Paul

1. Paul's mission was shaped by urgent apocalyptic expectations

The Kingdom of God, Paul proclaimed, was at hand. His firm belief that he lived and worked in history's final hour is absolutely foundational, shaping everything else that Paul says and does.

Imminent end times. Paul was convinced that Christ's resurrection signaled the beginning of the end times. He expected Christ's return, the general resurrection, and the establishment of God's Kingdom to occur within his lifetime. This urgency permeated his letters and drove his mission to spread the gospel quickly.

Cosmic battle. Paul saw his work as part of a cosmic struggle against supernatural forces. He believed Christ's return would defeat hostile powers and transform the cosmos. This apocalyptic worldview shaped how Paul understood the significance of gentiles turning to the god of Israel.

• Signs of the end: Gentiles abandoning idols
• Expectation: Christ's imminent return
• Urgency: Limited time to spread the gospel
• Goal: Prepare people for coming judgment

2. Paul addressed his letters primarily to gentile Christ-followers

All of his extant letters are addressed solely and explicitly to gentile assemblies.

Gentile audience. Paul's letters were written specifically to communities of former pagans who had turned to the god of Israel through Christ. This context is crucial for properly interpreting Paul's statements about the Law, circumcision, and Israel.

God-fearers. Many of Paul's gentile converts likely came from the group of "god-fearers" - pagans who were already associated with synagogues and familiar with Jewish scriptures and traditions. This explains how Paul could use complex biblical arguments with his audience.

• Primary audience: Former pagans turned Christ-followers
• Not addressed to: Jews or Jewish Christ-followers
• Background: Many converts familiar with Judaism
• Implication: Statements about Law refer to gentiles, not Jews

3. Paul's gospel demanded exclusive worship of Israel's god

Paul's core message to his gentiles about their behavior was not "Do not circumcise!" It was "No more latreia to lower gods!" His pagans were to worship strictly and only the Jewish god.

Radical demand. Paul required his gentile converts to completely abandon worship of their traditional gods and commit exclusively to Israel's god. This was a more extreme form of "Judaizing" than diaspora synagogues typically required of sympathetic pagans.

Social disruption. This demand for exclusive worship caused significant social upheaval, as it violated cultural norms and risked divine anger. It helps explain the persecution Paul and his converts faced from both Jews and pagans.

• Key requirement: Abandon all other gods
• More extreme than: Typical synagogue requirements
• Social consequences: Violated cultural norms
• Risks: Perceived to anger traditional gods

4. Paul maintained ethnic distinctions between Jews and gentiles

Paul nowhere in his letters says anything about (much less against) Jews circumcising their own sons, and he explicitly preaches against epispasm (the surgical "making a foreskin" derided in 1 Macc 1.15; cf. 1 Cor 7.18, mē epispasthō).

Distinct identities. Contrary to some interpretations, Paul did not erase ethnic distinctions between Jews and gentiles. He opposed gentile circumcision precisely to preserve these distinctions. For Paul, Jews remained Jews and gentiles remained gentiles, even when united "in Christ."

Jewish practice. Paul never argued against Jews continuing to observe their ancestral customs, including circumcision. His negative statements about the Law and circumcision referred only to gentiles, not to Jewish practice.

• Opposed: Gentile circumcision
• Maintained: Jewish circumcision and customs
• United but distinct: Jews and gentiles "in Christ"
• Misinterpretation: Paul as anti-Jewish practice

5. Paul saw Christ as the eschatological Davidic messiah

"Son of God" and "Son of David" and "Lord" indicate the same person in an eschatological messianic context—hence Paul's appeal to Isaiah 11.10 in his closing catena of scriptural citations in Romans 15.12.

Davidic messiah. For Paul, Jesus was the long-awaited Davidic messiah prophesied in Jewish scriptures. His resurrection confirmed his messianic status, but his full manifestation as the conquering messiah would occur at his return.

Eschatological role. Paul saw Christ's role primarily in eschatological terms. His return would defeat cosmic powers, raise the dead, and establish God's Kingdom. This expectation shaped Paul's understanding of Christ's significance for both Jews and gentiles.

• Christ as: Davidic messiah, Son of God, Lord
• First coming: Crucifixion and resurrection
• Second coming: Conquest and Kingdom establishment
• Significance: Fulfillment of scriptural promises

6. Paul's negative statements about the Law referred only to gentiles

Paul speaks both positively and negatively about the Law. We have tried to sort through the various subjects on which he sounds approbation and enthusiasm (such as gentiles' keeping the Law's commandments) and those that draw his angry disapproval, even condemnation (the gentile reception of circumcision).

Context matters. Paul's seemingly contradictory statements about the Law make sense when we recognize he is addressing gentiles. His negative statements refer to gentile attempts to follow the Law without Christ, not to Jewish observance of the Law.

Positive view. Paul maintained a positive view of the Law for Jews and even urged his gentile converts to follow certain commandments. His opposition was to gentiles attempting to become Jewish through Law observance, not to the Law itself.

• Negative statements: About gentiles and Law
• Positive statements: About Jews and Law
• Gentile instruction: Follow some commandments
• Opposition: Gentile circumcision, not Law itself

7. Paul believed gentiles were included in Israel's redemption

Paul's concentration on the Law's negative effects for gentiles does not, in my view, diminish his conviction that Christ comes to redeem Israel as well as the nations (Rom 15.8–9).

Dual redemption. Paul believed Christ would redeem both Israel and the gentiles, fulfilling God's promises to the patriarchs. He did not see gentile inclusion as replacing Israel, but as joining with Israel in God's redemptive plan.

Eschatological inclusion. Drawing on prophetic traditions, Paul saw gentile turning to Israel's god as a sign of the end times. He believed a "full number" of gentiles would be included in redemption alongside "all Israel."

• Redeemed: Both Israel and gentiles
• Not replaced: Israel's special role
• Prophetic fulfillment: Gentile inclusion
• End-time sign: Gentiles turning to Israel's god

8. Paul's theology was deeply rooted in Jewish scriptures and traditions

Paul thinks biblically, apocalyptically, messianically. I want to urge, then, that we try to interpret both Paul and his Christology in innocence of the imperial church's later creedal formulas.

Jewish framework. Paul's theology and christology were thoroughly grounded in Jewish scriptures and apocalyptic traditions. He interpreted Christ and his significance through the lens of biblical prophecies and Jewish messianic expectations.

Not "Christian" theology. Later Christian theological formulations often misinterpret Paul by reading him through the lens of later doctrinal developments. Understanding Paul requires situating him within his first-century Jewish context.

• Primary sources: Jewish scriptures
• Interpretive lens: Apocalyptic traditions
• Christology: Rooted in Jewish messianism
• Misreading: Through later Christian theology

9. Paul saw his gentile mission as fulfilling prophecies about Israel

Paul's deference to Isaianic traditions of eschatological pilgrimage to Jerusalem, combined with the pagan focus of his own mission, meant that he had to reflect on the significance of his gospel tois ethnesin, "to the pagans," to and for his own kinsmen, Israel kata sarka.

Prophetic fulfillment. Paul understood his mission to the gentiles as fulfilling biblical prophecies about the nations turning to Israel's god in the end times. This gave his work cosmic significance within God's plan for Israel.

Israel's redemption. Paradoxically, Paul saw his gentile mission as ultimately serving Israel's redemption. By provoking his fellow Jews to "jealousy," he hoped to spur them to recognize Christ, hastening the final redemption of "all Israel."

• Mission goal: Fulfill prophecies about nations
• Cosmic significance: Part of God's plan for Israel
• Strategy: Provoke Jews to "jealousy"
• Ultimate aim: Redemption of "all Israel"

Last updated: February 19, 2025