Bible Heaven/Bible Heaven.iso/robertsn/pauls-ep.int

Text File | 1993-03-13 | 13KB | 248 lines

                       THE EPISTLES OF PAUL
                      BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION


                    IMPORTANCE OF PAUL'S WORK

        It is impossible to put too much emphasis on the life and
work of Paul as the great interpreter of Christ. He has been
misunderstood in modern times as he was during his career. Some
accuse him of perverting the pure gospel of Christ about the
Kingdom of God into a theological and ecclesiastical system. He
has been accused of rabbinizing the gospel by carrying over his
Pharisaism, while others denounce him for Hellenizing the gospel
with Greek philosophy and the Greek mystery-religions. But out of
all the welter of attacks Paul's Epistles stand as the marvellous
expression of his own conception of Christ and the application of
the gospel to the life of the Christians in the Graeco-Roman
world in which they lived by eternal principles that apply to us
today. In order to understand Paul's Epistles one must know the
Acts of the Apostles in which Luke has drawn with graphic power
the sudden change of the foremost opponent of Christ into the
chief expounder and proclaimer of the gospel of the Risen Christ.
The Acts and the Epistles supplement each other in a marvellous
way, though chiefly in an incidental fashion. It is by no means
certain that Luke had access to any of Paul's Epistles before he
wrote the Acts, though that was quite possible for the early
Epistles. It does not greatly matter for Luke had access to Paul
himself both in Caesarea and in Rome. The best life of Paul one
can get comes by combining the Acts with the Epistles if he knows
how to do it. Paul is Luke's hero, but he has not overdrawn the
picture in the Acts as is made clear by the Epistles themselves
which reveal his own grasp and growth. The literature on Paul is
vast and constantly growing. He possesses a fascination for
students of the New Testament and of Christianity. It is
impossible here to allude even to the most important in so vast a
field. Conybeare and Howson's _Life and Epistles of St. Paul_
still has value. Sir W. M. Ramsay has a small library on Paul and
his Epistles. Stalker's masterful little book on Paul still grips
men as does the work of Sabatier. Deissmann's _St. Paul _
continues to throw light on the great Apostle to the Gentiles.
Those who wish my own view at greater length will find them in my
various books on Paul (_Epochs in the Life of Paul_, _Paul the
Interpreter of Christ_, etc.).

                   THE REASON FOR HIS EPISTLES

        In a real sense Paul's Epistles are tracts for the times,
not for the age in general, but to meet real emergencies. He
wrote to a particular church or group of churches or persons to
meet immediate needs brought to his attention by messengers or
letters. Dr. Deissmann contends strongly for the idea of calling
Paul's Epistles "letters" rather than "Epistles." He gives a
studied literary character to "epistles" as more or less
artificial and written for the public eye rather than for
definite effect. Four of Paul's Epistles are personal (those to
Philemon, Titus, and Timothy) beyond a doubt, but in these which
can properly be termed personal letters there are the principles
of the gospel applied to personal, social, and ecclesiastical
problems in such a pungent fashion that they possess permanent
value. In the earliest group of Paul's Epistles, he reminds the
Thessalonians of the official character of the Epistle which was
meant for the church as a whole (#1Th 5:27|). He says also: "But
if any one does not obey our word by the epistle, mark this one,
not to associate with him, that he may be put to shame" (#2Th
3:14|). He calls attention to his signature as proof of the
genuineness of every epistle (#2Th 3:17|). He gave directions for
the public reading of his epistles (#Col 4:16|). He regarded them
as the expression of God's will through the life of the churches
and he put his whole heart into them. Two great controversies
stirred Paul's life. That with the Judaizers called forth the
great doctrinal group (I Corinthians, II Corinthians, Galatians,
Romans). That with the Gnostics occasioned the Epistles to the
Colossians and the Ephesians (Laodiceans) and this controversy
ran on into the Pastoral Epistles. Each Epistle had its
particular occasion which will be pointed out in due season. But
even in the short ones like Philippians, Colossians and Ephesians
Paul deals with the sublimest of all themes, the Person of
Christ, with a masterfulness never equalled elsewhere. Even in I
Corinthians, which deals so largely with church problems in
Corinth, two great chapters rise to the heights of real eloquence
(Chapter #1Co 13| on Love and Chapter #1Co 15| on the
Resurrection). Romans, the greatest of his Epistles, has the
fullest discussion of Paul's gospel of grace and Chapter #1Co 8|
has a sweep of imagination and a grasp of faith unsurpassed.
Hence, while denying to Paul the artificial rules of the
rhetoricians attributed to him by Blass, I cannot agree that
Paul's church Epistles are mere incidental letters. It is not a
question whether Paul was writing for posterity or for the
present emergency. He wrote for the present emergency in the most
effective possible way. He brought the whole gospel message to
bear upon the varied and pressing problems of the early
Christians in the power of the Holy Spirit with the eloquence of
a mind all ablaze with the truth and with a heart that yearned
for their souls for Christ. They are not literary epistles, but
they are more than personal letters. They are thunderbolts of
passion and power that struck centre and that strike fire now for
all who will take the trouble to come to them for the mind of
Christ that is here.

                      DATES OF HIS EPISTLES

        Unfortunately there is not complete agreement among
scholars as to the dates of some of Paul's Epistles. Baur denied
the Pauline authorship of all the Epistles save I and II
Corinthians, Galatians, Romans. Today some deny that Paul wrote
the Pastoral Epistles, though admitting the others. Some admit
Pauline fragments even in the Pastoral Epistles, but more about
this when these Epistles are reached. There is more doubt about
the date of Galatians than any of the others. Lightfoot put it
just before Romans, while Ramsay now makes it the earliest of
all. The Epistle itself has no notes of place or time. The
Epistles to the Thessalonians were written from Corinth after
Timothy had been sent from Athens by Paul to Thessalonica (#1Th
3:1f.|) and had just returned to Paul (#1Th 3:6|) which we know
was in Corinth (#Ac 18:5|) shortly before Gallio came as
Proconsul of Achaia (#Ac 18:12|). We can now feel certain from
the new "acclamation" of Claudius in the inscription at Delphi
recently explained by Deissmann in his _St. Paul_ that the
Thessalonian Epistles were written 50 to 51 A.D. We know also
that he wrote I Corinthians while in Ephesus (#1Co 16:8|) and
before pentecost, though the precise year is not given. But he
spent three years at Ephesus in round numbers (#Ac 19:8,10;
20:31|) and he wrote just before he left, probably spring of A.D.
54 or 55. He wrote II Corinthians from Macedonia shortly after
leaving Ephesus (#2Co 2:12|) ] apparently the same year. Romans
was written from Corinth and sent by Phoebe of Cenchreae (#Ro
16:1f.|) unless #Ro 16| be considered a separate Epistle to
Ephesus as some hold, a view that does not commend itself to me.
Deissmann (_New Testament in the Light of Modern Research_, p.
33) accepts a modern theory that Ephesus was the place of the
writing of the first prison Epistles (Philippians, Philemon,
Colossians, Ephesians) as well as I Corinthians and Galatians and
dates them all between A.D. 52 and 55. But we shall find that
these prison Epistles most naturally fall to Rome between A.D. 61
and 63. If the Pastoral Epistles are genuine, as I hold, they
come between A.D. 65 and 68. Bartlet argues for a date before
A.D. 64, accepting the view that Paul was put to death then. But
it is still far more probable that Paul met his death in Rome in
A.D. 68 shortly before Nero's death which was June 8, A.D. 68. It
will thus be seen that the dates of several of the Epistles are
fairly clear, while some remain quite uncertain. In a broad
outlook they must all come between A.D. 50 and 68.

                 FOUR GROUPS OF PAULINE EPISTLES

I. First Thessalonians.   |
   Second Thessalonians.  |   A.D. 50 to 51.

      Chief topic Eschatology. To correct misconceptions
         in Thessalonica.

II. First Corinthians.    |
    Second Corinthians    |
    Galatians             |   A.D. 54 to 57.
    Romans.               |

        Chief topic Justification by Faith. Defence against
           the Judaizers.

III. Philippians.         |
     Philemon.            |
     Colossians.          |   A.D. 61 to 63.
     Ephesians (Laodiceans).

        Chief topic Christology. Defence against the Gnostic
           perversions of the Person of Christ.

IV. First Timothy.        |
    Titus.                |   A.D. 65 to 68.
    Second Timothy.       |

        Ecclesiastical Problems to the fore.

                  DEVELOPMENT IN PAUL'S THEOLOGY

        The study of Paul's Epistles in the order of their
writing is the best possible way of seeing his own growth as a
theologian and interpreter of Christ. Sabatier long ago laid
emphasis on this point in his book _The Apostle Paul_ as did
Matheson in _The Spiritual Development of Paul_. It is a tragedy
to have to read Paul's Epistles as printed in the usual Greek
text of Westcott and Hort and the English translations, beginning
with Romans and ending with Philemon. In the manuscripts that
give Paul's Epistles Romans comes first as the largest and most
important, but Titus and Philemon come after II Timothy (the last
just before his death). We know something of Paul's early
preaching how he laid emphasis on the Messiahship of Jesus proven
by his resurrection, Paul himself having seen the Risen Christ
(#Ac 9:22|). This conviction and experience lay at the foundation
of all his work and he never faltered concerning it (#Ac 17:3).
In the earliest sermon of which we have a full report Paul
proclaims justification by faith in Christ with forgiveness of
sins (#Ac 13:38f.|), blessings not obtained by the law of Moses.
In the unfolding life of Paul he grappled with great problems of
Jewish rabbinism and Greek philosophy and mystery-religions and
Paul himself grew in stature as he courageously and victoriously
faced Judaizer and Gnostic. There are scholars who claim that
Paul surrendered to the appeal of Gnostic sacramentarianism and
so went back on his great doctrine of justification by faith, not
by works. It will be shown at the proper time that this view
misinterprets Paul's attitude. The events given by Luke in the
Acts fit in with the self-revelation of Paul in his own Epistles
as we read them. Each one of the four groups of Epistles has a
slightly different style and vocabulary as is natural when one
comes to think of it. The same thing is true of the plays of
Shakespeare and the poems of Milton. Style is the man, Buffon
says. Yes, but style is also a function of the subject.
Particularly is this true of vocabulary which has to vary with
the different topics treated. But style in the same man varies
with different ages. Ripened old age mellows the exuberance of
youth and the passionate vehemence of manhood. We shall see Paul
himself in his Epistles, letting himself go in various ways and
in different moods. But in all the changing phases of his life
and work there is the same masterful man who glories in being the
slave of Jesus Christ and the Apostle to the Gentiles. The
passion of Paul is Christ and one can feel the throb of the heart
of the chief of sinners who became the chief of saints in all his
Epistles. There is the Pauline glow and glory in them all.

                SOME BOOKS ON THE PAULINE EPISTLES

Bate, _As a Whole Guide to the Epistles of St. Paul_
   (1927).
Bonnet-Schroeder, _Epitres de Paul_ (4 ed. 1912).
Champlain, _The Epistles of Paul_ (1906).
Clemen, _Einheitlichkeit d . paul. Briefe_ (1894).
Conybeare and Howson, _Life and Epistles of St. Paul_.
Drummond, _The Epistles of Paul the Apostle_ (1899).
Hayes, _Paul and His Epistles_ (1915).
Heinrici, _Die Forschungen uber die paul. Briefe_ (1886).
Lake, _The Earlier Epistles of St. Paul_ (1915).
Lewin, _Life and Epistles of St. Paul_. (1875).
Neil, _The Pauline Epistles_ (1906).
Scott, _The Pauline Epistles_ (1909).
Shaw, _The Pauline Epistles_ (1903).
Vischer, _Die Paulusbriefe_ (1910).
Voelter, _Die Composition der paul. Haupt Briefe_ (1890).
Voelter, _Paulus und seine Briefe_ (1905).
Way, _The Letters of Paul to Seven Churches and Three
   Friends_ (1906)
Weinel, _Die Echtheit der paul. Hauptbriefe_ (1920).
Weiss, B., _Present Status of the Inquiry Concerning the
   Genuineness of the Pauline Epistles_ (1901).
Weiss, B., _Die Paulinische Briefe_ (1902).
Wood, _Life, Letters, and Religion of St. Paul_ (1925).