German theologian andHegelian philosopherFerdinand Christian Baur, founder of theTübingen school whose view was widely influential, Paul was utterly opposed to thedisciples, based upon his view thatActs was late and unreliable and who contended that Catholic Christianity was a synthesis of the views of Paul and theJudaizing church in Jerusalem.[27] SinceAdolf von Harnack, the Tübingen position has been generally abandoned.[28][page needed]
Ultradispensationalists such asE. W. Bullinger viewed the distinction abhorred by the Ebionites as positive and essential doctrine.[29][clarification needed]
Pauline Christianity was essentially based on Rome and made use of the administrative skills which Rome had honed. Its system of organization with a single bishop for each town was, inBart Ehrman's view, the means by which it obtained its hegemony.[30]
Michael Goulder wrote widely on a theory of Christian origins that sees a fundamental opposition betweenPaul the Apostle on one side and theJerusalem ChristiansPeter andJames, Jesus' brother, on the other.[31] This has been seen as reviving Baur's hypothesis.[32]
Some literary critics of Christianity argue that Paul distorted the original and true doctrine, or claim that Christianity is largely his invention. The former include such secular commentators[33] as the philosophersFriedrich Nietzsche andBertrand Russell. Nietzsche'scriticisms are based upon his moral objections to Paul's thought. Other writers, such asSlavoj Žižek andAlain Badiou, also agree with this interpretation, but hold much more positive opinions about Paul's theological influence.[citation needed]
Christian anarchists, such asLeo Tolstoy andAmmon Hennacy, believe Paul distortedJesus' teachings. Tolstoy claims Paul was instrumental in the church's "deviation" from Jesus' teaching and practices,[34] while Hennacy believed "Paul spoiled the message of Christ."[35]
Christians themselves disagree as to how far there was tension between Paul and the Jerusalem Church.Roman Catholics,Eastern andOriental Orthodox,Assyrian Church of the East, and conservative Protestants, contend that Paul's writings were a legitimate interpretation of the Gospel. The idea that Paul invented Christianity is disputed by numerous Christian writers.[36][37][38][39]
According to Christopher Rowland, Pauline Christianity is the development of thinking about Jesus in a gentile missionary context. Rowland contends that "the extent of his influence on Christian thought has been overestimated",[40] concluding that Paul did not materially alter Jesus' teachings.
Hurtado notes that Paul regarded hisChristological views and the Jerusalem Church's as essentially similar. According to Hurtado, this "work[s] against the claims by some scholars that Pauline Christianity represents a sharp departure from the religiousness of Judean 'Jesus movements'."[9]
Thepejorative use of the expressions "Pauline Christianity", "Paulism," or "Paulanity," refers to the idea that Paul's supporters, as a distinct group, had an undue influence on theformation of the canon of scripture.[41][42] It is also sometimes used to refer to the notion that certain bishops, especially theBishop of Rome, influenced the debates which determined the dogma of early Christianity, thus elevating a Pauline interpretation of the Gospel, to the detriment of other interpretations (including those held by theGnostics andMarcionites).[43][44][45][46]
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Paul and the Churches
