The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown (92 page)

Paul's Gospel

Paul's gospel indicted all humanity for the crime of rejecting God and his rightful authority
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Suffering the consequences of Adam's sin, mankind plunged into the depths of depravity so that they were utterly unable to fulfill the righteous demands of God (Rom 1:18-32; 3:9-20; 9:12-19) and deserved only the wrath of God (Rom 1:18; 2:5-16). The sinner was alienated from God and at enmity with him (Rom 5:10; Col 1:21). Consequently, the sinner's only hope was the gospel that embodied God's power to save those who had faith in Christ (Rom 1:16).

The focus of Paul's gospel was Jesus Christ (Rom 1:3—4). Paul affirmed Jesus' humanity and his deity. Christ was a physical descendent from the line of David (Rom 1:2), came in the likeness of sinful man (Rom 8:3), assuming the form of a humble, obedient servant (Phil 2:7-8). Yet he was the visible form of the invisible God (Col 1:15), all the fullness of deity living in him in bodily form (Col 2:9), in very nature God (Phil 1:6), and possessed the title “Lord” (Greek title for the God of the OT), the name above all names (Phil 2:9—11). Paul believed that by virtue of his sinlessness, Jesus was qualified to be the
sacrifice that made sinners right with God (2 Cor 5:21). In his death on the cross, Jesus had become the curse for sin (Gal 3:10—14), and the righteous had died for the unrighteous (Rom 5:6-8).

Salvation is a free gift granted to believers and grounded solely in God's grace. Salvation is not dependent on human merit, activity, or effort but only on God's undeserved love (Rom 6:23; Eph 2:8—10). Those who trust Jesus for their salvation, confess him as Lord, and believe that God raised him from the dead (Rom 10:9) will be saved from God's wrath, become righteous in God's sight (Rom 5:9), are adopted as God's children (Rom 8:15-17; Eph 1:5), and are transformed by the Spirit's power (Gal 5:22-24). At the coming of Christ believers will be resurrected (1 Cor 15:12—57), partake fully of the Son's righteous character (Phil 3:20-21), and live forever with their Lord (1 Thess 4:17).

By their union with Christ through faith, believers participate spiritually in Christ's death, resurrection, and ascension (Rom 6:1—7:6; Eph 2:4—5; Col 3:1—4). Consequently, the believer has been liberated from the power of sin, death, and the law. He is a new, though imperfect, creation that is continually being made more like Christ (2 Cor 5:17; Col 3:9—10). Although the believer is no longer under the authority of the written law, the Holy Spirit functions as a new internal law leading him naturally and spontaneously to fulfill the law's righteous demands (Rom 8:1—4). As a result, the law-free gospel does not encourage unrighteous behavior in believers. Such behavior is contrary to their new identity in Christ.

The union of believers with Christ brings them into union with other believers in the body of Christ, the church. Believers exercise their spiritual gifts in order to help each other mature, to serve Christ and glorify him, the church's highest purpose (Eph 3:21; 4:11—13). Christ now rules over the church as its Head, its highest authority (Eph 1:22). When Christ comes again, his reign over the world will be consummated, and all that exists will be placed under his absolute authority (Eph 1:10; Phil 4:20). He will raise the dead, unbelievers for judgment and punishment, believers for glorification and reward (2 Thess 1:5-10).

PAULINE CHRONOLOGY

Introduction

One scholar has correctly described efforts to establish the sequence and dates for the events of Paul's life as “one of the most baffling problems of New Testament study.”
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In 1979, R. Jewett carefully compared and contrasted the chronologies of Paul's life suggested by numerous scholars.
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He discovered a frustrating number of significant differences among these suggested chronologies and lamented the failure of NT scholars to move
toward a consensus on Pauline chronology. The failure to reach a consensus was not due to any lack of effort on the part of NT scholars. In the 30 years prior to Jewett's work, several scholars (including J. J. Gunther, J. Knox, G. Lüdemann, and G. Ogg) dedicated entire monographs to the perplexing issues of Pauline chronology.
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The differences in the chronologies proposed by scholars are largely the result of the different approaches to the issue and the different presuppositions that guide the research. Some scholars rely more heavily on Acts than on Paul's letters in developing their chronologies. Others prefer Paul's letters to Acts. Some use a more subjective approach in which they attempt to develop a chronology of Paul's letters based on perceived theological development from one letter to another. This more subjective approach often unnecessarily introduces tensions between the chronologies in Paul's letters and Acts. The most sensible approach relies primarily on Paul's letters for the chronology of Paul's life and supplements that chronology with data from Acts. When tensions between the chronologies suggested by the letters and Acts arise, this approach allows for the possibility that Luke may have arranged some of the material in Acts topically rather than chronologically, much like the Gospel writers sometimes did.
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The complexity of combining data from Paul's letters with data from Acts, ancient histories, and inscriptions is perplexing. Detailed chronologies must be viewed as tentative proposals that may not be confirmed until new evidence arises. However, attempts to pinpoint dates for the events of Paul's life are worth the effort since knowledge of the political climate and current events can often shed important light on the meaning of Paul's letters.

Paul's Preconversion Life

The descriptions of Paul's preconversion life in both Acts and Paul's letters lack specific references that enable one to establish firm dates for key events. In Phlm 1:9, Paul referred to himself as an “old man” (
presbytēs).
J. Murphy-O'Connor has demonstrated that ancient Greek texts normally used this term to refer to males in their late fifties or early sixties.
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Since Philemon was probably written while Paul was in Rome in the late 50s or early 60s, Paul was likely born early in the first decade of the first century.

Acts 22:3 states that Paul was trained at the feet of Gamaliel who taught in Jerusalem from 25—50. Paul's activity as a zealous persecutor of Jesus' followers naturally postdates Pentecost following the crucifixion of Jesus. Although scholars still debate whether Jesus'
crucifixion occurred on April 7, AD 30 or April 3, AD 33, the later date seems best supported by the evidence in the Gospels.
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Paul's Conversion

Statements in two second-century apocryphal works, the Ascension of Isaiah and the Apocryphon of James, suggest that Paul's Damascus road experience may have occurred either 545 or 550 days after the resurrection, that is, on either October 3 or 8 in the year 34. More reliable evidence for dating Paul's conversion comes from his statement in 2 Cor 11:32—33 concerning his escape from the ethnarch of the Nabateans, Aretas IV (Acts 9:23—35). Aretas IV died in the forty-eighth year of his reign, probably 39. He likely did not begin to exercise control over the city of Damascus until the summer of 37. This dates Paul's narrow escape from Damascus to 37—39.
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According to Gal 1:17—18, Paul was in Damascus twice, at the beginning and the end of the three-year period immediately following his conversion. If the escape from Damascus occurred immediately after Paul's conversion, his conversion took place between 37 and 39. But if it happened during Paul's stay in Damascus after his time in Arabia, his conversion occurred between 34 and 36. The words “after many days” in Acts 9:23 seem to suggest that the dramatic escape occurred during the second stay. Thus Paul probably encountered the resurrected Jesus on the road to Damascus in the mid-30s. Later aspects of Pauline chronology best fit with a conversion early in this temporal range, most likely AD 34.

Early Visits to Jerusalem

After Paul's second visit to Damascus, three years after his conversion, he traveled to Jerusalem where he stayed for 15 days visiting with both Peter and James (Gal 1:18—19). Paul then traveled to Syria and Cilicia. He remained there from 11 to 14 years, depending on whether the words “after 14 years” in Gal 2:1 begin with Paul's conversion and thus include the three years in Arabia or begin with Paul's departure from Jerusalem. Perhaps the most natural reading of Gal 2:1 sees the 14-year period as following the three years in Arabia consecutively rather than as overlapping. But this interpretation suggests the year 51 as the date of the visit, which creates conflicts with other firmly established dates in the chronology. This conflict may be resolved in one of several ways.

First, the two time periods may overlap, that is, that this second visit to Jerusalem probably occurred 11 years after the first. Second, time was often calculated inclusively in the ancient world. Thus the “three years” might include one complete year with any portion of a preceding and following year and the “14 years” might include 12 complete years with any portion of a preceding and following year. Third, combining the two approaches
would mean that the 14 years denotes a period of 12 years, including portions of the year in which Paul was converted and the year in which he visited Jerusalem the second time. Thus, the second Jerusalem visit may have occurred between the years 46 and 51. Again, other aspects of Pauline chronology best fit with a date early in this range, most likely the year 47.

The visit to Jerusalem is probably the famine relief visit described in Acts 11:27—30. Although some scholars equate Paul's second Jerusalem visit described in Gal 2:1—10 with the Jerusalem Council of Acts 15, this equation is inconsistent with Paul's claim that he had visited Jerusalem only once before. Moreover, some of the details in Gal 2:1—10 appear rather unlike the events of the Jerusalem Council.
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Peter's convictions regarding the inclusion of the Gentiles were already settled before the Jerusalem Council, so Peter would have spoken in defense of Paul's law-free gospel before the Jerusalem Council occurred. But Paul described Peter as wavering on the issue of relations between Jewish Christian and Gentile Christian even after the meeting mentioned in Galatians 2 (see vv. 11—14). Moreover, the Jerusalem church leaders' request that Paul “remember the poor” (Gal 2:10) seems to fit best in the context of the famine relief visit. This is especially true if the present tense in Gal 2:10 has the nuance of continuation of a work already in progress, that is, “keep on remembering the poor.” This would imply that the Gentile converts had already begun to display their generosity to the less fortunate through their relief offering.

First Missionary Journey

After the famine relief visit, Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch. Soon after their return, the Spirit commanded the church to commission Paul and Barnabas for their first missionary journey. Although the first missionary journey contains no references that allow one to date these travels, the travel log in Acts contains an itinerary that would have required approximately one year. This missionary journey probably occurred in the years 47-48.

Jerusalem Council

At the conclusion of the first missionary tour, Paul and Barnabas went to Antioch of Syria where they stayed for a prolonged period. During this stay in Antioch, controversy erupted when some teachers from Jerusalem began to insist that salvation required circumcision. The controversy led the church in Antioch to send Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem to seek the opinion of the apostles and elders regarding the matter. The resulting Jerusalem conference probably convened in 49.
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Second Missionary Journey

Paul's second missionary journey, during which he delivered the report from the Jerusalem Council to Gentile churches, commenced soon after the leaders reached their decision. The journey probably began in late 49. Paul's itinerary was aggressive. Jewett has calculated that if Paul averaged 40 kilometers per day while traveling and stayed very briefly at each ministry site, his journey from Jerusalem to Corinth—of which only about one-fifth would have been by sea—would have taken 640 days.
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But many scholars doubt that Paul could have maintained such a marathon pace. Jewett suggested that the trip from Jerusalem to Corinth more likely required three or even four years.

Acts 18:2 states that Paul encountered Aquila and Priscilla while in Corinth during this second missionary journey. The couple had recently been expelled from Rome by order of the Emperor Claudius. The expulsion of the Jews from Rome is mentioned in other ancient sources such as the writings of Suetonius (early second century), Dio Cassius (third century), and Orosius (c. 385-420), and can be dated to the year 49.
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The probable date for the second missionary journey is 49—51.

The suggested dates are corroborated by the famous Gallio Inscription. Acts 18:12 reports that Corinthian Jews brought Paul before the tribunal in Corinth while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia at the end of the second missionary journey. This historical note is particularly helpful since Roman custom dictated that Roman officials in the senatorial provinces should hold office for only one year and the terms of proconsuls typically extended from July 1 to July 1 of the following year.
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At the turn of the last century, an inscription in Delphi was discovered that dated to the period of Claudius's twenty-sixth Acclamation as Imperator and identified Gallio as proconsul of Corinth. Based on other imperial data, scholars have determined that this twenty-sixth acclamation occurred between January 25 and August 1, AD 52.

From this evidence, A. Deissmann concluded that the letter of Claudius to Delphi was written between January and August of the year 52. This strongly suggests that Gallio served as proconsul from July 1, AD 51 to July 1, AD 52 and that Paul appeared before him in Corinth during this period.
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Paul's appearance before Gallio seems to have occurred toward the end of his 18 months in Corinth. Today most scholars recognize the Gallio Inscription as providing the most secure date by which historians may anchor the chronology of Paul. But scholars such as John Knox who rely largely on the letters and
reject the reliability of Acts dismiss the Gallio Inscription since its value for establishing a Pauline chronology is dependent on the accuracy of the account in Acts 18:12—17.
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