M15b
The Christian Paul
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Paul’s conversion to Christianity is attested in both the undisputed Pauline letters and Acts. While there is overlap, the letters and Acts present the conversion differently. Since Luke and Paul had different agendas and used different genres, their accounts emphasize different details. Paul communicated his experiences in autobiographical letters that were written to churches in distress. The letters are occasional, meaning that they address specific audiences facing specific problems. As a result, Paul was not solely interested in describing how came to faith in Christ. Rather, he selected autobiographical information that contributed to his rhetoric and advancement of the gospel.
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Luke communicated Paul’s conversion within a theological history of the church that spanned some thirty years. Consequently, Luke’s accounts are much more descriptive. Luke aims to paint a visual picture for his readers by providing details that include location, time of day, light conditions, physical descriptions, dialogue, elapsed time, and so on. If you ask most people to recount what they know of Paul’s conversion, they will probably not recall Paul’s own comments, but rather the details found in Acts. We should not be under the impression that the details in Acts are intended to be a reconstruction. Luke is not a modern historian (see Module 13). He is an ancient historian who wants to demonstrate the success and supremacy of Christianity in the face of Roman and Jewish opposition. Paul’s conversion contributes significantly to this aim.
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Info Box 11: Did Paul Remain Jewish?
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Although Paul identified himself as an apostle to the Gentiles, he did not renounce his Jewish identity. He was committed to Judaism and his Jewish heritage. For Paul, Jewish believers in Christ could still remain Jews in identity and practice. Gentile believers, however, were strongly discouraged from doing so. Paul never uses the term “Christian” to distinguish believers in Christ from nonbelievers. Nor does he use the designation for himself. The term Christian simply was not used as a designation for a religion that is separate from Judaism. If we could go back in time and ask Paul about his religious identity, he would say that he is a Jew and that his mission is to bring Gentiles into a reconstituted Israel. He would not say that he is trying to turn people into Christians.
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Paul’s Account of his Conversion
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When we search Paul’s letters for autobiographical descriptions of his conversion, we quickly realize that there is very little information. In contrast to Acts, the letters do not describe a conversion experience on the road to Damascus. They contain no dialogue between the heavenly voice, no reference to Paul’s blindness, no light from heaven, no reference to his companions, and no story of Ananias. While there are no accounts of the experience, the letters do include subtle indications of a conversion, which contrast Paul’s pre-conversion activity as a zealous Jewish persecutor of the church (Gal 1:13-14) and his post-conversion activity as a missionary to the Gentiles. Each time that Paul hints at his conversion, it is for the purpose of reinforcing his argument or enhancing his rhetoric.
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There are only a few autobiographical allusions to Paul’s conversion. At best, however, they are vague. Three of these are most often cited. One is found in Galatians (1:15-17) and other two are found in 1 Corinthians (9:16-17; 15:8). The earliest is Gal 1:15-17 where Paul writes, “But when God, who had set me apart before I was born and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with any human being, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were already apostles before me, but I went away at once into Arabia, and afterwards I returned to Damascus.” The point of this account, however, is not to describe his conversion for its own sake. Rather, it functions to support Paul’s claim that the gospel he received and now proclaims is “not of human origin” (Gal 1:11). Paul’s claim is directed at rival Christian missionaries who challenge his authority and his message. In opposition to Paul, they tried to convince his Gentile converts that they need to adopt the Jewish practices of circumcision, Sabbath, and dietary laws, which he calls the “works of the Law” (see Module 16). Since Paul was not a companion of Jesus and was converted some time after his death, it is likely that his critics claimed that he received the gospel message second hand and needed to be instructed by others who personally witnessed Jesus’ life and teachings. In response, Paul is clear that he received his commission directly from God, who set him apart before his birth (Gal 1:15).
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When we turn to 1 Cor 9:16-17, Paul’s vague reference to conversion is couched within a larger argument about compensation for his ministerial work. Paul begins the argument with a series of rhetorical questions: “Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?” (1 Cor 9:1). After affirming that he has the right to compensation for his ministry, he insists that he has not capitalized on it for fear of hindering the gospel message (1 Cor 9:11-12). Once we reach verses 16-17, Paul makes it clear that his preaching is not rooted in his own will. Rather, it is an “obligation” that has been laid on him as a “commission.” The claim that Paul is alluding to his conversion is based on the reference to his vision of Jesus in 1 Cor 9:1 together with the “obligation” foisted upon him (presumably by Jesus) in 1 Cor 9:16.
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Later in 1 Corinthians, Paul claims that Jesus appeared to him after the resurrection (15:8). While Paul is certainly not the only person to have had the vision, he is the last. This is an important detail because it coheres with the dating of the conversion story in Acts. Unfortunately. Paul gives us no other details. Once again, Paul’s brief allusion to his conversion is part of a larger argument. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul is correcting the assertion of some Corinthians that there is no resurrection of the dead (15:12). In so doing he infers that if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Jesus could not have been raised. Paul reverses the assertion by inferring that since Jesus was raised from the dead, the dead will be raised. By paying attention to the context Paul’s claim to have seen the resurrected Christ is not used to reconstruct of his conversion experience, but rather it used rhetorically to argue for the resurrection of the dead.
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Info Box 12: When did Paul Convert?
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Clues to the dating of Paul’s conversion can be found in 2 Cor11:32-33 (“At Damascus the Governor of King Aretas guarded the city of Damascus in order to seize me, but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and escaped his hands”) and Gal 1:17-18 (“I went away at once into Arabia, and afterwards I returned to Damascus. Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days”). When these texts are integrated and then situated within a reconstruct political context of Damascus, which is highly problematic because there is no corroborating evidence that Damascus was ever controlled by the Nabataean King Aretas, we arrive at a probable date. Paul most likely stayed in Damascus from 34-37 CE, which would place the date of his encounter with Christ in wither 33 or 34 CE. If he were born around the time of Jesus, he would have been in his late 30s.
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Luke’s Account of Paul’s Conversion
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Luke includes three accounts of Paul’s conversion in Acts (9:1-22; 22:3-16; 26:9-18). Why three and not just one? One of the characteristics of Luke as a storyteller is that he is repetitive when emphasizing a story’s importance. This is seen, for example, in the two accounts of the revelation given to Peter that all foods are clean in Acts 10:1-11:18. Since Luke recounts Paul’s conversion three times, it was of vital importance to him in the writing of Acts.
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Some ruins of Damascus
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The first account of Paul’s conversion, which is the longest, is comprised of two parts. In the first part Luke sets the conversion within the context of Paul’s journey to Damascus. Before Paul heads to Damascus, he acquires arrest warrants from the high priest so that he could bring Jewish followers of Jesus (“those who belong to the Way”) back to Jerusalem to stand trial. Paul’s trip is, however, cut short before he reaches Damascus when a “light from heaven” flashes around him. Paul falls to the ground and hears a voice saying, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” When Paul asks about who is speaking, the voice answers, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” When Paul gets up, he realizes that he is blind. His companions, who heard the voice but saw no one (presumably not even the light), take him to Damascus where he remains blind and does not eat or drink for three days.
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In the second part of this account, a Christian in Damascus named Ananias is instructed by Jesus in a vision to restore Paul’s sight. At first, Ananias protests because he is aware that Paul’s commission is to arrest Christians. Jesus insists, explaining that Paul “my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles” (Acts 9:15). Ananias finds Paul, lays hands on him and restores his sight. Paul remains in Damascus with the other disciples and ironically instead of arresting Jewish Christians, he preaching in the synagogues that Jesus is the Messiah and Son of God. According to Luke, this account marks the beginning Paul’s ministry to the Gentiles.
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Unlike the first conversion account, which is given by the narrator, the second account (Acts 22:3-16) takes the form of a speech given by Paul in Hebrew to an angry Jewish crowd in Jerusalem, under the protection of the Roman tribune. While much of Paul’s account is the same as the previous one in Acts 9, he adds another encounter with the risen Jesus, but this time it is in the Jerusalem Temple well after his experience on the road to Damascus. Paul recalls that while he was praying, he fell into a trance and was told by Jesus to leave Jerusalem because of its resistance to the gospel and go to the Gentiles. In addition, Ananias has a larger speaking role when he explains to Paul that God has chosen him.
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The third account, which is the shortest, is likewise placed on Paul’s lips (Acts 26:9-18). Paul’s audience is very different, however. It now includes political dignitaries, such as Herod Agrippa II and the Roman Governor Festus. As part of his defense against the angry Jews who accused him of preaching that Jesus was raised from the dead, Paul recounts his conversion experience with some alterations. He omits his temporary blindness, the help of Ananias, and the trance in the Temple, but extends Jesus’ commission to the Gentiles.
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While the three conversion accounts differ in wording, detail, presentation (first and third person), location, and intended audience, they overlap in at least three significant ways. First, they are all used for rhetorical reasons to demonstrate the authority of Paul’s message and apostleship to the Gentiles. Second, in all of the accounts Paul’s conversion should not be viewed as a conversion from Judaism to Christianity, as if it is a shift from one religion to another. This would not have been Paul’s framework. What stands out in these accounts as well as in the letters is that Paul converted from being a violent persecutor of Gentile inclusion within the people of God to a proponent of Gentile inclusion within the people of God. And third, in all of the accounts, Jesus has to identify himself to Paul, which implies that they never crossed paths before Easter.
The historicity of Luke’s accounts has been fiercely debated over the last century. The main reason for this is twofold.
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First, since Paul and Luke include the conversion as a supplement of broader rhetorical aims that often focus on Paul’s authority, the new people of God, and the messianic identity of the risen Christ, scholars differ on its historical accuracy and value. While Paul’s conversion itself is rarely doubted, its presentation by Luke and Paul raises historical questions. In Paul’s case, the vague and brief references always function to enhance his argumentation against his opponents. For Luke, the conversion accounts function apologetically not only to defend Paul’s authority, but also to legitimize Christianity to a Roman audience.
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Second, there are several differences between Paul’s letters and Acts. Some scholars attempt to harmonize both sources in order to solve the differences. The problem with this approach, as many point out, is that it often circumvents a fair and independent evaluation of each source. One of the main differences is the description of Paul’s vision of Jesus. What exactly did he see? In Acts, Luke emphasizes the heavenly light, the voice of Christ, and Paul’s ensuing blindness (9:8; 22:11). In Paul’s accounts, he omits the blindness and the light, but emphasizes the vision of Jesus himself. He rhetorically asks, “Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?” (1 Cor 9:1). Later Paul claims, “Christ appeared also to me” (1 Cor 15:8). If we take both sources seriously, what did Paul see? Did he see a blinding heavenly light as Luke says or did he see a heavenly figure that he recognized as Jesus? If he had never met Jesus, would he have recognized the wounds that are so often depicted in the Gospels and later Christian art? If we grant that Paul saw a glorified Jesus who revealed his wounds, then Paul would have identified him. What then, do we do with Luke’s heavenly light and Jesus’ need to identify himself to Paul? The debate continues.
Paul’s Missionary Journeys
Most of our information about Paul’s missionary travels throughout the Roman Empire comes from the second half of Acts (chapters 13-28). Paul is not silent, however. His letters clearly indicate the breadth of his travels throughout the northeastern part of the Mediterranean basin. His letters include addressees from a variety of places, such as Galatia, Philippi, Corinth, and Thessaloniki. Occasionally the letters refer to places where he has been and where he plans to go. But, they do not contain the detailed itinerary and experiences that we find in Acts, which is divided into three distinct missionary journeys that are written in a dramatic, action-filled, style.
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During his first missionary journey (Acts 13:1-14:28), Paul travels with Barnabas, a Cypriot Jew who is named an apostle in Acts 14:14. Beginning in Antioch, they travel to the island of Cyprus and then venture throughout southeastern Asia Minor. The general strategy during this trip is first to proclaim the gospel to Jews in the local synagogues. Their message yields a mixed reception. Some come to believe, whereas most are persuaded by the Jewish authorities not to accept their message. In the synagogues, they are especially successful among “God-fearing Gentiles” (called “God fearers”), who were pagans attracted to Judaism, but did not undergo circumcision. When Paul and Barnabas turn their attention to the Gentiles outside of the synagogue, they appear to be welcomed more broadly, though not always in the way they expect. For example, on one occasion Paul and Barnabas are mistaken for Zeus and Hermes because they perform miraculous deeds. The success among the Gentiles prompts the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15), where early Christian leader deliberate whether or not the new Gentile converts must adopt Jewish practices, specifically circumcision, if they are to be included in the new people of God.
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After a sharp disagreement with Barnabas, Paul sets out on his second missionary journey with Silas, who is described as a prophet, which in the early Christian context referred to a proclaimer of the gospel (Acts 15:36-18:22). The main reason for the trip is to see how Paul’s converts were progressing in their faith. In Lystra, a young convert named Timothy joins Paul and Silas, but at a cost. Paul required Timothy to be circumcised so that his message to the Jews would be heard (16:3).
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The itinerary is disrupted by a series of supernatural interventions. Luke writes that the Holy Spirit forbid them “to speak the word in Asia” and that the spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go into Bythinia (16:6-7). In a dream, Paul is redirected to Macedonia. When they arrive in Philippi, a main city in Macedonia, they are met with success and opposition. One of their immediate converts is a woman named Lydia, who encourages her family to also convert, which is a familiar pattern in Acts. They also encounter a slave girl who tells fortunes for money. But instead of converting, the girl who motivated by a entity follows Paul and Silas and continually disrupts them. Paul orders the girl to stop and casts out the spirit that allows her to tell fortunes. When the girl’s owners realize what had been done, which effectively cuts off their source of income, they drag Paul and Silas to the city authorities who have them flogged and imprisoned. That night, while Paul and Silas are praying, a violent earthquake causes the prison doors to open and the shackles to release. When the guard realizes what has happened, he attempts to take his life, but is stopped by Paul who leads him and his family to conversion.
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Paul and his entourage continue on to Thessalonica and then to Boroea, from where Paul parts with Silas and Timothy. Paul continues on to Athens, where he preaches to the philosophers on the Areopagus, and then on to Corinth where he again meets up with Silas and Timothy. In Corinth, where he remains for one and a half years, Paul meets Jewish converts Priscilla and Aquila who become his fellow workers in the ministry. After several contentious experiences with Jewish opponents in the synagogues, Paul leaves Corinth, visiting Syria and Ephesus on his way back to Jerusalem and Antioch.
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After spending “some time” in Antioch, Paul begins his third missionary journey (Acts 18:23-21:14) through Asia Minor to Ephesus where Priscilla and Aquila are ministering. Paul’s work in Ephesus is extensive during this trip. He encounters “disciples” who are followers of John the Baptist. When Paul hears that they have not received the Holy Spirit, he baptizes them “in the name of the Lord Jesus” and lays hands on them. Receiving the Holy Spirit, they begin to speak in tongues and to prophesy (19:1-6). Much of Paul’s ministry in Ephesus is taken with preaching in the synagogues where he tries to convince the Jews that the kingdom of God has arrived in Christ. As in previous travels, Paul is often met with opposition. Not all of the opponents, however, are Jews.
On one occasion, artisans who were selling idols of the goddess Artemis instigate a riot in response to Paul’s preaching that “gods made with hands are not gods” (19:26).
After Ephesus, Paul moves on to Greece, where he performs a noteworthy miracle. In Troas, a young man named Eutychus fades off to sleep during Paul’s preaching and falls out of a window to his death. Paul picks up the boy and reassures the crowd that he is indeed alive, implying that he was raised him from the dead. Finally, before moving on to Jerusalem, Paul delivers his farewell speech to the Ephesian elders, describing his own missionary efforts and strategy, encouraging them to watch out for those who would distort the gospel.
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When we compare Luke’s presentation of Paul’s missionary activity with Paul’s own accounts in his letters, we encounter a number of differences. Most of these, however, can be attributed to Paul’s lack of detail. The main difference to which scholars often point concerns Paul’s target audience. In his letters, Paul consistently claims to be an “apostle to the Gentiles” (Rom 11:13; Gal 2:8; Eph 3:8), which is clearly expressed in the content of his letters. In 1 Corinthians, for example, he refers to his audience as former pagans (1 Cor 12:2), reminding them, “some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food they think of it as having been sacrificed to a god” (1 Cor 8:7). Paul refers to the Galatians as those who did not know God because they were “slaves to those who by nature are not gods” (Gal 4:8).
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The division of missionary labor is most clearly summarized in Gal 2:7, where Paul distinguishes himself from Peter, saying, “they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel for the circumcised.” In Acts, however, Paul’s target audience is the Jews in synagogues. Paul turns to the Gentiles only after the Jews reject his message. (Acts 13:46). Paul certainly converts Gentiles during his missionary travels, but this does not appear to be his initial aim. What is more, it is actually Peter who appears to be the approved missionary to the Gentiles. At the Jerusalem Council, Luke quotes Peter saying, “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe” (Acts 15:7).
Info Box 13: Chronology of Paul’s Ministry
After Paul’s stay in Damascus from 34-37, he traveled to Jerusalem, after which he began his missionary activity. A reconstruction of Paul’s ministry is a painstaking exercise that has to weigh all of the clues from his letters, Acts, and Roman sources. Jerome Murphy-O’Connor (Paul, 28-31) has undertaken this task and reconstructs the dates as follows:
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Antioch Winter 45-46
Ministry in Galatia September 46-May48
Ministry in Macedonia September 48-April 50
Ministry in Corinth April 50-September 51
Conference in Jerusalem October 51
Ephesus August 52-October 54
Macedonia Winter 54-55
Illyricum Summer 55
Jerusalem-Caesarea 57?-61?
Rome Spring 62-Spring 64
Spain Early Summer 64 (controversial)
Aegean area 64-66 (controversial)
Death in Rome 67
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Paul’s Death
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Paul was martyred in Rome during the reign of Nero. Given his cancelation of the trip to Spain and his visits around the Aegean, he probably returned to Rome after the disastrous fire that raged for over a week during July 19-28 in 64CE. The devastation was widespread and quickly led to calls for justice. Nero blamed the Christians, which led to a brutal persecution. Historians today, however, assign blame to the emperor himself for orchestrating a fire that allowed him to rebuild parts of Rome. The surviving portions of Tacitus’ (56-117 CE) Annals describe the horrific aftermath.
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But neither human resources, not imperial munificence, nor appeasement of the gods, eliminated sinister suspicions that the fire had been instigated. To suppress this rumor, Nero fabricated scapegoats, and punished with every refinement the notoriously depraved Christians (as they were popularly called)…. Their deaths were made farcical. Dressed in wild animals' skins, they were torn to pieces by dogs, or crucified, or made into torches to be ignited after dark as substitutes for daylight. Nero provided his Gardens for the spectacle, and exhibited displays in the Circus, at which he mingled with the crowd, or stood in a chariot, dressed as a charioteer (Annals, 15.44; trans. Grant).
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It is difficult to know how soon after the fire Paul arrived in Rome. Many historians speculate that once Paul heard about the persecution of his fellow Christians, he set out for Rome immediately, fearing for the apostasy of those believers who had survived. For Paul, the future of the church in Rome was at stake. If early Christian traditions are correct that Paul was martyred during the reign of Nero, he must have arrived in Rome before the emperor’s suicide on June 9, 68 CE.
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To pinpoint the date of Paul’s execution is futile, though the year 67 CE is most often proposed on the basis of Christian traditions that span from the second century to the fourth. Since Nero was in Greece from autumn 66 to the winter 67, he may not have even been involved in the sentencing. Paul was probably tried by a sanctioned court and sentenced to beheading. Despite later venerations of the location of Paul’s burial site in Rome, there is no early evidence (from within the first two centuries of his death) where he was buried.
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Info Box 14: Descriptions of Paul
The New Testament documents do not give us any physical descriptions of Paul. There are indications that Paul may have had problems with his eyes (Gal 4:13-15), though it is unclear whether or not this ailment would have been noticeable. In 2 Cor 12:7, he famously says that he suffered with “thorn in the flesh.” While some have speculated that this was a metaphor for a physical and even psychological ailment, it is probably a reference to Judaizing Christians who opposed Paul. When we turn to early Christian literature outside the New Testament, we find occasional descriptions of Paul’s physical appearance. These, however, may be rhetorical references to Paul’s character.
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In ancient rhetorical handbooks, physical traits were often identified with ethical and intellectual qualities of orators. Nevertheless, in the Acts of Paul (2nd century), a man named Onesiphorus goes out to meet Paul as he is on his way to Iconium, describing him as “a man small of stature, with a bald head and crooked legs, in a good state of body, with eyebrows meeting and nose somewhat hooked, full of friendliness; for now he appeared like a man, and now he had the face of an angel” (3:3). In the Acts of Peter and Paul (6th - 7th century), Paul’s baldness is an identifying marker for those who seek to kill him. When Paul’s adversaries mistakenly kill his sympathizer, Dioscorus, who was also bald (9:2-3), and take his decapitated head to Caesar, it soon discovered that the head does not belong to Paul. At the stark realization, the prominent Simon the Magician says, “What head is it, then, that came to Caesar from Pontiole? Was it not bald in front also?” (21:4-5).
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Paul the Letter Writer
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Paul is best remembered for writing letters to churches. To date, they are the earliest Christian writings. As far as we know, Paul did not write narratives about Jesus’ ministry or the events of the early church that followed his crucifixion. Instead, Paul’s letters consist of theological arguments in response to specific problems within various congregations. Paul’s letters follow literary conventions that were common in antiquity. Having an awareness of ancient Greco-Roman letter writing practices and strategies help us in better understanding Paul’s thought in relation to the problems he was addressing.
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Letters in the Ancient World
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A manuscript of Ephesians.
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The most common type of letter in antiquity was what scholars call a non-literary or private correspondence. In contrast to public or politically oriented letters, private letters were written in order to maintain contact with acquaintances, friends, or family members. Usually, private letters were highly occasional and would have often been discarded after they were read. This may explain why the vast majority of extant letters from the 3rd century BCE to the 3rd century CE were discovered in ancient trash heaps buried in the Egyptian desert. The arid climate has provided ideal conditions for preserving papyri.
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Private letters usually consisted of three structural elements: (1) an opening formula, (2) the main body, and (3) a closing formula. Opening formulas generally included both the names of the sender and the recipient, as well as a greeting. A wish of good health often followed the greeting. The final part of the opening formula contained a prayer or thanksgiving for the recipient. The main body often contained the greatest variation in form and content. The occasion that prompted the letter would determine how much information was required in order to bring about the desired outcome. Private letters were generally brief due to the expense associated with materials and hired scribes. Closing formulas often contained greetings and/or additional wishes of good health that sometimes extended beyond the sender, followed by a farewell and a date. If a scribe was used to write the letter, he sometimes identified himself in the closing formula. If the sender was literate, he or she often wrote the final greeting. This was a broadly practiced convention used even by the elite and royalty.
The Structure of Paul’s Letters
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Paul follows the convention of private letters. Although he addresses many audiences and a variety of issues, the framework or “literary skeleton” of his letters is consistent. A quick glance at the opening and closing formulas in all of the letters will reveal similar language and style. While Paul’s letters can be divided into the same three structural elements, most scholars divide the opening formula into two parts—the greeting of recipients and a thanksgiving. As a result, Paul’s letters are commonly structured in a fourfold manner: (1) greeting or salutation, (2) thanksgiving, (3) body, and (4) closing.
Salutation
Paul always begins with his name, as sender, followed by the name of the recipient. Usually the recipient is a community of believers. For example, the letter to the Philippians is addressed, “To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi…” (Phil 1:1). The letter to Philemon, however, includes individuals in the list of recipients. Paul writes, “To Philemon our dear friend and co-worker, to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house” (Philem 1:1-2). Salutations sometimes contain more information than simply the name of the recipient(s). They can describe the recipient(s) and provide clues to the problem that is being addressed.
For example, consider the salutation to 1 Corinthians: “To the church of God that is in Corinth to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours” (1 Cor 1:2). At first glance, the salutation may not appear to be especially significant. However, as we continue to read the letter, we soon discover that one of the main problems that Paul is addressing is division within the Christian community. In light of this problem, the salutation is an affirmation that Christians are by nature unified in Christ, whether in Corinth or elsewhere. The salutation sets the stage for Paul’s argument in defense of unity.
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Salutations often include greetings. As in standard openings of Greek letters, Paul uses the formula “A to B, greetings.” Since the word “greeting” (chairein) is related to the word “grace” (charis), Paul along with other Christian writers often turn the greeting into a wish for blessing from God (e.g. Rom 1:7) and thereby create religious solidarity with their recipients.
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Thanksgiving
The thanksgiving portion follows the salutation. It appears in all of Paul’s letters except Galatians, where it may constitute an intentional omission that emphasizes the severity of the problem in Galatia. The thanksgivings are often more than simple expressions of gratitude or praise to God for the community. The also introduce the major issues that Paul wants to address.
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Body
As with most correspondences, ancient and modern, the body of Paul’s letters constitutes the largest portion and contains the greatest variance of both form and content. The issues that Paul needed to address in the letters determined the structure and content of the body. Despite the variance, there are some common features found in most of Paul’s letters. The transition from “thanksgiving” to “body” is usually signaled by phrases like “I appeal to you” or “I do not want you to be uninformed.” The end of the body section generally includes future travel plans to visit the recipients. In several letters, the body includes an autobiographical section, which often functions to further strengthen Paul’s theological argument.
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Closing
Closings often reflect salutations. The beginning of the closing section is often identified by a wish for peace, which reflects the Jewish practice of ending letters with a wish for shalom (peace). Paul also reflects the Greek custom of including a wish for “grace.” As with the salutation, Paul Christianizes his farewell with a theologically expanded wish for grace, which is often expressed as “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you,” which once again conveys solidarity (e.g. Rom 16:20).
Amanuenses
Paul probably dictated his letters to a professional scribe or secretary called an amanuensis (see Module 6). These professional secretaries were far more skilled in writing, and even perhaps reading, than those who employed their services. They were much quicker and more efficient than even many literate people. Amanuenses (plural for amanuensis) also had the necessary supplies for writing, like pens, papyri, ink, and a tablet. When the amanuensis completed his writing, the author often wrote a personal greeting in his own hand. We see this on occasion in Paul’s letters. For example, at the end Galatians, Paul writes, “See what large letters I make when I am writing in my own hand!” (Gal 6:11). At the end of other letters, Paul (or another author) uses the literary formula “I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand” to express personal greetings (1 Cor 16:21; Col 4:18; 2 Thess 3:17).
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The method of recording was not always the same. It ranged. At one end of the spectrum, authors required their amanuenses to record dictations verbatim, word-for-word. At the other end, authors gave their amanuenses freedom to record dictations or general ideas in their own words, allowing them to choose the vocabulary, grammar, and style. While we are not sure exactly how Paul used his amanuenses, we are certain that they played an important role in the writing process. Rom 16:22 provides the most direct evidence for the use of an amanuensis, who writes. “I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord.”
Pseudonymity
Pseudonymity was widely practiced in antiquity. Acceptance of it seems to have varied. The motivations behind composing a letter (or other types of writing) in another person’s name also varied. Some pseudonymous works were produced so that they could be sold to book-dealers or librarians who were interested in expanding their collections of particular authors. Others were written in order to damage the purported author’s reputation by ascribing to them statements that would elicit a negative reaction. Other motivations were not so sinister. Sometimes the authors wrote in the name of someone because of admiration and appreciation. In these cases, they tried to represent and expand the ideas, perhaps in the face of new circumstances. This type of pseudonymous composition was often associated with the surviving disciples of a famous teacher, or members of a philosophical “school,” even hundreds of years later.
At the beginning of this chapter we described how scholars divide the Pauline letters into two categories, the disputed letters and the undisputed letters. The disputed letters are writings attributed to Paul and include his name in the salutation, but are commonly thought to have been written by another person. This practice of writing in another person’s name is known as pseudonymity, a term deriving from a Greek word meaning “false name.” The list of these pseudonymous (and disputed) letters usually includes 1, 2 Timothy, Titus, Ephesians, Colossians, and 2 Thessalonians.
Determining whether or not a letter is pseudonymous is based on several literary factors, which include style, vocabulary, and theological content. Making the determination that a letter is pseudonymous can be problematic, however, because one must first establish a baseline of Pauline thought and expression based on a selection of letters that are deemed undisputed. This process can be circular since the selection of undisputed letters will naturally effect how one judges the remaining disputed letters. Nevertheless, the similarities of the undisputed letters are significant enough to establish this core group with some confidence.
Pseudonymity can cause problems for interpretation. When trying to understand a concept or a term that Paul incorporates into the argument of one letter, it is common practice to gain more information from his other letters. However, if one utilizes a letter that is falsely attributed to Paul, this may actually lead to skewed results.
Pseudonymity can also cause problems for canonicity. If some of the letters were not actually written by Paul, how does this modern assessment affect the church’s canonization process in the first three centuries? If genuine authorship was one of the factors (though certainly not the sole factor) that the early church considered when determining which books should be in the canon (see Module 7), should pseudonymous letters remain in the canon? The problem is difficult because there is no uniform view that authorship had to be genuine. Most scholars today point to the uniformity of the apostolic age and not individual apostles as the criterion that the early church used for determining authoritative writings.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Aune, David E. The New Testament in Its Literary Environment. Library of Early Christianity 8. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1987.
Doty, William G. Letters in Primitive Christianity. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1973.
Hennecke, Edgar. New Testament Apocrypha. Edited by W. Schneemelcher. Translated by R. McL. Wilson. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1964.
Murphy-O’Connor, Jerome. Paul: His Story. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Plevnik, Joseph. What Are They Saying About Paul? New York: Paulist Press, 1986.
Powell, Mark Allan. Introducing the New Testament: A Historical, Literary, and Theological Survey. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2009.
Roetzel, Calvin J. The Letters of Paul: Conversations in Context. 4th ed. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1998.
Sanders, E. P. Paul: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991.
–––––. Paul and Palestinian Judaism: A Comparison of Patterns of Religion. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1977.
Stowers, Stanley K. Letter Writing in Greco-Roman Antiquity (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1989).
Wright, N. T. What Saint Paul Really Said: Was Paul of Tarsus the Real Founder of Christianity? Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997.
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