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
Apollos, who was appealed to by the "Apollos party." Evidently the
faults of the "parties" were not due at all to those whose names
the parties used. In 1 Cor. iii. 21, 22, Paul says, "All things are
yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas." Here Peter is put as
part of the common possession of all Christians. There could not
possibly be a clearer recognition of the complete fellowship which
Paul regards as existing between himself and Peter. Finally, in 1
Cor. xv. 11, Paul calls attention expressly to the fundamental unity
between himself and the other apostles: "Whether then it be I or
they, so we preach, and so ye believed."[66] The Corinthian Epistles
certainly lend no support to the Tübingen contention; they certainly
provide no evidence of a breach between Paul and the original
disciples of Jesus.
[66] See Knowling, as cited above, p. 104, footnotes 1 and 2.
At the time of his last visit to Jerusalem, Paul came again into
contact with James, the brother of the Lord, and with the Jerusalem
Church. The arrival at Jerusalem is narrated in one of the
we-sections of the Book of Acts, and it is there said, "The brethren
received us gladly" (Acts xxi. 17). The use of the first person
plural disappears after the following verse, where the meeting of
Paul with James is described, but it is very difficult to separate
Acts xxi. 20, for example, from the we-section. Of course there
could be no use of the "we" when the narrator did not participate
in what was being described. In Acts xxi. 20, it is said that James
and the presbyters "glorified God" on account of what had been done
among the Gentiles through the ministry of Paul. Whatever view may
be taken of the composition of Acts, therefore, the warm reception
of Paul on the part of the Jerusalem leaders seems to be attested by
an eyewitness. Such a reception would be very difficult to explain
if the relations between Paul and Jerusalem had been what they are
represented as being by the Tübingen scholars.
According to Acts xxi. 20-26, James brought to Paul's attention the
scruples of the Jewish Christians, who were "zealous for the law."
These Jewish Christians had been told that Paul was teaching the
Jews of the Dispersion not to circumcise their children or to walk
"in the customs." With regard to the Gentile Christians, James has
nothing to say except to call attention to the Apostolic Decree
which the Jerusalem Church itself had adopted. But in order to allay
the suspicions of the Jewish Christians, James suggests that Paul
should participate in a Jewish vow. According to Acts xxi. 26, Paul
complied with the request.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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