The Origin of Paul's ReligionMachen, J. Gresham (John Gresham)
Religion
The Origin of Paul's Religion
Machen, J. Gresham (John Gresham)
Bible. Epistles of Paul -- Theology; Paul, the Apostle, Saint
Points of contact between Jesus and Paul have just been pointed out
in detail, and the list of resemblances could be greatly increased.
The likeness of Paul to Jesus extends even to those features which
appear in the Jesus of modern liberalism. What is more impressive,
however, than all similarity in detail is the similarity in the
two persons taken each as a whole. The Gospels are more than a
collection of sayings and anecdotes; the Pauline Epistles are more
than a collection of reasoned discussions. In the Gospels, a person
is revealed, and another person in the Epistles. And the two persons
belong together. It is impossible to establish that fact fully by
detailed argument any more than it is possible to explain exactly
why any two persons are friends to-day. But the fact is plain to any
sympathetic reader. The writer of the Pauline Epistles would have
been at home in the company of Jesus of Nazareth.
What then was the true relation between Paul and Jesus? It has been
shown that Paul regarded himself as a disciple of Jesus, that he
was so regarded by those who had been Jesus' friends, that he had
abundant opportunity for acquainting himself with Jesus' words and
deeds, that he does refer to them occasionally, that he could have
done so oftener if he had desired, that the imitation of Jesus found
a place in his life, and that his likeness to Jesus extends even
to those elements in Jesus' life and teaching which are accepted
by modern naturalistic criticism as authentic. At this point the
problem is left by the great mass of recent investigators. Wrede is
thought to be refuted already; the investigator triumphantly writes
his Q. E. D., and passes on to something else.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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