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
This latter alternative has been examined in the preceding
discussion. If Jesus was not the divine Redeemer that Paul says
He was, how did the Pauline religion of redemption arise? Three
great hypotheses have been examined and have been found wanting.
Paulinism, it has been shown, was not based upon the Jesus of
modern naturalism; if Jesus was only what He is represented by
modern naturalistic historians as being, then what is really
distinctive of Paul was not derived from Jesus. The establishment
of that fact has been a notable achievement of Wrede and Bousset.
But if what is essential in Paulinism was not derived from Jesus,
whence was it derived? It was not derived, as Wrede believed,
from the pre-Christian apocalyptic notions of the Messiah; for
the apocalyptic Messiah was not an object of worship, and not a
living person to be loved. It was not derived from pagan religion,
in accordance with the brilliant hypothesis of Bousset; for pagan
influence is excluded by the self-testimony of Paul, and the pagan
parallels utterly break down. But even if the parallels were ten
times closer than they are, the heart of the problem would not even
have been touched. The heart of the problem is found in the Pauline
relation to Christ. That relation cannot be described by mere
enumeration of details; it cannot be reduced to lower terms; it is
an absolutely simple and indivisible thing. The relation of Paul to
Christ is a relation of love; and love exists only between persons.
It is not a group of ideas that is to be explained, if Paulinism is
to be accounted for, but the love of Paul for his Saviour. And that
love is rooted, not in what Christ had said, but in what Christ had
done. He "loved me and gave Himself for me." There lies the basis of
the religion of Paul; there lies the basis of all of Christianity.
That basis is confirmed by the account of Jesus which is given in
the Gospels, and given, indeed, in all the sources. It is opposed
only by modern reconstructions. And those reconstructions are all
breaking down. The religion of Paul was not founded upon a complex
of ideas derived from Judaism or from paganism. It was founded upon
the historical Jesus. But the historical Jesus upon whom it was
founded was not the Jesus of modern reconstruction, but the Jesus of
the whole New Testament and of Christian faith; not a teacher who
survived only in the memory of His disciples, but the Saviour who
after His redeeming work was done still lived and could still be
loved.
INDEX
I NAMES AND SUBJECTS
Acts, Book of, 32-40
should be allowed to help in interpreting the Pauline
Epistles, 125
Adonis, 314f.
religion of, 234f.
Adoptionist Christology, not found in Pauline Epistles, 118
Agabus, 33f., 78
Agræ, mysteries of, 217
Alexander the Great, 220
Alexandria, Church at, 16
Ananias (in Acts), 71
Ananias (in Josephus), 12
Andronicus and Junias, 140f.
Anrich, 212
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