Must have 1000 word count overall with 3 scholarly sources.

1.

When Paul advises believers about choosing between marriage and the single life, how much do you think his expectations that the parousia might be near affected his advice? Explain why/why not. 

 
2.

How does Paul link Jesus’ resurrection to the Christian hope of an afterlife? 

 
3.

In 2 Corinthians chapters 10-13, what arguments do Paul’s opponents at the church in Corinth use against him? How does Paul use his mystical experiences to counter these arguments?

 
4.

 Define what Paul means by righteousness, justification and faith. Why does Paul tell the Galatians especially (although he says the same thing in Romans) that circumcision is no longer necessary? 

 
5.

In Romans ch. 1 Paul speaks of humanity’s guilt and of its turning away from God in favor of mere idols. What is humanity’s responsibility in this? What are the consequences of this idolatry? 

 
6.

What issue does Paul have to address in Philippians 3 that he already was forced to address in his letter to the Galatians? What is Paul’s mood during this part of his letter and what language does he use to indicate how he feels? 

 
7.

What do we suspect that Onesimus did to get him in to trouble and why do we think that he finally ended up with Paul? 

335

chapter 14

Unity, Freedom, and Christ’s Return
Paul’s Letters to Thessalonica and Corinth

The time we live in will not last long. . . . For the whole frame
of this world is passing away. 1 Corinthians 7:29, 31

Paul’s early letters are dominated by his escha-
tology. Convinced that the Messiah’s death and
resurrection have inaugurated End time, Paul
strives to achieve several related goals. Traveling
from city to city, he establishes small cells of be-
lievers whom he calls to a “new life in Christ.” He
argues that Jesus’ crucifi xion has brought free-
dom from both Torah observance and the power
of sin, and he emphasizes the necessity of
leading an ethically pure life while awaiting
Christ’s return. In his letters to the young Greek
churches at Thessalonica and Corinth, Paul un-
derscores the nearness of the Parousia —the

Second Coming—an event that he believes to
be imminent. Much of Paul’s advice to these
congregations is based on his desire that they
achieve unity and purity before Christ reappears.
While he is attempting to keep believers
faithful to the high ideals of Christian practice,
Paul also fi nds himself battling opponents who
question the correctness of his teaching and/or
his apostolic authority. According to Luke, an
apostle was one whom Jesus had personally
called to follow him and who had witnessed the
Resurrection (Acts 1:21–22). Not only had Paul
not known the earthly Jesus; he had cruelly

Key Topics/Themes The dominant theme of
Paul’s letters to Thessalonica and Corinth is that
the eschaton is near: Paul expects to witness
Jesus’ return and the resurrection of the dead in
his lifetime (1 Thess . 4:13–18). However, believers
must not waste time speculating about the
projected date of the Parousia (1 Thess . 5:1–3).
Paul’s letters to Corinth are aimed at
healing serious divisions in the newly founded
church there. Paul urges members to give up
their destructive competitiveness and work
toward unity of belief and purpose. Their
cooperation is essential because the remaining

time is so short. His most important topics
include (1) differences between human and
divinely revealed wisdom (1:10–3:23), (2)
Christian ethics and responsibilities (5:1–11:1),
(3) behavior at the communion meal (11:17–34),
valuing gifts of the Spirit ( chs . 12–14), and
(4) the resurrection of the dead ( ch . 15).
A composite work composed of several
letters or letter fragments, 2 Corinthians
shows Paul defending his apostolic authority
(2  Cor . 10–13); chapters 1–9, apparently written
after chapters 10–13, describe his reconciliation
with the church at Corinth.

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336 part five paul and the pauline tradition

Paul makes the imminence of Jesus’ return his
central message (1:10; 2:19; 3:13; 4:13–18; 5:1–11).
The Thessalonians, he says, have become
a shining example to other Greek churches
because they have

turned from idols to be servants of the true and
living God, . . . to wait expectantly for his Son
from heaven, whom he raised from the dead,
Jesus our deliverer from the retribution to come.

(1 Thess. 1:10)

This passage may, in fact, epitomize the princi-
pal themes of Paul’s oral gospel, the kerygma he
preached in urban marketplaces, shops, and pri-
vate homes. In general content, it resembles the
more elaborate proclamation that Luke placed
on Paul’s lips when he spoke to the Athenians
(Acts 17: 22–31). Urging the Greeks to forsake
lifeless idols for the “living God” of Judaism, Paul
presents Jesus’ resurrection from the dead as in-
troducing history’s climactic moment: his im-
pending descent from heaven to rescue his
followers from catastrophic divine judgment.
For Paul, the implications of the coming
apocalypse are clear: The Thessalonians must
reform their typically lenient Gentile attitudes
toward sexual activity. They have already made
progress in living “to please God,” but they can
do better, abstaining from “fornication,” be-
coming “holy,” living “quietly,” and showing
love to all (4:1–12).
Although the Thessalonians do not exhibit
the kind of opposition Paul describes in letters
to the Corinthians and Galatians, he devotes
considerable space to self-justifi cation, empha-
sizing how nurturing, altruistic, and hard-
working he was when in their company (2:1–12).
In particular, he emphasizes the fact that he re-
mained fi nancially independent of the people

persecuted the disciples. Paul’s sole claim to ap-
ostolic status was his private revelation of the
risen Lord, a claim others repeatedly challenged.
To achieve the goal of guiding his fl ock through
End time, Paul must ensure that his apostolic
credentials are fully recognized (1 Cor . 15:9–10;
2 Cor . 11:1–13:10).
To appreciate the urgency of Paul’s fi rst
letters, we must approach them from the writ-
er’s historical perspective: The Messiah’s com-
ing spelled an end to the old world. The New
Age—entailing the Final Judgment on all na-
tions, a universal resurrection of the dead, and
the ultimate fulfi llment of God’s purpose—was
then in the process of materializing. Paul writes
as a parent anxious that those in his care survive
the apocalyptic ordeal just ahead and attain the
saints’ reward of eternal life.

First Letter to the
Thessalonians

The oldest surviving Christian document, 1
Thessalonians preserves our earliest glimpse
of  how the new religion was established in
Gentile territory. Capital of the Roman prov-
ince of  Macedonia, Thessalonica (now called
Thessaloniki ) (see Fig ure 14.1) was a bustling
port city located on the Via Egnatia , the major
highway linking Rome with the East. According
to the Book of Acts, Paul spent only three weeks
there, preaching mainly in the local synagogue
to generally unreceptive Jews, who soon drove
him out of town (17:1–18:5).
Paul’s letter to the newly founded Thessa-
lonian congregation, however, paints a different
picture, making no reference to a synagogue
ministry and implying that his converts were
largely Gentile (1 Thess . 1:9). Probably written
in Corinth about 50 ce, a scant twenty years after
the Crucifi xion, 1 Thessalonians is remarkable
in showing how quickly essential Christian ideas
had developed and how thoroughly apocalyptic
Paul’s message was. Referring to the Parousia in
no fewer than six different passages, at least
once in each of the letter’s fi ve brief chapters,

First Thessalonians

Author: Paul, missionary Apostle to the Gentiles.
Date: About 50 ce.
Place of composition: Probably Corinth.
Audience: Mostly Gentile members of a newly
founded congregation in Thessalonica, Greece.

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chapter 14 unity, freedom, and christ’s return 337

less than “the breath of life” to him, Paul offers a
fervent prayer that the Thessalonians remain
“holy and faultless,” acceptable to “our God and
Father” at Jesus’ return (3:7–13).

The Parousia and the Resurrection

Having demonstrated the importance—to both
the congregation collectively and the apostle
individually—of their leading ethically unblem-
ished lives until the Parousia , Paul then previews
events that will take place when Jesus reappears
in glory. Apparently, some Thessalonians be-
lieved that Jesus’ return would occur so swiftly
that all persons converted to Christianity would
live to see the Second Coming. That belief was
shaken when some believers died before Jesus
had reappeared. What would become of them?
Had the dead missed their opportunity to join
Christ in ruling over the world?

he taught, working “night and day” to be self-sup-
porting (2:9). Some commentators have sug-
gested that Paul set up a leather goods shop,
where he preached to customers and passersby.
The passage in which he suddenly departs from
praising his healthy relationship with the
Thessalonians to castigate his fellow Jews, refer-
ring to the “retribution” infl icted on them, may
have been inserted by a later copyist after Rome’s
destruction of Jerusalem in 70 ce (2:13–16).
Chapter 2 concludes with an insight into the
source of Paul’s concern for the Thessalonians’
good behavior: Their ethical purity will provide
validation for him when “we stand before our
Lord Jesus at his coming.” If they maintain their
righteous conduct until the Parousia , their loyalty
to his teaching will be a “crown of pride” for him,
showing that Paul has properly discharged his ob-
ligation to God, his patron and divine benefactor
(2:19–20). Declaring that their faithfulness is no

figure 14.1 Paul’s churches. Paul established largely Gentile churches in the northeastern
Mediterranean region at Philippi, Thessalonica, Beroea , and Corinth. Paul’s teaching was also infl uential in the
Asia Minor city of Ephesus, where he lived for at least two years. The sites of some other Christian centers are also given.

M E D I T E R R A N E A N

S E A

CRETE

�

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�

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Corinth
Athens

Beroea
PhilippiThessalonica

Ephesus

Troas

Miletus

� Church locations 0 100 200 Miles

0 100 200 Kilometers

Sardis Smyrna

Thyatira

Pergamum

Myra

Attalia
Perga

Patara

Mitylene

Cnidus

CHIOS

LESBOS

SAMOS

Lasae

B L A C K

S E A

A
E

G
E
A
N

S
E

A

A D R I A T I C

S E A

Colossae

A S I A

M A
C E D O

N I A

ACHAIA

ITALY

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338 part five paul and the pauline tradition

Paul’s allusion to a “trumpet” (Greek, salpinx )
sounding probably also refers to trumpets used
in Jewish worship, such as the playing of a “ram’s
horn” (Hebrew, shophar ) announcing the Day of
Atonement (Lev. 25:9; cf. Num. 10:2, 10). (In his
description of the Parousia , Matthew mentions a
similar eschatological trumpet call [Matt.
24:31].) Paul’s immediate purpose, however,
is  to assure his Thessalonian friends that in
both  life and death the believer remains with
Jesus (4:13–18). (Compare 1 Thessalonians with
Paul’s more elaborate discussion of the resurrec-
tion in 1 Corinthians 15, a passage in which he
reaffi rms his hope to be alive at Jesus’ Parousia .)

On Not Calculating “Dates and Times”

Although he eagerly expects Jesus’ reappear-
ance “soon,” Paul has no patience with those
who try to predict the exact date of the Parousia .
He discourages speculation and notes that cal-
culating “dates and times” is futile because the
world’s fi nal day will come as quietly as a thief
at midnight. Emphasizing the unexpectedness
of the Parousia , Paul declares that it will occur
while men proclaim “peace and security” (a
common political theme in Roman times, as
well as today). Disaster will strike the nations
suddenly, as labor pains strike a woman without
warning (5:1–3).
In the Hebrew Bible, the “Day of the Lord”
was the time of Yahweh’s intervention into hu-
man history, his visitation of earth to judge all
nations and to impose his universal rule (Amos
5:18; Joel 2:14–15). In Paul’s apocalyptic vi-
sion, Jesus is the divinely appointed agent of
eschaton . As the eschatological Judge, Jesus
serves a double function: He brings punish-
ment to the disobedient (“the terrors of judg-
ment”) but vindication and deliverance to the
faithful. Paul’s cosmic Jesus is paradoxical: He
dies to save believers from the negative judg-
ment that his return imposes on unregenerate
humanity. Returning to his main theme, Paul
concludes that “we, awake [living] or asleep
[dead]” live in permanent association with
Christ (5:4–11).

Paul explains that the recently dead are
not lost but will share in the glory of Christ’s
return. To denote the exalted Jesus’ arrival
from heaven, Paul uses the term Parousia , a
Greek word meaning “presence” or “coming”
(the same word that the authors of the Synoptic
Gospels later adopt to designate Jesus’ return
to earth [see Chapters 7–9]). In employing this
word, Paul refers to an impressive public cere-
mony with which his audience in Thessalonica
would have been familiar—the actions accom-
panying the formal entrance of a Roman
emperor or other high offi cial into some
provincial city. As the visiting dignitary
approached the city gates, a trumpet blast
announced his appearance, at which sound the
inhabitants were expected to drop everything
they were doing and rush outside the city walls
to greet the important visitor. Gathering along
the main roadway, the crowds then followed the
offi cial as he moved into the city. Paul’s vision of
Jesus’ imminent Parousia , his coming in super-
natural glory, not only draws on this common
Roman political spectacle but also shows that he
fully expects to be alive when Jesus reappears:

[W]e who are left alive until the Lord comes
shall not forestall those who have died;
because at the word of command, at the sound
of the archangel’s voice and God’s trumpet
call, the Lord himself will descend from
heaven; fi rst the Christian dead will rise, then
we who are left alive shall join them, caught
up in clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

(1 Thess . 4:15–17)

Jesus’ followers, in joyous acclamation, will
then accompany their Master—humanity’s true
king—as he revisits the earth to begin his active
rule as Israel’s Messiah. After his Parousia , Jesus
at last will reign, not only over a redeemed
Israel but over the entire cosmos. In thus liken-
ing Jesus’ Parousia to an emperor’s display of
power, Paul implies that Christ is clearly supe-
rior to an earthly sovereign (see Malina and
Pilch in “Recommended Reading”).
Although he depicts Jesus’ triumphant re-
turn by analogy to a Roman imperial custom,

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chapter 14 unity, freedom, and christ’s return 339

with any single church group in the New
Testament. Whereas 1 Corinthians is a single doc-
ument, scholars believe that 2 Corinthians is a
patchwork of several Pauline letters or parts of
letters written at different times that an editor
later combined.
Paul’s correspondence with the Corinthian
church was not a one-way affair, for the
Corinthians also wrote to the apostle (1 Cor . 7:1).
Delegations from Corinth also kept Paul in touch
with the group (1:11; 16:15–18; 2 Cor . 7:5–7, 13).
Preserving a comprehensive picture of the diver-
sity of ideas and behavior of a youthful Jewish and
Gentile church, the Corinthian letters give us an
unrivaled sociological study of early Christianity.

The City and Its People

The emperor Augustus made Corinth, the richest
and most populous city in Greece, the Greek cap-
ital in 27 bce (see Figure 14.2). In Paul’s day,
Corinth was famous for its prosperity, trade, and
materialism. As a busy seaport, it was also notori-
ous for its legions of prostitutes, who entertained
sailors from every part of the Greco-Roman world.
With Aphrodite—supreme goddess of love and
fertility—as its patron deity, Corinth enjoyed a
reputation for luxury and licentiousness remark-
able even in pagan society. Given this libertine
environment, it is not surprising that Paul devotes
more space to setting forth principles of sexual
ethics to the Corinthians than he does in letters to
any other churches (1 Cor . 5:1–13; 7:1–40).
Recent sociological studies of early Christi-
anity indicate that the Corinthian group may
have been typical of Gentile churches in many
parts of the Roman Empire. In the past, many
historians thought that the fi rst Christians
largely belonged to the lower socioeconomic
ranks of Greco-Roman society. Recent analyses
of Paul’s letters to Rome and Corinth, however,
suggest that early Christians came from many
different social classes and represented a verita-
ble cross section of the Hellenistic world.
Paul’s statement that “few” members of the
Corinthian congregation were highborn, wealthy,
or politically infl uential (1 Cor . 1:26–28) implies

The Role of the Spirit

With anticipation of Jesus’ speedy return a living
reality, Paul reminds the Thessalonians that the
Holy Spirit’s visible activity among them is also ev-
idence of the world’s impending transformation.
As noted in Acts, the Spirit motivating believers to
prophesy, heal, or speak in tongues was taken as
evidence of God’s active presence. Thus, Paul tells
his readers not to “stifl e inspiration” or otherwise
discourage believers from prophesying. Christian
prophets, inspired by the Spirit, play a major role
in Pauline churches, but Paul is aware that enthu-
siastic visionaries can cause trouble. Believers are
to distinguish between “good” and “bad” inspira-
tions, avoiding the latter, but they are not to in-
hibit charismatic behavior. Besides providing
evidence that the End is near, the Spirit’s pres-
ence also validates the Christian message (Joel
2:28–32; Acts 2:1–21; 1  Cor . 2:9–16; 12–14).
(A disputed letter, 2 Thessalonians is dis-
cussed in Chapter 17.)

First Corinthians

Author: Paul.
Date: Early 50s ce.
Place of composition: Ephesus.
Audience: Members of the newly established
church at Corinth, Greece.

First Letter to the Corinthians

According to Acts (17:1–18:17), after establish-
ing churches at Philippi, Thessalonica, and
Beroea (all in northern Greece), Paul briefl y
visited Athens and then journeyed to Corinth,
where he remained for a year and a half (c. 50–
52 ce ). Accompanied by Prisca (Priscilla) and
Aquila , Jewish Christians exiled from Rome, he
subsequently sailed to Ephesus, from which city
he addressed several letters to the Corinthians.
The fi rst letter has been lost (1 Cor . 5:9), but the
books presently numbered 1 and 2 Corinthians
embody the most voluminous correspondence

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340 part five paul and the pauline tradition

advocated a spiritual marriage in which sexual
union played no part; others visited prostitutes.
Some defrauded their fellow believers, causing
victims to seek restitution in the public courts.
Some, convinced of their Christian “freedom,”
not exist, dined at banquets in Greco-Roman
temples and attended religious ceremonies
there. Still others claimed a superior under-
standing of spiritual matters, viewed themselves
as already living in the kingdom, denied the
necessity of a bodily resurrection, or questioned
Paul’s right to dictate their behavior.
As the Corinthian correspondence shows,
Paul faced the almost impossible challenge of
bringing this divisive and quarrelsome group
into a working harmony of belief and purpose.
In reading Paul’s letters to Corinth, remember
that he is struggling to communicate his vision
of union with Christ to an infant church that
has apparently only begun to grasp the basic
principles of Christian life.

that some were. This inference is borne out by the
fact that some Corinthian believers apparently
held important positions in the city (see Figure
14.3). Acts identifi es the Crispus whom Paul bap-
tized (1 Cor . 1:14) as the leader of a local syna-
gogue, a function ordinarily given to persons rich
enough to maintain the building. Erastus , who
also seems to have belonged to the Corinthian
church, was the civic treasurer (Rom. 16:23).
A diverse assortment of Jews and Gentiles,
slaves and landowners, rich and poor, educated
and unlettered, the Corinthian group was ap-
parently divided by class distinctions and edu-
cational differences, as well as by varieties of
religious belief. Even in observing the commu-
nion ritual, members’ consciousness of differ-
ences in wealth and social status threatened to
splinter the membership (1 Cor . 11:17–34).
From Paul’s responses to their attitudes and
conduct, readers learn that the Corinthians in-
dividually promoted a wide range of ideas. Some

figure 14.2 View of Corinth. Once a prosperous commercial center, Corinth was dominated
by the Acrocorinth , the steep hill in the background. After the Romans destroyed the original
Greek city, it was refounded in 44 bce as a Roman colony. As Paul’s letters to the Corinthians
demonstrate, however, it soon became a Greek-speaking urban center, of which Aphrodite, goddess
of love, was the divine patron.

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chapter 14 unity, freedom, and christ’s return 341

objective—helping the church, split by rival-
ries and factions, attain the unity befitting a
Christian congregation. Here, Paul shows the
futility of false wisdom and human competitive-
ness and of attempts to demonstrate Christian
freedom by violating the sexual conventions
honored even by unbelievers. In the second
half ( chs . 7–15), he answers specifi c questions
that the Corinthians addressed to him. These
issues include marriage and divorce, the con-
sumption of meat previously sacrifi ced to
Greco-Roman gods, proper conduct during the
Lord’s Supper, and eschatology—the Final
Judgment and resurrection of the dead.

Paul’s Eschatological Urgency As in his letters to
the Thessalonians, Paul structures his advice to
the Corinthian church according to his escha-
tological convictions. The Parousia is immi-
nent: The Corinthians “wait expectantly for our
Lord Jesus to reveal himself,” for he will keep
them “fi rm to the end . . . on the Day of our
Lord Jesus” (1:7–8). Like the Thessalonians,
the recipients of Paul’s Corinthian letters ex-
pect to experience the Day of Judgment soon, a
belief that affects their entire way of life. Paul
advises single people to remain unmarried; nei-
ther slaves nor free citizens are to change their
status because “the time we live in will not last
long.” All emotions—from joy to grief—are
only temporary, as are ordinary human pur-
suits. “Buyers must not count on keeping what
they buy,” because “the whole frame of this
world is passing away” (7:29–31). Paul speaks
here not of the philosopher’s conventional
wisdom—that the wise person shuns life’s petty
goals to pursue eternal truths—but of the escha-
ton , the End of the familiar world.
In anticipating the coming resurrection,
Paul echoes his words in 1 Thessalonians
4:  When Judgment’s trumpet sounds, “we
[Christians then living] shall not all die, but
we shall all be changed in a fl ash, in the twin-
kling of an eye” (15:51–55). Such passages
reveal that Paul, along with his contemporaries,
expects to be alive when Christ returns to raise
the dead.

Topics of Concern

Paul’s fi rst extant letter to the group is distin-
guished by some of his most memorable writing.
Two passages in particular, chapter 13 (on love)
and chapter 15 (on resurrection), are highlights
of Pauline thought and feeling. His praise of
love ( ch . 13) uses the Greek term agape-, “selfl ess
love,” as opposed to eros , the word denoting the
sexual passion associated with Aphrodite. This
may be an appropriate hint to those Corinthians
sexually involved with persons other than their
legal mates. Paul’s mystic vision of attaining im-
mortality ( ch . 15) is the most extensive commen-
tary on life after death in the New Testament . It
also contains the earliest account of Jesus’ pos t
re surrection appearances.

Organization The fi rst letter to the Corinthians
divides into two main sections. In the fi rst six
chapters, Paul directly addresses his principal

figure 14.3 Painting of a Roman couple. In this
portrait uncovered at Pompeii (buried by an eruption of
Mount Vesuvius in 79 ce ), Terentius Neo and his wife
proudly display the pen and wax tablets that advertise
their literary skills. Similar young Roman couples of the
professional classes undoubtedly were among the mem-
bers of Paul’s newly founded churches in Corinth and
other Greco-Roman cities.

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342 part five paul and the pauline tradition

(Paul’s relative lack of success debating philoso-
phers in Athens just before coming to Corinth
[Acts 17] may have infl uenced his decision
to preach henceforth without any intellectual
pretensions.)
Paul’s weak and “foolish” proclamation of a
crucifi ed Messiah offends almost everyone. It is a
major obstacle to Jews, who look for a victorious
conqueror, not an executed criminal, and an ab-
surdity to the Greeks, who seek rational explana-
tions of the universe. To the believer, however,
the paradox of a crucifi ed Messiah represents
God’s omnipotent wisdom (1:22–24).
Paul’s argument (1:17–2:5) is sometimes
misused to justify an anti-intellectual approach to
religion, in which reason and faith are treated as
if they were mutually exclusive. The apostle’s at-
tack on “worldly wisdom” is not directed against
human reason, however. It is aimed instead at
individual Corinthians who boasted of possessing
special insights that gave them a “deeper” under-
standing than that granted their fellow Christians.
Such elitism led some persons to cultivate a false
sense of superiority that devalued less educated
believers, fragmenting the congregation into
groups of the “wise” and the “foolish.”
Paul seeks to place all believers on an equal
footing and allow them no cause for intellec-
tual competition. He reminds the Corinthians
that human reason by itself is not suffi cient to
know God, but that God revealed his saving
purpose through Christ as a free gift (1:21). No
one merits or earns the Christian revelation,
which comes through God’s unforeseen grace,
not through human effort. Because all are
equally recipients of the divine benefi ts, no be-
liever has the right to boast (1:21–31).
Paul does, however, teach a previously hid-
den wisdom to persons mature enough to appre-
ciate it. This wisdom is God’s revelation through
the Spirit (Greek, pneuma ) that now dwells in
the Christian community. The hitherto un-
known “mind” of God—the ultimate reality that
philosophers make the object of their search—is
unveiled through Christ (2:6–16). The divine
mystery, although inaccessible to rational in-
quiry, is fi nally made clear in the weakness and

The Necessity of Christian Unity

Paul’s fi rst objective is to halt the rivalries that
divide the Corinthians. Without imposing a
dogmatic conformity, he asks his readers to
work together cooperatively for their mutual
benefi t (1:8–10). Like all early Christian con-
gregations, that at Corinth met in a private
house large enough to accommodate the entire
group. Although membership was limited to
perhaps 50–100 persons, the group was broken
into several cliques. Some members placed un-
due importance on the particular leader who
had converted or baptized them and competed
with one another over the prestige of their
respective mentors.

Avoiding Competitiveness and Cultivating Divine
Wisdom A more serious cause of division may
have been the members’ unequal social and ed-
ucational backgrounds. As in any group, mod-
ern or ancient, some individuals believed they
were demonstrably superior to their neighbors.
Examining chapter 1 carefully, readers will see
that Paul’s attack on false “wisdom” is really an
attempt to discourage human competitiveness.
In Paul’s view, all believers are fundamentally
equal: “For through faith you are all [children]
of God in union with Christ Jesus. . . . There is no
such thing as Jew and Greek, slave and freeman,
male and female; for you are all one person in
Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:26, 28). This assumption
underlies Paul’s method of presenting the
kerygma —the proclamation about Jesus. When
he reminds the Corinthians that he taught them
the message as simply as possible, he does so to
show that the new faith is essentially incompati-
ble with individual pride or competitiveness.
Paul’s concurrent theme is that human
“weakness” is the unexpected medium through
which God reveals his strength. In contrast to the
Roman soldiers who crucifi ed him, Christ was
weak. Paul is also weak in refusing to use the rhe-
torical embellishments with which Hellenistic
teachers were expected to present their ideas.
Thus, with almost brutal directness, he proclaims
“Christ nailed to the cross” (1 Cor . 1:23; 2:1).

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chapter 14 unity, freedom, and christ’s return 343

topics. The fi rst item concerns human sexuality
(7:1–40), a subject in which the writer takes a dis-
tant but practical interest. Paul clearly prefers a
single life without any kind of sexual involvement.
He begins this section by declaring that “it is a
good thing for a man to have nothing to do with
women,” and he closes by observing that women
whose husbands have died are “better off” if they
do not remarry. In both statements, Paul may be
quoting some Corinthians who boasted of their
superior self-control. Although he does not fi nd
marriage personally attractive, he is far from for-
bidding others to marry (7:2–9). He also empha-
sizes the mutual obligations of marriage, stating
that husbands and wives are equally entitled to
each other’s sexual love. However, he pragmati-
cally describes marriage as an inevitably painful
experience that can interfere with a believer’s
religious commitment (7:28, 32–34).
Paul’s general principle is that everyone
should remain in whatever state—single or mar-
ried, slave or free—he or she was in when fi rst
converted. Although aware of Jesus’ command
forbidding divorce, he concedes that a legal sep-
aration is acceptable when a non-Christian wishes
to leave his or her Christian mate (7:10–24).
It is important to remember that Paul’s ad-
vice, particularly on celibacy, is presented in the
context of an imminent Parousia . The unmar-
ried remain free “to wait upon the Lord without
distraction.” Freedom from sexual ties that bind
one to the world is eminently practical because
“the time we live in will not last long” (7:25–35).
Paul regards singleness not as the prerequisite
to a higher spiritual state but as a practical re-
sponse to the eschatological crisis.

A Problem of Conscience In the next long sec-
tion (8:1–11:1), Paul discusses a problem that
ceased to be an issue over 1,600 years ago—
eating meat that had previously been sacrifi ced
in Greco-Roman temples. (The meat was then
commonly sold in meat markets or cooked and
served in public dining halls, which some of the
Corinthian Christians frequented.) Although
the social conditions that created the issue have
long since disappeared, the principle that Paul

obedient suffering of Christ, the means by which
God reconciles humanity to himself.

The Limits of Christian Freedom Paul’s doctrine of
freedom from Torah restraints is easily abused
when mistakenly interpreted as an excuse to ig-
nore all ethical principles. As a result of some
Corinthians’ misuse of Christian freedom, Paul
fi nds it necessary to impose limits on believers’
individual liberty. Exercising his apostolic author-
ity, Paul orders the Corinthians to excommuni-
cate a Christian living openly with his stepmother.
Apparently, the Corinthian church was proud of
the man’s bold use of freedom to live as he liked,
though his incest scandalized even Greek society.
Directing the congregation to evict the sinner
from their midst, Paul establishes a policy that
later becomes a powerful means of church con-
trol over individual members. In excommunica-
tion, the offender is denied all fellowship in the
believing community and is left bereft of God as
well. Although consigned “to Satan” (the devil-
ruled world outside the church), the outcast re-
mains a Christian destined for ultimate salvation
on the Lord’s Day (5:1–13).

Lawsuits Among Christians Claiming freedom
“to do anything,” some Corinthians bring law-
suits against fellow Christians in civil courts, al-
lowing the unbelieving public to witness the
internal divisions and ill will existing in the
church. Paul orders that such disputes be set-
tled within the Christian community. He also
orders men who frequent prostitutes to end
this practice. Answering the Corinthians’ claim
that physical appetites can be satisfi ed without
damaging faith, Paul argues that Christians’
bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit (God’s
pneuma ) and must not be defi led by intercourse
with prostitutes (6:1–20).

Answering Questions
from the Congregation

Marriage, Divorce, and Celibacy In chapters 7–15,
Paul responds to a letter from the Corinthians,
answering their questions on several crucial

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344 part five paul and the pauline tradition

include the participation of women, conduct
during reenactments of the Last Supper, and
the handling of charismatic “gifts,” such as the
Spirit-given ability to prophesy, heal, or speak
in tongues.

The Role of Women in the Church In recent de-
cades, Pauline regulations about women’s roles
in the church have been attacked as culture-
bound and chauvinistic. Because we know so lit-
tle of very early Christian practices, it is diffi cult
to establish to what degree women originally
shared in church leadership (see Chapter 13).
Jesus numbered many women among his most
loyal disciples, and Paul refers to several women
as his “fellow workers” (Phil. 4:3). In the last
chapter of Romans, in which Paul lists the mis-
sionary Prisca (Priscilla) ahead of her husband,
Aquila , the apostle asks the recipients to support
Phoebe, a presiding offi cer in the Cenchreae
church, in discharging her administrative duties
(Rom. 16:1–6).
In Corinthians, however, Paul seems to im-
pose certain restrictions on women’s participa-
tion in church services. His insistence that
women cover their heads with veils (11:3–16) is
open to a variety of interpretations. Is it the
writer’s concession to the existing Jewish and
Greco-Roman custom of secluding women, an
attempt to avoid offending patriarchal preju-
dices? If women unveil their physical attractive-
ness, does this distract male onlookers or even
sexually tempt angels, such as those who
“lusted” for mortal women before the Flood
(Gen. 6:1–4)? Conversely, is the veil a symbol of
women’s religious authority, to be worn when
prophesying before the congregation?
Paul’s argument for relegating women to a
subordinate position in church strikes many
readers as labored and illogical. (Some scholars
think that this passage [11:2–16] is the inter-
polation of a later editor, added to make
Corinthians agree with the non-Pauline instruc-
tion in 1 Timothy 2:8–15.) Paul grants women
an active role, praying and prophesying during
worship, but he argues as well that the female is
a secondary creation, made from man, who was

articulates in this matter remains relevant to
many believers.
Paul argues that, although Christians are
completely free to do as they wish when their
consciences are clear, they should remember
that their behavior can be misinterpreted by
other believers who do not think as they do.
Some believers may interpret actions such as eat-
ing meat that had been given to “idols” as violat-
ing standards of religious purity. Paul rules in
favor of the “weak” who have trouble distinguish-
ing between abstract convictions and observable
practices. Respecting a fellow Christian’s sensi-
tive conscience, the mature believer will forfeit
his or her right to eat sacrifi ced meat—or, pre-
sumably, to engage in any other action that
troubles the “weak” (8:1–13; 10:23–11:1).
Paul interrupts his argument to insert a vig-
orous defense of his apostolic authority (9:1–27)
and give examples of ways in which he has sacri-
fi ced his personal freedoms to benefi t others.
The rights Paul has voluntarily given up suggest
some signifi cant differences between his style of
life and that practiced by leaders of the Jerusalem
church. Unlike Peter, Jesus’ brothers, and the
other apostles, he forfeits the privilege of taking
a wife or accepting money for his missionary ser-
vices. He even sacrifi ces his own inclinations and
individuality, becoming “everything in turn to
men of every sort” to save them. Paul asks the
“strong” Corinthians to imitate his selfl ess exam-
ple (9:3–23; 10:33–11:1).
Paul’s demand to live largely for other peo-
ple’s benefi t and to accommodate one’s conduct
to others’ consciences raises important issues.
Some commentators observe that, although Paul’s
argument protects the sensibilities of believers
who are less free-thinking, it places the intellectu-
ally aware Christian at the mercy of overscru-
pulous or literal-minded believers. Followed
explicitly, the apostle’s counsel here seriously
compromises his doctrine of Christian freedom.

Regulating Behavior in Church

Chapters 11–14 contain Paul’s advice regulat-
ing behavior in church. The issues he addresses

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chapter 14 unity, freedom, and christ’s return 345

favorite metaphor in which he compares the
church to the human body, with its many differ-
ent parts. “Christ,” Paul explains, “is like a single
body with its many limbs and organs, which,
many as they are, together make up one body”
(12:12). Because they represent the visible form
of Christ on earth, the congregational “body”
must function harmoniously, showing due re-
spect to each of its many parts. Apparently some
Corinthians judged themselves to be analogous
to the more “honorable” body parts, such as the
head or eye, and despised the lower or more
“unseemly parts”—thereby discriminating
against humbler church members. Whereas the
more educated or spiritually gifted leaders evi-
dently dismissed the poor or “weak” members as
unworthy, Paul insists that they are “indispens-
able.” “The eye,” he asserts, “cannot say to the
hand, ‘I do not need you’; nor the head to the
feet, ‘I do not need you.’ ” Everyone belonging to
the people of God, whatever their position or
function, must be treated honorably because all
are part of Christ’s “body.” In fact, God gives
“special honor to the humbler parts,” the labor-
ing hands and feet, elevating them to equality
with the “strong” and “wise” (12:4–31).

The Hymn to Love ( Agape– ) Paul’s famous dis-
course on love ( agap e– ) is intimately linked to his
call for congregational unity and mutual respect.
In every letter, Paul is more concerned about
behavior—how people live the gospel—than he
is about subjective feeling. As noted in Paul’s
concept of love ( agap e– ) in Chapter 13, biblical
love does not refer primarily to an emotional
state, but to active care and concern for others.
Defi ning agape– as “the best way of all,” Paul em-
phasizes its expression through action: Love is
patient, kind, forgiving; it keeps no record of
offenses. Its capacity for loyal devotion is infi nite:
“there is no limit to its faith, its hope, and its en-
durance.” Love once given is never withdrawn.
Whereas other spiritual gifts are only partial re-
fl ections of the divine reality and will be ren-
dered obsolete in the perfect world to come, the
supreme trio of Christian virtues—faith, hope,
and love—endures forever (1 Cor . 13:1–13).

created directly by God. The apostle uses the
second version of human origins (Gen. 2) to
support his view of a human sexual hierarchy,
but he could as easily have cited the fi rst cre-
ation account, in which male and female are
created simultaneously, both in the “image of
God” (Gen. 1:27). Given Paul’s revelation that
Christian equality transcends all distinctions
among believers, including those of sex, class,
and nationality (Gal. 3:28), many commenta-
tors see the writer’s choice in a Genesis prece-
dent as decidedly arbitrary.

The Communion Meal (the Lord’s Supper, or
Eucharist ) Christianity’s most solemn ritual,
the reenactment of Jesus’ last meal with his dis-
ciples, represents the mystic communion be-
tween the risen Lord and his followers. Meeting
in private homes to commemorate the event,
the Corinthians had turned the service into a
riotous drinking party. Instead of a celebration
of Christian unity, it had become another
source of division. Wealthy participants came
early and consumed all the delicacies of the
communion meal before the working poor ar-
rived, thus leaving their social inferiors hungry
and humiliated (11:17–22).
Paul contrasts this misbehavior with the tradi-
tion coming directly from Jesus himself. Recording
Jesus’ sacramental distribution of bread and wine,
he insists that the ceremony is to be decorously
repeated in memory of Christ’s death until he
returns. This allusion to the nearness of Jesus’ re-
appearance reminds the Corinthians of the seri-
ousness with which they must observe the Last
Supper ceremony (11:23–34).

Gifts of the Spirit Led by the Holy Spirit, the
early Christian community was composed of
many persons gifted with supernatural abilities.
Some had the gift of prophecy; others were apos-
tles, teachers, healers, miracle workers, or speak-
ers in tongues. In Corinth, these individual gifts,
and the rivalries among those possessing them,
were yet another cause of division. Reminding
them that one indivisible Spirit ( pneuma ) grants
all these different abilities, Paul employs a

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there is no resurrection, then Christ was not
raised and Christians hope in vain. He trusts,
not in the Greek philosophical notion of innate
human immortality, but in the Jewish apocalyp-
tic faith in God’s ability to raise the faithful dead
(Dan. 12:1–3). Without Christ’s resurrection,
Paul states, there is no afterlife, and of all peo-
ple Christians are the most pitiable (15:12–19).
Paul now invokes two archetypal fi gures to il-
lustrate the means by which human death and its
opposite, eternal life, entered the world. Citing
the Genesis creation account, Paul declares that
the “fi rst man,” Adam (God’s fi rst earthly son),
brought death to the human race, but Christ
(Adam’s “heavenly” counterpart, a new creation)
brings life. The coming resurrection (and per-
haps salvation as well) is universal: “as in Adam all
men die, so in Christ all will be brought to life.”
The “fi rst fruits” of the resurrection harvest,
Christ will return to raise the obedient dead and
defeat all enemies, including death itself. Noting
that the Corinthians practice baptism of their
dead (perhaps posthumously initiating them into
the church), Paul argues that this ritual presup-
poses the resurrection’s reality (15:29).
When the Corinthians ask how the dead are
raised and “in what kind of body,” Paul’s answer,
particularly his use of the term “spiritual body,”
merits close analysis. Traditionally, scholars have
read Paul’s discussion of the resurrection as in-
voking the classic duality between the physical
body (Greek, soma ) and the nonmaterial spirit
(Greek, pneuma ). An increasing number of
scholars, however, have come to realize that, for
Paul, as for most Greco-Roman thinkers, all
forms of existence, including the spiritual, par-
take of matter. Spiritual beings—gods, stars, and
angels—manifest a more refi ned, ethereal exis-
tence, but they were still thought to embody
some form of matter, albeit infi nitely superior to
that of earthly organisms. As we shall see, Paul’s
concept of the “resurrection body” embraces
this ancient philosophical consensus.
In persuading the Corinthians to share his
understanding of the eschatological means by
which God restores people to life, Paul fi rst cites
the example of a seed “that does not come to life

Speaking in Tongues ( Glossolalia ) Although he
gives love top priority, Paul also acknowledges
the value of other spiritual gifts, especially
prophecy, which involves rational communica-
tion. “Ecstatic utterance”—speaking in tongues,
or glossolalia —may be emotionally satisfying to
the speaker, but it does not “build up” the con-
gregation as do teaching and prophecy.
Although he does not prohibit ecstatic utter-
ance (Paul states that he is better at it than any
Corinthian), the apostle ranks it as the least
useful spiritual gift (14:1–40).

The Eschatological Hope:
Bodily Resurrection of the Dead

Paul’s last major topic—his eschatological vision
of the resurrection (15:1–57)—is theologi-
cally the most important. Apparently, some
Corinthians challenged Paul’s teaching about
the afterlife. One educated group may have
questioned the necessity of a future bodily res-
urrection because, infl uenced by the popular
philosophy of the day, they held negative views
of the physical body, making the concept of a
future “resurrection body” undesirable. Others
may have denied Paul’s concept of bodily resur-
rection because they shared the Greek philo-
sophical view that a future existence is purely
spiritual. According to Socrates, Plato, and
many Stoic thinkers, death occurs when the im-
mortal soul escapes from the perishable body.
The soul does not need a body when it enters
the invisible spirit realm. To believers in the
soul’s inherent immortality, Paul’s Hebrew
belief in the body’s material resurrection was
grotesque and irrelevant (cf. Acts 17:32).

The Historical Reality of Jesus’ Resurrection To
demonstrate that bodily resurrection is a reality,
Paul calls on the Corinthians to remember that
Jesus rose from the dead. Preserving the earliest
tradition of Jesus’ post resurrection appear-
ances, Paul notes that the risen Lord appeared
to as many as 500 believers at once, as well as to
Paul (15:3–8; see Box 14.1). Paul uses his oppo-
nents’ denial against them and argues that if

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chapter 14 unity, freedom, and christ’s return 347

transformation: “Sown in the earth as a perish-
able thing,” their bodies will be “raised in glory”
because the “animal body” will be “raised as a
spiritual [pneumatic] body,” still material but
wholly etherealized (15:35–44).
Returning to his contrast between “the fi rst
man, Adam” and “the last Adam [Christ],” Paul
underscores the perishable nature of the fi rst
human creation, from whom we are all de-
scended and with whom we share unavoidable
mortality. When Paul describes Adam as “an an-
imate being,” he borrows the phrase from the
Genesis creation account. Absolutely essential to
Paul’s thought here is the Hebrew Bible’s con-
cept of human nature: “God formed a man from
the dust of the ground and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life. Thus the man became
a living creature” (Gen. 2:7). The Hebrew word
translated “living creature” is nephesh , the same
term used to denote animals, or any other

unless it has fi rst died.” As the seemingly dead
seed bears little resemblance to the colorful
fl ower that grows from it, so the resurrection
body little resembles the deceased physical body
that is “sown,” buried in earth. Reasoning by
analogy, Paul then observes that earth’s different
life forms—men, animals, birds, and fi sh—all
have different kinds of “fl esh.” So, too, the “heav-
enly bodies”—sun, moon, and stars—are com-
posed of a different—and superior—substance
from that composing earthly creatures . By impli-
cation, resurrected bodies will not only differ
from their present physical forms but will also,
like the stars, show hierarchical degrees of differ-
ence. Presumably depending on their individual
merits, the risen and transformed dead will re-
veal a wide range of “splendor,” even as individ-
ual stars visibly differ in “brightness.” Like Jesus,
who “died” and “was buried” (15:4), yet who rose
to eternal life, believers will undergo radical

The oldest surviving account of Jesus’
post resurrection appearances occurs in Paul’s
fi rst letter to the Corinthians, which contains a
tradition “handed on” to Paul from earlier
Christians. None of the Gospels’ resurrection

narratives, written fi fteen to forty years after the
date of Paul’s letter, refers to Jesus’ manifesta-
tions to his kinsman James or to the “over 500
brothers” who simultaneously beheld him (cf. 1
Cor . 15:3–8).

box 14.1 Resurrection Traditions in Paul and the Gospels

paul (c. 54 ce)

Jesus appears
to Cephas (Peter)
to “the Twelve”
to “over 500”
to James (Jesus’

“brother”)
to “all the

Apostles”
to Paul (as an

apokalypsis , or
“revelation,”
Gal. 1:15–16)

mark (c. 66–70 ce)

No post resurrection
account in original
text (Two accounts
were added later:
Mark 16:8b and
16:9–19, in which
Jesus appears fi rst to
Mary Magdalene,
and then to the
Eleven.)

matthew (c. 85 ce)

No parallels

Jesus appears
to “the eleven
disciples” (minus
Judas Iscariot)
“in Galilee”

luke (c. 85–90 ce)

Reference
to “Simon [Peter]”
to “the Eleven”

(in Jerusalem)

Jesus appears
to “Cleopas” and

an unnamed
disciple on
the road to
Emmaus (near
Jerusalem)

john (c. 95–100 ce)

No parallels

Jesus appears
to Mary Magdalene

(in Jerusalem)
to “the disciples,”

particularly
Thomas (in
Jerusalem)

to “the sons of
Zebedee,” Simon
Peter, and the
“ Beloved Disciple”
(in Galilee)

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In Paul’s view, it is not the Greek idea of an
innately eternal soul that guarantees future life,
but the omnipotence and graciousness of the
God who fi rst created humanity—the One upon
whom all depend for eschatological re-creation at
the resurrection. Raised to a purifi ed, exalted
form of bodily existence, the resurrection body
affi rms not only the goodness of God’s material
creation but also the universality of his reign.
Following the resurrection, when God has sub-
jected the world to Christ, Paul declares, “then the
Son himself will also be made subordinate to God
who made all things subject to him” (15:25–28).
The purpose of Christ’s climactic submission to
the Father is clearly stated in the n ew Scholars
Version of Paul’s letters: “so that God may be the
one who rules everything everywhere” (15:28).
(For this new edition of Paul’s authentic letters,
see Dewey et al. in “Recommended Reading.”)
Paul says little about the “intermediate state,” the
interval between a believer’s death and the future
time of resurrection, but elsewhere he implies
that believers will posthumously “be with Christ”
(Phil. 1:23–24), perhaps enjoying the “paradise”
to which the Lukan Jesus refers (Luke 23:43).
For Paul, however, resurrection is not a
vague hope for the distant future, but the prom-
ise of imminent bodily transformation. As Jesus’
rising from the dead took place in the recent
historical past, so his return to earth will occur in
the near future. Similarly, Jesus’ rising is the
“fi rst fruits” of an impending global “harvest” in
which the faithful dead will be restored to life
and living Christians will be instantly and glori-
ously transformed. “Listen!” Paul commands the
Corinthians, “I will unfold a mystery: we shall not
all die, but we [the living believers] shall all be
changed in a fl ash, in the twinkling of an eye, at
the last trumpet-call” (15:51–52). Paul fully ex-
pects to be alive to hear that fi nal trumpet blast
announcing Jesus’ Parousia (cf. 1 Thess . 4:15–18).
(For helpful analyses of Paul’s concept of resur-
rection, see Martin, Engberg -Pedersen, and
Wright in “Recommended Reading.”)

Closing Remarks Retreating abruptly from his
cosmic vision of human destiny to take up

mortal creature that the divine breath has ani-
mated. When Genesis was translated into Greek,
nephesh was rendered as psyche, the word that
Plato and other Greek philosophers later em-
ployed to describe the “soul,” the immortal part
of humans that allegedly separates from the
body at death and then enters into the divine
realm. Contrary to the Greek duality of immor-
tal soul housed in a mortal body, however, the
biblical view consistently portrays humans as a
physical/spiritual unity—and fully mortal. In
the biblical tradition, humans do not have a soul,
they are a soul, whether called nephesh or psyche.
According to this line of thought, future life
depends not on a person’s intrinsic possession—
an immortal soul—but entirely on the life-giving
power of God. This is the view that Paul adopts
when he argues that the psyche (soul) is as perish-
able as the soma (body) (cf. the reference to soma
psychikon in 15:44). Adam, “the man made of
dust,” is the model of human mortality, the im-
age of death that comes to all. By contrast,
Christ, “the heavenly man,” offers, through res-
urrection, the opportunity to be refashioned in
his divine image. In describing what happens in
the eschatological raising of the dead, Paul em-
phasizes that our mortal natures will be radically
“changed”: “This perishable being must be
clothed with the imperishable, and what is mor-
tal must be clothed with immortality” (15:53).
Although he concedes that “fl esh and
blood can never possess the kingdom of God,”
Paul insists that the mortal components of hu-
man existence will be utterly transformed at the
eschatological consummation, as if absorbed
into a “spiritual [pneumatic] body.” In his let-
ter to the Romans, Paul explicitly attributes this
change to the Spirit ( pneuma ) of God, which is
already effecting inward changes in the
Christian’s present life. “If the Spirit of him
who raised Jesus from the dead dwells within
you,” Paul states, “then the God who raised
Jesus from the dead will also give new life to
your mortal bodies through his indwelling
Spirit” (Rom. 8:11; see also Paul’s discussion of
pneumatic transformations currently at work
within believers in 2 Cor . 4:16–5:10).

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chapter 14 unity, freedom, and christ’s return 349

“severe” letter to Corinth, Titus then rejoins
Paul in Macedonia, bringing the good news that
the Corinthians are sorry for their behavior and
now support the apostle (7:5–7). Paul subse-
quently writes a joyful letter of reconciliation,
included in chapters 1–9. Although this recon-
struction of events is speculative, it accounts for
the sequence of alienation, hostility, and recon-
ciliation found in this composite document.
Although a scholarly majority holds that the
document known as 2 Corinthians is a composite
work, other commentators point out that we
have no manuscript evidence indicating that it is
a patchwork of letter fragments. Some proposals
that divide the letter into as many as six or eight
different missives may be criticized as overly inge-
nious. As in many scholarly debates, a theory that
makes good sense to one investigator is not nec-
essarily convincing to others. Some critics argue
that the letter’s abrupt changes of subject and
tone can be explained by assuming that Paul dic-
tated it over a period of days or weeks, during
which time his attitude toward the Corinthians
fl uctuated considerably. Most commentators,
however, do not fi nd this argument persuasive.

The “Severe” Letter: Paul’s Defense
of His Apostolic Authority

In the last three chapters of 2 Corinthians, Paul
writes a passionate, almost brutal defense of his
apostolic authority. A masterpiece of savage
irony, chapters 10–13 show Paul boasting “as a
fool,” using every device of rhetoric to demolish
his opponents’ pretensions to superiority. We
don’t know the precise identity of these oppo-
nents, except that they were Jewish Christians
whom Paul accuses of proclaiming “another

mundane themes again, Paul reminds the
Corinthians of their previous agreement to help
the Jerusalem church. They are to contribute
money every Sunday, an obligation Paul had as-
sumed when visiting the Jerusalem leadership
(Gal. 2). The letter ends with Paul’s invocation
of Jesus’ speedy return—“ Marana tha ” (“Come,
O Lord”)—an Aramaic prayer dating from the
fi rst generation of Palestinian Christians.

Second Letter
to the Corinthians

Whereas 1 Corinthians is a unifi ed document, 2
Corinthians seems to be a compendium of sev-
eral letters or letter fragments written at differ-
ent times and refl ecting radically different
situations in the Corinthian church. Even casual
readers will note the contrast between the harsh,
sarcastic tone of chapters 10–13 and the gener-
ally friendlier, more conciliatory tone of the ear-
lier chapters. In the opinion of many scholars,
chapters 10–13 represent the “painful letter” al-
luded to in 2 Corinthians 2:3–4, making this part
necessarily older than chapters 1–9. Some au-
thorities fi nd as many as six or more remnants of
different letters in 2 Corinthians, but for our
purposes, we concentrate on the work’s two
main divisions ( chs . 10–13 and 1–9), taking
them in the order in which scholars believe they
were composed.
Underlying the writing of 2 Corinthians is a
dramatic confl ict between Paul and the church
he had founded. After he had dispatched 1
Corinthians, several events took place that
strained his relationship with the church almost
to the breaking point. New opponents, whom
Paul satirizes as “superlative apostles” (11:5), in-
fi ltrated the congregation and rapidly gained
positions of infl uence. Paul then made a brief,
“painful” visit to Corinth, only to suffer a public
humiliation there (2:1–5; 7:12). His visit a fail-
ure, he returned to Ephesus, where he wrote the
Corinthians a severe reprimand, part of which is
preserved in chapters 10–13. Having carried the

Second Corinthians

Author: Paul.
Date: Mid-50s ce.
Place of composition: The “severe letter” was
probably sent from Ephesus, and the letter of
reconciliation from Macedonia.
Audience: The congregation at Corinth, Greece.

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It is not certain that the “superlative apostles”
(11:5) are the same opponents as the “sham apos-
tles” (11:13) whom Paul accuses of being Satan’s
agents (11:12–15). Whatever their identity, they
apparently based their authority at least in part on
supernatural visions and revelations. Paul re-
sponds by telling of a believer, caught up to “the
third heaven,” who experienced divine secrets
too sacred to reveal (see Box 14.2). Disclosing
that the mystic is himself, Paul states that to keep
from becoming overelated by such mystical expe-
riences he was given a counterbalancing physical
defect. This unspecifi ed “thorn in the fl esh” ties
Paul fi rmly to his earthly frame and grounds him
in the human “weakness” through which God
reveals spiritual power (12:1–13; 13:3–4).
Paul implores the Corinthians to reform so
that his planned third visit will be a joyous occa-
sion rather than an exercise in harsh discipline.
He closes the letter with a fi nal appeal to the
congregation to practice unity and “live in
peace” (13:1–14).

The Letter of Reconciliation

Although scholars discern as many as fi ve or
more separate letter fragments in this section,
we discuss chapters 1–9 here as a single docu-
ment. The opening chapters (1:1–2:13) con-
trast sharply with the angry defensiveness of
chapters 10–13 and show a “happy” writer rec-
onciled to the Corinthians. The unnamed op-
ponent who had publicly humiliated Paul on
his second visit has been punished and so must
be forgiven (2:5–11). Titus’s welcome news that
the Corinthians are now on Paul’s side (7:5–16)
may belong to this section of the letter, mis-
placed in its present position by a later copyist.

Paul’s Real Credentials Despite the reconcilia-
tion, the Corinthian church is still troubled by
Paul’s rivals, whom he denounces as mere
“hawkers” (salespersons) of God’s word (2:17).
Although he is more controlled than in chapters
10–13, his exasperation is still evident when he
asks if he must begin all over again proving
his  apostolic credentials (3:1). Placing the

Jesus” and imparting a “spirit” different from
that introduced by his “gospel.” The label “super-
lative apostles” suggests that these critics enjoyed
considerable authority, perhaps as representa-
tives from the Jerusalem church.
Whoever they were, the “superlative apos-
tles” had succeeded in undermining many
Corinthians’ belief in Paul’s individual teach-
ing and trust in his personal integrity. Pointing
to Paul’s refusal to accept payment for his apos-
tolic services (perhaps implying that he knew
he was not entitled to it), his critics seriously
questioned his credentials as a Christian leader.
When he fi ghts back, Paul is defending both
himself (hence the many autobiographical ref-
erences) and the truth of the gospel he pro-
claims. In some passages, Paul sounds almost
desperately afraid that the church for which he
has labored so hard will be lost to him.
Although Paul’s bitter sarcasm may offend
some readers, we must realize that this unat-
tractive quality is the fl ip side of his intense com-
mitment to the Corinthians’ welfare. Behind the
writer’s “bragging” and threats (10:2–6; 11:16–21;
13:3, 10) lies the sting of unrequited affection.
The nature of loyal love that Paul had so confi –
dently defi ned in his earlier letter (1 Cor . 13) is
now profoundly tested.

The Nature of Apostleship and the Christian
Ministry Whereas in 1 Corinthians Paul deals
with ethical and doctrinal issues, in 2 Corinthians
he struggles to defi ne the qualities and motives
that validate his leadership and authority. His
main purpose in boasting “as a fool” (11:1–
12:13) is personally to demonstrate that true
apostleship does not depend on external quali-
ties like race or circumcision or the strength to
browbeat other believers. Paradoxically, it de-
pends on the leader’s “weakness”—his complete
dependence on God, who empowers him to en-
dure all kinds of hardship to proclaim the saving
message. Outwardly “weak” but inwardly strong,
Paul willingly suffers dangers, discomforts, hu-
miliations, and unceasing toil—daily proof of
selfl ess devotion—for the sake of a church that
now openly doubts his motives (11:16–33).

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chapter 14 unity, freedom, and christ’s return 351

Christian’s state of being or consciousness
during the interim period between death and
the future resurrection. In the present letter
(4:16–5:10), Paul seems to imply that believers
are already developing a spiritual body that will
clothe them at the moment of death.
Paul appears to state that God has prepared
for each Christian an eternal form, a “heavenly
habitation,” that endows the bearer with immor-
tality. Yearning to avoid human death, he envi-
sions receiving that heavenly form now, putting it
on like a garment over the physical body, “so that
our mortal part may be absorbed into life immor-
tal.” The presence of the Spirit, he concludes, is
visible evidence that God intends this process of
spiritual transformation to take place during the
current lifetime (5:1–5). United with Christ, the
believer thus becomes a new creation (5:11–17).

responsibility for recognizing true apostolic
leadership squarely on the Corinthians, the
writer reminds them that they are his living let-
ters of recommendation. Echoing Jeremiah
31:31, Paul contrasts the Mosaic Covenant, in-
scribed on stone tablets, with the New Covenant,
written on human hearts. Inhabited by the Holy
Spirit, the Christian refl ects God’s image with a
splendor exceeding that of Moses (3:2–18).

Nurturing a Spiritual Body Paul pursues his
theme of the indwelling Spirit and further devel-
ops ideas about the future life that he had previ-
ously outlined in discussing resurrection (1 Cor .
15). In the earlier letter, Paul wrote that the be-
liever will become instantly transformed—
receive an incorruptible “spiritual body”—at
Christ’s return. He said nothing about the

In listing his apostolic qualifi cations—
which include mystical visions and other spiritual
gifts—Paul “boasts” that he was “caught up as far as
the third heaven . . . into paradise,” where he
“heard words so sacred that human lips may not
repeat them” (2 Cor . 12:1–4). Paul’s reference to
the “third heaven” indicates that he, like many of
his Hellenistic-Jewish contemporaries, envisioned
the spirit realm as a vertical hierarchy of successive
levels. Some Jewish mystics of Paul’s day postulated
that heaven contained three levels, in which case
Paul, “whether in the body or out of it” (the expres-
sion he uses to denote his altered state of conscious-
ness), attained the topmost level. Other visionaries,
however, conceived of seven celestial stages, with
the ultimate spiritual reality—God’s throne room—
at the pinnacle (hence the expression “to be in sev-
enth heaven”) (see Figure 14.4). Still other
traditions assumed as many as ten levels of heaven.
Because Paul does not specifi cally mention
how many different levels he believes heaven en-
compasses, interpreters have long debated the sig-
nifi cance of his having visited the “third heaven.”

His reference to “paradise,” which some contem-
poraries conceived as the temporary habitation of
blessed souls awaiting resurrection (cf. Luke
23:43; Josephus, Discourse on Hades ), suggests that
it was not the locus of the divine throne. Given
that Paul cites his mystical experience in the con-
text of his quarrel with the Corinthians, in which
he argues that God uses human “weakness” in or-
der to show divine strength, it may be that in 2
Corinthians 12, Paul is actually confessing the lim-
itations of his spiritual striving. Along with the
“magnifi cence of [these] revelations,” he was
given a counterbalancing “physical pain” that se-
verely limited the extent of his ecstatic experi-
ences. Presuming that the Corinthians had heard
of realms higher than “paradise,” Paul’s account
of his heavenly ascent may have served to empha-
size that, despite his apostolic rank, he—like his
fellow believers—must await the Parousia for com-
plete spiritual fulfi llment; only then will the faith-
ful behold divinity “face to face” (1 Cor . 13:12).
(For a detailed examination of Paul’s report of his
ascent, see Gooder in “Recommended Reading.”)

box 14.2 Paul’s Ascent to the “Third Heaven”

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Paul’s reconciliation letter. Both concern the
collections for the Jerusalem church, a duty
that had been allowed to lapse during the hos-
tilities between the apostle and his competitors.
Highlighting Titus’s key role, Paul emphasizes
the generosity of Macedonia’s churches, an ex-
ample the Corinthians are expected to imitate.
He reminds prospective donors that “God loves
a cheerful giver” (9:7).

Summary

Paul’s letters to the early Greek churches at
Thessalonica and Corinth reveal that the fi rst
Christians held widely diverging opinions about
the content and practice of their new religion.
In  1  Thessalonians, Paul struggles to correct
misconceptions about the fate of believers who
die before the Parousia. In 1 Corinthians, he urges

The spiritual renewal is God’s plan for rec-
onciling humankind to himself. As Christ’s
ambassador, Paul advances the work of recon-
ciliation; his sufferings are an expression of
loyal service to his divine benefactor (5:18–
6:13). Imploring the Corinthians to return his
loyalty, Paul ends his defense of the apostolic
purpose with a not-altogether-convincing ex-
pression of confi dence in their reliability
(7:2–16). (Many scholars believe that 6:14–7:1,
which interrupts Paul’s fl ow of thought, either
belongs to a separate letter or is a non-Pauline
fragment that somehow was interpolated into
2 Corinthians. Because of its striking resem-
blance to Essene literature, some critics sug-
gest that this passage, with its reference to
“Belial [the devil],” originated in Qumran.)
Chapters 8 and 9 seem to repeat each other
and may once have been separate missives be-
fore an editor combined them at the end of

figure 14.4 The Ptolemaic Universe. Ptolemy (c. 100–178 ce ), a Greek astronomer
and mathematician, posited a geocentric theory of the universe, in which the planets
and stars rotated around a stationary earth. In Paul’s day, most Hellenistic mystics
accepted a similar concept, a system in which the orbits of planets and stars represented
successive levels of a heavenly hierarchy (see Box 14.2). In this seventeenth-century
drawing of the Ptolemaic cosmos, at least seven stages of heaven appear.

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chapter 14 unity, freedom, and christ’s return 353

the church? How have Paul’s attitudes infl u-
enced modern policies on the ordination of
women for the ministry?

3. In 2 Corinthians 1–9, the Corinthian majority
apparently decided to accept Paul and his indi-
vidual gospel on the apostle’s own terms.
Which of Paul’s threats or arguments do you
think most infl uenced the church to become
reconciled with its founder?

the congregation to overcome rivalries and unite as
a single body for the spiritual welfare of all believers.
The passionate arguments with which Paul defends
his right to lead and teach (especially 2 Cor. 10–13)
are reminders that God operates through human
instruments who, like Paul, are “weak” and depen-
dent on divine power. The key to understanding
the  urgency of Paul’s plea for unity in belief and
behavior is his assumption that his generation stands
at the turning point between two ages. The history
of evil is nearly fi nished; Christ will soon return to
establish the New Age, in which God rules all.

Questions for Review

1. Which passages in 1 Thessalonians and 1
Corinthians indicate that Paul believed the
End to be very near?

2. When Paul advises believers about choosing
between marriage and the single life, to what
extent does his expectation that ordinary his-
tory will soon end affect his counsel? What es-
chatological assumptions underlie his view of
the world?

3. What kinds of wisdom does Paul discuss in 1
Corinthians 1–3?

4. Why do some Corinthians disagree with Paul’s
belief in the future resurrection of the body?
Explain the difference between the notion of
having an inherently immortal soul and the con-
cept of receiving eternal life through resurrec-
tion, by the power of Christ’s Spirit ( pneuma ) that
dwells in the believer? How does Paul link Jesus’
resurrection to the Christian hope of an afterlife?

5. In 2 Corinthians 10–13, what arguments do
Paul’s Corinthian opponents use against him?
Why does he respond by boasting “as a fool”?
Why are his mystical experiences important to
the Corinthians?

Questions for Discussion and Refl ection

1. If Paul was wrong about the occurrence of the
Parousia during his lifetime, to what extent
does that mistaken view affect readers’ confi –
dence in his teachings?

2. After reading 1 Corinthians 7 and 11, discuss
Paul’s views on human sexuality and the relative
status of men and women. On what tradition
does Paul base his opinion of women’s roles in

Terms and Concepts to Remember

Day of Judgment
eschatology
glossolalia
Lord’s Supper
love ( agape- ) (1

Corinthians 13)

Parousia (1
Thessalonians)

Phoebe

Recommended Reading

1 Thessalonians
Ascough , Richard S. “Thessalonians, First Letter to

the.” In K. D. Sakenfeld , ed., The New Interpreter’s
Dictionary of the Bible, Vol. 5, pp. 569–574.
Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2009. A concise analy-
sis, including the Parousia theme and Paul’s rhe-
torical devices.

Bridges, Linda M. “1 Thessalonians.” In M. D.
Coogan , ed., The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Books of
the Bible , Vol. 2, pp. 406–410. New York: Oxford
University Press, 2011. Focuses on the recipients’
social setting, their manual labor, and the absence
of women.

Malherbe , Abraham J. The Letters to the Thessalonians:
A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary.
Anchor Bible, Vol. 32B. New York: Doubleday,
2000. Argues that 2 Thessalonians is genuinely
Pauline, but was sent to a different house church
in Thessalonica .

Malina , Bruce J., and Pilch , John J. Social Science
Commentary on the Letters of Paul . Minneapolis:
Fortress Press, 2006. Offers important insights
into the cultural content of Paul’s thought, in-
cluding his comparison of Jesus’ return to a
Roman leader’s parousia .

1 and 2 Corinthians
Capes, David B. “1 Corinthians.” In M. D. Coogan , ed.,

The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Books of the Bible , Vol. 1,
pp. 139–148. New York: Oxford University Press,
2011. Offers a chapter-by-chapter analysis of Paul’s
ideas to correct the recipients’ faith and behavior.

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354 part five paul and the pauline tradition

Maschmeier , Jens-Christian. “2 Corinthians.” In M. D.
Coogan , ed., The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Books of
the Bible , Vol. 1, pp. 148–158. New York: Oxford
University Press, 2011. Discusses scholarly theories
about the letter’s composite nature, emphasizing
Paul’s defense of his apostolic status.

Meeks, Wayne. The First Urban Christians: The Social
World of the Apostle Paul, 2nd ed . New Haven, Conn.:
Yale University Press, 2003. An insightful investiga-
tion into the cultural environment and socioeco-
nomic background of the earliest Christians.

Schütz , J. H., ed . The Social Setting of Pauline
Christianity. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1982.

Soards , Marian J.; Sampley , Paul; and Wright, N. T.,
eds. Romans–First Corinthians. The New Interpreters
Bible, Vol. 10. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2000.
Includes critical analysis of Pauline letters.

Talbert, C. H. Reading Corinthians: A Literary and
Theological Commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians. New
York: Crossroads, 1987.

Theissen , Gerd . The Social Setting of Pauline Christianity:
Essays on Corinth. Edited, translated, and with an
introduction by J. H. Schütz . Philadelphia:
Fortress Press, 1982.

Thiselton , Anthony C. “Corinthians, First Letter to.”
In K. D. Sakenfeld , ed., The New Interpreter’s
Dictionary of the Bible , Vol. 1, pp. 735–744. Nashville:
Abingdon Press, 2006. An informative introduc-
tion to the letter’s contents and theology.

Towner, Philip. “Corinthians, Second Letter to.” In
K. D. Sakenfeld , ed., The New Interpreter’s Dictionary
of the Bible, Vol. 1, pp. 744–751. Nashville:
Abingdon Press, 2006. Examines date and place
of composition, major themes, and theological
signifi cance.

Wright, N. T. Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the
Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church. San
Francisco: HarperOne , 2008. Explains that
Christian hope is not for a heavenly destiny but for
bodily resurrection to a renewed earthly creation .

Dewey, Arthur J.; Hoover, Roy W.; McGaughy , L. C.; and
Schmidt, Daryl D. The Authentic Letters of Paul: A New
Reading of Paul’s Letters and Meaning . The Scholars
Version. Salem, Ore.: Polebridge Press, 2010.

Ehrensperger , Kathy. That We May Be Mutually
Encouraged: Feminism and the New Perspective in
Pauline Studies. London: T and T Clark, 2004.
Examines Paul’s “theology of mutuality” in hu-
man relationships.

Engberg -Pedersen, Troels . Cosmology and Self in the
Apostle Paul: The Material Spirit . New York: Oxford
University Press, 2010. A detailed examination of
Stoic infl uences on Paul’s worldview, including
his concept of material spirit.

Gooder , Paula. Only the Third Heaven? 2 Corinthians
12:1–10 and Heavenly Ascent. London: T and T
Clark, 2006. Reviews the literature of heavenly as-
cents and places Paul’s account in the context of
human weakness and divine strength, presenting
it as one more example of failure and demon-
strating the need for God’s grace.

Goulder , Michael J. Early Christian Confl ict in Corinth:
Paul and the Followers of Peter. Peabody, Mass.:
Hendrickson, 2000. Argues that the chief source
of division in Corinth resulted from infi ghting be-
tween disciples of Peter and Paul.

Hays, Richard B. Interpretation: First Corinthians.
Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press,
1997. Examines Paul’s theological response to so-
cioeconomic problems at Corinth.

Levine, Amy-Jill, and Blickenstaff , Marianne, eds . A
Feminist Companion to Paul’s Authentic Writings .
London: T and T Clark, 2004. A collection of essays
examining Paul’s views on such topics as gender,
sexuality, marriage, and the physical body.

Martin, Dale B. The Corinthian Body . New Haven: Yale
University Press, 1995. A groundbreaking study
on Paul’s concept of the materiality of the resur-
rected “spiritual body” and on his attitude toward
the physical body and human sexuality.

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chapter 15

Freedom from Law and Justifi cation by Faith
Galatians and Romans

For through faith you are all [children] of God in union with Christ Jesus. . . .
There is no such thing as Jew and Greek, slave and freeman, male and female;

for you are all one person in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:26, 28

Galatians and Romans are two of Paul’s most
important letters, for in these he spells out his
distinctive vision of freedom from the Mosaic
Torah and justifi cation by faith in Christ. An
angry declaration of Christianity’s indepen-
dence from Torah obligations, Galatians ar-
gues that obedience to Torah commandments
cannot justify the believer before God. Only
trust (faith) in God’s gracious willingness to
redeem humanity through Christ can now win
divine approval and obtain salvation for the
individual.

This uniquely Pauline gospel revolution-
ized the development of Christianity. By sweep-
ing away all Torah requirements, including
circumcision and dietary restrictions, Paul
opened the church wide to Gentile converts.
Uncircumcised former adherents of Greco-
Roman religions were now granted full equality
with Jewish Christians. Although the process was
only beginning in Paul’s day, the infl ux of Gentiles
would soon overwhelm the originally Jewish
church, making it an international community
with members belonging to every known ethnic

Key Topics/Themes In his letters to the
Galatians and the Romans, Paul defi nes
Christianity’s relationship to Judaism. He uses
the Hebrew Bible to demonstrate that faith
was always God’s primary means of reconciling
humanity to himself. God’s revelation
( apokalypsis ) of Jesus frees believers from
the “bondage” of Torah observance.
Paul argues in Romans that all humanity
imitates Adam’s disobedience and is therefore
enslaved to sin and alienated from God. The
“holy” and “just” Law of the Torah serves only

to increase an awareness of human imperfection
and to con demn the lawbreaker. Thus,
obedience to the Torah cannot rescue people
from sin’s consequence—death—or unite them
with the Deity. Only the heavenly benefactor’s
undeserved love expressed through Christ and
accepted through faith can reconcile humanity
with the Creator.
The Jewish lack of faith in Jesus as the divinely
appointed agent of redemption is only temporary,
a historical necessity that allows believing
Gentiles also to become God’s people.

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356 part five paul and the pauline tradition

to Galatia in Acts (16:6; 18:23) suggest that Paul
may have traveled there, but this is not certain.
The other possibility, as some historians sug-
gest, is that Paul was writing to Christians in the
Roman province of Galatia. The southern por-
tion of this province included the cities of
Iconium , Lystra , and Derbe , places where the
apostle had established churches (Acts 14). If the
“southern Galatia” the ory is correct, it helps to
explain the presence of “ Judaizers ” (those per-
sons advocating circumcision), for the Roman
province was much closer to Jewish-Christian
centers at Antioch and at Jerusalem than was the
northern, Celtic territory (see Figure 15.1).

The Identity of Paul’s Opponents

Some commentators identify Paul’s opponents as
emissaries of the Jerusalem church, such as those
apparently sent by James to inspect the congrega-
tion at Antioch (2:12). It seems improbable, how-
ever, that Jewish Christians from Jerusalem would
have been unaware that requiring circumcision
also meant keeping the entire Torah (5:2–3).
Paul’s opponents appear to combine aspects of
Greco-Roman cult worship, such as honoring
cosmic spirits and observing religious festival
days (4:9–10), with selected Torah requirements
(6:12–14). This syncretism —mixing together
aspects of two or more different religions to create
a new doctrine—suggests that the opponents are
Galatian Gentiles. In Paul’s view, their attempt to
infuse Jewish and pagan elements into Christianity
misses the point of the Christ event.

Purpose and Contents

Writing from Corinth or Ephesus about 56 ce,
Paul has a twofold purpose: (1) to prove that he is
a true apostle, possessing rights equal to those of
the Jerusalem “pillars” ( chs . 1–2), and (2) to
demonstrate the validity of his gospel that Christian
faith replaces works of Mosaic Law, including cir-
cumcision. The letter can be divided into fi ve parts:

1. A biographical defense of Paul’s autonomy
and his relationship with the Jerusalem
leadership (1:1–2:14)

2. Paul’s unique gospel: justifi cation through
faith (2:15–3:29)

group. This swift transformation would not have
been possible without Paul’s radical insistence on
the abandonment of all Mosaic observances, which
for centuries had separated Jew from Gentile.

An Angry Letter to the
“Stupid” Galatians

Perhaps written at about the same time he was
battling the “superlative apostles” of Corinth
(2  Cor . 10–13), Paul’s Galatian letter contains a
similarly impassioned defense of his apostolic au-
thority and teaching. It seems that almost every-
where Paul founded new churches troublemakers
infi ltrated the congregation, asserting that
Christians must keep at least some provisions of
the Mosaic Law. Infl uenced either by representa-
tives from the Jerusalem church or by a wish to
combine Jewish practices with elements of
pre-Christian religions, the Galatians had aban-
doned Paul’s gospel (1:6) and now required all
male converts to undergo circumcision (5:2–3;
6:12–13), the physical sign of belonging to God’s
covenant community (Gen. 17).

The Recipients

The identity of the Galatian churches Paul ad-
dresses is uncertain. In Paul’s time, two differ-
ent geographical areas could be designated
“Galatia.” The fi rst was a territory in north-cen-
tral Asia Minor inhabited by descendants of
Celtic tribes that had invaded the region during
the third to fi rst centuries bce. Brief references

Galatians

Author: Paul.
Date: About 56 ce.
Place of composition: Perhaps Ephesus or
Corinth.
Audience: The “churches of Galatia,” perhaps
southern Galatia, a Roman province containing
the towns of Lystra , Iconium , and Derbe .
Occasion or purpose: To refute opponents who
advocated circumcision and to demonstrate
that Jew and Gentile are equally saved by faith
in Jesus’ redemptive power.

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chapter 15 freedom from law and justification by faith 357

need to consult other church leaders about the
correctness of his policies (1:15–17).
Unlike in Acts, in Galatians Paul presents
himself as essentially independent of the parent
church at Jerusalem. Nevertheless, he appar-
ently recognizes the desirability of having his
work among the Gentiles endorsed by the
Palestinian Christian leadership. His visit with
the Jerusalem “pillars”—Peter ( Cephas ), John,
and James—is probably the same conference
described in Acts 15. According to Paul, the pil-
lars (a term he uses somewhat ironically) agree
to recognize the legitimacy of his Gentile mis-
sion. Imposing no Torah restrictions on Gentile
converts, the Jerusalem trio ask only that Paul’s
congregations contribute fi nancially to the
mother church, a charitable project Paul gladly
undertakes (2:1–10; cf. Paul’s appeals for dona-
tions in 2 Cor . 8–9 and Rom. 15).

3. The adoption of Christians as heirs of
Abraham and children of God (4:1–31)

4. The consequences and obligations of Christian
freedom from the Mosaic Law (5:1–6:10)

5. A fi nal summary of Paul’s argument (6:11–18)

Paul’s Freedom
from Institutional Authority

Largely dispensing with his usual greetings and
thanksgiving, Paul opens the letter with a vigor-
ous defense of his personal autonomy. His apos-
tolic rank derives not from ordination or “human
appointment” but directly from Israel’s God, his
divine patron (1:1–5). Similarly, his message does
not depend on information learned from earlier
Christians but is a direct “revelation of Jesus
Christ” (1:12). Because he regards his gospel of
faith as a divine communication, Paul sees no

figure 15.1 Potential locations of Paul’s Galatian churches. The identity of Paul’s Galatians is
uncertain. The letter may have been directed to churches in the north-central plateau region of Asia
Minor (near present-day Ankara, Turkey) or to churches in the southern coastal area of east-central
Asia Minor (also in modern Turkey). Many scholars believe that the Galatians were Christians living in
Iconium , Lystra , Derbe , and other nearby cities that Paul had visited on his fi rst missionary journey.

CRETE RHODES

CYPRUS

0 50 100 Miles

0 50 100 Kilometers

G

A
L A

T I
A

Ephesus

Smyrna Sardis
Thyatira

Pergamum
Troas

Miletus

Myra

PergaAttalia
Patara

Derbe

Salamis

Antioch

Seleucia

Paphos

Mitylene

Cnidus
Tarsus

Colossae

SYRIA

CAPPADOCIA

A S I A

M E D I T E R R A N E A N

S E A

Antioch

Iconium

P H
R Y

G

I A

B L A C K S E A

P I S I D
I A Lystra

BITHYNIA
and

PO
NT

US

C I
L I

C I A

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358 part five paul and the pauline tradition

received the Spirit only when they believed his
gospel, not when they obeyed the Law (3:1–5). If
they think that they can be judged righteous by
obeying the Torah, then there was no purpose or
meaning to Christ’s death (2:21). Paul reinforces
his argument in the rabbinic tradition by fi nding a
precedent in the Hebrew Bible that anticipates his
formula of “faith equals righteousness.” Paul notes
that Abraham’s “faith” in God’s call “was counted
to him as righteousness” (Gen. 15:6). Therefore,
Paul reasons, persons who exercise faith today are
Abraham’s spiritual children, heirs to the promise
that God will “bless,” or justify, Gentile nations
through faith (3:6–10). Faith, not obedience to the
Law, is the key to divine approval.
In support of his appeal to biblical author-
ity, Paul fi nds only one additional relevant text,
Ha bakkuk 2:4: “he shall gain life who is justifi ed
through faith.” Paul interprets the Habakkuk
text as prophetic of the messianic era and con-
trasts its emphasis on faith with the Law’s focus
on action (3:11–12). The faith Habakkuk prom-
ised comes to the lawless Gentiles because Christ,
suffering a criminal’s execution, accepted the
Law’s “curse” on unlawful people and allowed
them to become reconciled to God (3:13–14).

The Role of the Mosaic Torah in Human Salvation
If, as Paul repeatedly asserts, the Mosaic Torah
cannot really help anyone, why was it given? Paul’s
answer is that the Torah is a temporary device
intended to teach humans that they are unavoid-
ably lawbreakers, sinners whose most conscien-
tious efforts cannot earn divine favor. Using an
analogy from Roman society, Paul compares the
Law to a tutor—a man appointed to guide and
protect youths until they attain legal adult-
hood. Like a tutor imposing discipline, the Law
makes its adherents aware of their moral inade-
quacy and their need for a power beyond them-
selves to achieve righteousness. That power is
Christ. Having served its purpose of prepar-
ing Abraham’s children for Christ, the Torah is
now obsolete and irrelevant (3:19–25).

The Equality of All Believers Paul denies the
Law’s power to condemn and separate Jew

After the Jerusalem conference, Paul meets
Peter again at Antioch, a meeting that shows how
far the Jewish–Gentile issue is from being re-
solved. Paul charges that Jesus’ premier disciple
is still ambivalent about associating with uncir-
cumcised believers. When James sends emissar-
ies to see if Antiochean Christians are properly
observing Mosaic dietary laws, Peter stops sharing
in communal meals with Gentiles. Apparently,
Peter fears James’s disapproval. Although Paul
denounces Peter’s action as hypocrisy, claiming
that Peter privately does not keep Torah regula-
tions, we cannot be sure of Peter’s motives. He
may have wished not to offend more conservative
Jewish believers and behaved as he did out of
respect for others’ consciences, a policy Paul
himself advocates (1 Cor . 8:1–13).

Justifi cation by Faith

Paul’s strangely negative attitude toward the
Mosaic Law has puzzled many Jewish scholars.
Why does a Pharisee trained to regard the Torah
as God’s revelation of ultimate Wisdom so vehe-
mently reject this divine guide to righteous liv-
ing? Is it because of a personal consciousness that
(for him) the Law no longer has power to justify
his existence before God? In both Galatians and
Romans, Paul closely examines his sense of a re-
lationship to his divine benefactor, attempting to
show how the experience of Christ achieves for
him what the Law failed to do—assure him of
God’s love and acceptance.

Replacing Law with Faith Using a legal meta-
phor to interpret the Crucifi xion, Paul states
that Jesus’ voluntary death pays the Torah’s
penalty for all lawbreakers (3:13–14). Thus,
Paul can say fi guratively, that “through the law
I died to law.” He escaped the punishments of
the Torah through a mystical identifi cation
with the sacrifi cial Messiah. Vicariously experi-
encing Jesus’ crucifi xion, Paul now shares in
Christ’s new life, which enables him to receive
God’s grace as never before (2:17–21).
Paul also appeals to the Galatians’ personal
experience of Christ, reminding them that they

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Paul’s exasperation with the Galatians’ fail-
ure to understand that Jesus’ death and resur-
rection are God’s complete and all-suffi cient
means of human salvation inspires his most
brutal insult. With savage irony, he suggests
that persons who insist on circumcision fi nish
the job by emasculating themselves (5:7–12).
Paul’s remark may refer to an infamous prac-
tice among male adherents of the goddess
Cybele , some of whom mutilated themselves in
a religious frenzy. This oblique allusion to a pa-
gan cult also implies that Paul’s opponents
were Galatian syncretists .
In closing his letter, Paul seizes the pen from
his secretary to write a fi nal appeal to the
Galatians in his own hand. Accusing his oppo-
nents of practicing circumcision only to escape
persecution, presumably from Torah-abiding
Jews, Paul summarizes his position: Torah obedi-
ence is meaningless because it implies that God’s
revelation through Jesus is not suffi cient.
Contrary to his opponents’ limited view, Paul as-
serts that Jesus alone makes possible the new cre-
ation that unites humanity with its Creator. Paul’s
closing words are as abrupt and self- directed as
his opening complaint (1:6): “In future let no
one make trouble for me” (6:11–17).

Recent Scholarly Evaluations of Paul’s
Interpretation of Judaism

A scholarly debate about Paul’s interpretation
of fi rst-century- ce Judaism that began in the
1970s has persisted into the twenty-fi rst century,
with many scholars advocating a “new perspec-
tive” on Paul’s seemingly negative attitude to-
ward Torah-observant Judaism, the religion in
which he was raised. Before this ongoing reeval-
uation of Paul’s thought, many commentators
contrasted a “legalistic” Judaism—dominated
by scrupulous law-keeping and the consequent
fear of divine punishment—against a Pauline
gospel of divine grace and redemption. Scholars
such as E. P. Sanders and James Dunn have
argued that this traditional view is too simplistic,
pointing out that the Judaism of Paul’s day
not  only was extremely diverse—making it

from Gentile and asserts the absolute equality
of all believers, regardless of their nationality,
social class, or sex. Among God’s children,
“there is no such thing as Jew and Greek, slave
and freeman, male and female,” because all are
“one person in Christ Jesus” (3:26–28).

All Believers as Heirs of Abraham Because Jesus
purchased Christians’ freedom from slavery to
the Torah’s yoke, all are now God’s adopted
heirs. As such, they are entitled to claim the
Deity as Abba (“father” or “daddy”) and to
receive the Abrahamic promises. Paul under-
scores the contrast between the Christian com-
munity and Judaism by interpreting the Genesis
story of Abraham’s two wives as an allegory, a
narrative in which the characters symbolize
some higher truth. Hagar, Abraham’s Egyptian
slave girl, is earthly Jerusalem, controlled by
Rome. Sarah, the patriarch’s free wife, symbol-
izes the “heavenly Jerusalem,” the spiritual
church whose members are also free (4:21–31).

Responsibilities of Freedom What does free-
dom from Torah regulations mean? Aware that
some Galatians used their liberty as an excuse
to indulge any desire or appetite (a practice
called antinomianism ), Paul interprets his
doctrine as freedom to practice neighborly
love without external restrictions. Somewhat
paradoxically, Paul quotes from the Torah to
defi ne the limits of Christians’ freedom from
Torah restrictions. Citing Leviticus 19:18, he
asserts that “the whole law can be summed up
in a single commandment: ‘Love your neigh-
bor as yourself’” (Gal. 5:13–14; cf. Mark 12:31).
For Paul, “the harvest of the Spirit is love,”
which has the power not only to transcend
Torah regulations but also to safeguard believ-
ers from the potential excesses of freedom.
Exercising “faith active in love” (5:6), the
Galatians will not indulge humanity’s “lower
nature”; love keeps them from all abuses and
errors that the Torah prohibits. Practicing love
promotes the kindness and mutual support
that makes the congregation thrive spiritually
(5:13–6:2).

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Although scholars generally agree that inter-
preting Paul’s theology in terms of an uncritical
opposition between “faith” and “works of the
law” misrepresents his gospel, there is still no
consensus on the exact meaning of his complex
ideas about the interrelationship of Judaism and
its offspring, Christianity. Despite the continuing
controversy, many scholars welcome the “new
perspective’s” insights into Pauline thought,
which may result in a clearer understanding
about the nature of membership in the covenant
and the people of God (see Box 15.1) .

Letter to the Romans

Galatians was dictated in the white heat of exas-
peration; Romans is a more calmly reasoned pre-
sentation of Paul’s doctrine of salvation through
faith. This letter is generally regarded as the
apostle’s most systematic expression of his theol-
ogy. In it, Paul thoughtfully explores an issue
central to all world religions: how to bridge the
moral gap between God and humanity, how to

impossible to lump all branches indiscrimi-
nately together—but also embraced a number
of components, such as many Jewish teachers’
emphasis on God’s mercy and grace, that also
characterized Christianity.
Some commentators have suggested that
Paul addresses his criticism of Judaism only to
Gentiles, who, as people born outside the Mosaic
Covenant, do not need to follow Torah regula-
tions. By demonstrating the same kind of faith
that Abraham manifested, however, non-Jews
also become Abraham’s spiritual descendants,
recipients of the “blessing” that God promised
eventually to extend to all nations (Gen. 12:3;
15:6). According to this theory, Christian Jews,
who are born into the covenant community, pre-
sumably may continue to practice their ancestral
customs, which they can rightly view as an act of
faith in Christ (who also kept Torah). This pro-
posal has the advantage of exonerating Paul
from a doctrine that some see as anti-Semitic
and of acknowledging that all, both Jew and
Gentile, are “made righteous” by faith in Christ,
but the scholarly community generally has not
found this argument persuasive.

In contrasting our dark present age with
the future light of divine rule, Paul states that now
“we see only puzzling refl ections in a mirror, but
then we shall see face to face” (1 Cor. 13:12). To
many students of Paul’s work, recent critical inter-
pretations of his thought offer no less than a major
paradigm shift in our understanding of the apostle’s
worldview. In reevaluating Paul’s attitude toward
Judaism, for example, scholars increasingly view it
from a “new perspective,” rejecting earlier conclu-
sions that Paul had dismissed the Mosaic Torah as
“legalistic,” in contrast to the dynamic exercise of
“faith in Christ.” Citing passages that many earlier
critics largely ignored, current scholarship empha-
sizes Paul’s vision of the law as “holy and just and
good” (Rom. 7:12; cf. 3:31). Taking this argument
further, Douglas Campbell has proposed an even

more radical reconsideration of Paul’s doctrine of
justifi cation. Focusing on Romans, Campbell insists
that the letter should be read through the lens of
chapters 5 through 8, which emphasize the positive
effects of God’s unconditional love, rather than
through the fi rst four chapters describing humani-
ty’s dire predicament, the traditional approach.
(See works by Campbell, Sanders, Westerholm,
Wright, and Yinger in “Recommended Reading.”)
Another scholarly trend sees Paul as a political
as well as a religious activist, a Christian missionary
who established a network of new communities
practicing egalitarian ideals that opposed the ma-
terialistic goals of Greco-Roman society, particu-
larly the coerciveness and economic exploitations
of the Roman imperial system. (See Horsley and
Crossan and Reed in “Recommended Reading.”)

box 15.1 Through a Glass Darkly: Justifi cation and Unconditional Love

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chapter 15 freedom from law and justification by faith 361

Cencreae , the eastern port of Corinth, a term he
also uses to describe his own ministry and that of
other male leaders (1 Cor . 3:5). As host of the
congregation that met in her house, Phoebe
acted as “patron [ prostates ]” to the group, includ-
ing Paul (16:1–2). The apostle’s greetings to
Prisca (Pricilla) and her husband, Aquila , indi-
cates that the couple so instrumental to him in
Corinth (1 Cor . 16:19; cf. Acts 18:18, 26) had re-
turned to Rome. Although the present chapter
16 likely originated as a separate missive asking
the Romans to assist Phoebe “in any business in
which she may need your help,” a later editor
appended it to the main body of Paul’s letter.
Although Paul may have intended the docu-
ment we call Romans to circulate through many
different churches, at the time of writing, he has
compelling personal reasons to open communi-
cations with Rome. As 2 Corinthians 10–13 and
Galatians reveal, Paul’s churches in the north-
eastern Mediterranean region were rife with divi-
sions and rebellion against his authority. Perhaps
in hope of leaving this strife behind, Paul in-
tends to move westward to Spain. He frankly con-
fesses that he prefers to work in territories where
no Christian has preceded him (Rom. 15:19–24; 1
Cor . 3:10–15; 2 Cor . 10:15–16). Paul writes not
only to enlist Roman support for his Spanish mis-
sion (15:24) but also to ensure that his doctrines
are understood and endorsed by the prestigious
church at Rome, center of the imperial govern-
ment and capital of the civilized world. He as-
sures the Romans that he intends only to pass
through their city (see Figure 15.2), lest they fear
a lengthy visit from so controversial a fi gure.
Before journeying to Rome, however, Paul
plans to take the money collected from his
churches in Greece to the Jerusalem headquar-
ters. He feels some anxiety about the trip to
Judea, stronghold of his Jewish and Jewish-
Christian opponents, and may have composed
Romans as a means of marshaling the most
effective arguments for his stand on the rela-
tionship between Judaism and Christianity
(15:26–32). Chapters 9–11 contain his most
extensive analysis of the parent religion’s role
in the divine plan. As Acts indicates, Paul’s

reconcile imperfect, sinful humanity to a pure
and righteous Deity. As a Jew, Paul is painfully
aware of the immense disparity between the ac-
tions of mortals and the immaculate holiness of
Israel’s God, whose justice cannot tolerate hu-
man error or wrongdoing. Yet Paul sees these ir-
reconcilable differences between humanity and
God as overcome in Christ, the Son who closes
the gulf between perfect Father and imperfect
children. In Paul’s vision of reconciliation, God
himself takes the initiative by re- creating a deeply
fl awed humanity in his own transcendent image.

Purpose, Place, and
Time of Composition

Unlike other Pauline letters, Romans is ad-
dressed to a congregation the writer has neither
founded nor previously visited. In form, the
work resembles a theological essay or sermon
rather than an ordinary letter, lacking the kind
of specifi c problem-solving advice that charac-
terizes most of Paul’s correspondence. Some
commentators regard Romans as a circular let-
ter, a document intended to explain Pauline
teachings to various Christian groups who may
at that time have held distorted views of the
apostle’s position on controversial subjects.
Many scholars view chapter 16, which con-
tains greetings to twenty-six different persons, as
a separate missive. If it is, it originally served as a
letter of recommendation for Phoebe, who prob-
ably conveyed Paul’s letter to Rome and was per-
haps commissioned to prepare for his impending
visit to the capital. Paul describes Phoebe as
deacon (“minister” or “servant”) of the church at

Romans

Author: Paul.
Date: About 57–58 ce.
Audience: The house churches at Rome.
Place of composition: Corinth.
Occasion or purpose: To give a careful
explanation of his “gospel to the Gentiles,”
particularly the doctrine of justifi cation by faith
and the place of both Jews and Gentiles in the
divine plan for human redemption.

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362 part five paul and the pauline tradition

4. Faith in Christ ensuring deliverance from
sin and death (5:1–7:25)

5. Renewed life in the Spirit (8:1–39)
6. The causes and results of Israel’s disbelief

(9:1–11:36)
7. Behavior in the church and the world (12:

1–15:13)
8. Paul’s future plans and greetings (15:14–33)
9. Appendix: a letter recommending Phoebe, a

woman serving as deacon of the Cenchreae
church (16:1–27)

Introduction

Paul opens the letter with an affi rmation of his
apostleship as the result of God’s direct call,
again implicitly denying that he owes his au-
thority to any human ordination. Chosen for a

premonition of future trouble was fully justifi ed
by his subsequent arrest in Jerusalem and im-
prisonment in Caesarea (Acts 21–26). The letter
was probably sent from Corinth about 57–58 ce.

Organization

The longest and most complex of Paul’s letters,
Romans can be divided into nine thematically
related parts:

1. Introduction (1:1–15)
2. Statement of theme (1:16–17) and explora-

tion of both Gentile and Jewish predica-
ments: God’s wrath directed at all humanity
because all people are guilty of deliberate
error (1:18–3:31)

3. Abraham as the model of faith (4:1–25)

figure 15.2 Streetside restaurant in Ostia . Remarkably well preserved, this restaurant in Ostia , the
seaport of Rome, offered convenient meals to busy passersby. Such “fast food” establishments were
common in Roman cities and a familiar sight to Paul and other early Christians.

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the “nations” outside a covenant bond with God.
Like other Jewish moralists of his day, Paul sees
the Gentiles’ moral errors as resulting from their
polytheism and idolatry. In Paul’s eyes, the
Creator’s glory is unmistakably revealed in the
natural world, making idol-worship inexcusable.
Describing the Gentiles’ religious and moral fail-
ures, Paul refl ects ideas from Hellenistic-Jewish
literature, as well as the concepts of “natural” and
“unnatural” from the philosophies of Aristotle
and the Stoics. Paul also adopts a popular Jewish
view that the Gentiles deliberately “bartered
away the true God for [a lie]” ( 1:25 ). Although
Genesis, a narrative of human origins, says noth-
ing about the beginning of polytheism, some
noncanonical works, such as the Book of Jubilees,
anticipate Paul’s view that, at a particular point in
history, the Gentiles deliberately abandoned a
pure monotheism to pursue a multiplicity of false
gods. They are thus guilty of “exchanging the
splendor of immortal God for an image shaped
like [human or animal forms]” (1:23). Because
they fell into idolatry, worshiping images instead
of true divinity, God abandoned them to the
“shameful passions” of erotic desire. Throughout
this section, Paul echoes the Wisdom of Solomon,
a book of the Apocrypha, which was probably
written only a few decades before his birth.
According to Wisdom’s theory of human history,
“The idea of making idols was the beginning of
fornication, and the invention of them was the
corruption of life” ( Wisd . 14:12 ; cf. 14:11–31).
Paul’s controversial opinion about same-sex
love affairs (1:26–27), common in the Greco-
Roman world, was probably determined by the
prohibitions against them in Leviticus (18:22;
20:13), but Paul’s attempt to validate this Torah
ordinance is based on his assumptions about the
history of religion. Paul assumes that monothe-
ism originally prevailed in human society, only to
be followed by the proliferation of polytheism,
spawning an idolatry that fatally corrupted the
human mind. Twenty-fi rst-century historians
and anthropologists, however, fi nd no evidence
to support this Hellenistic-Jewish hypothesis, on
which Paul grounds his condemnation of same-
sex attraction. As scholars have discovered, belief

special role, Paul is divinely commissioned to
achieve both faith and obedience among all
people. As Apostle or divinely appointed envoy
to the Gentiles, he now plans to bring his gos-
pel ( evangelion ) to Rome (1:1–15).
In defi ning his message as evangelion (“good
news”), Paul implicitly identifi es it as an alterna-
tive to Roman imperialistic propaganda, offi cial
government pronouncements about the “glad
tidings” of the emperor’s accomplishments.
(See the discussion of imperial evangelion in
Chapter 5.) Whereas the emperor was widely
credited with establishing world peace and pros-
perity, in this letter Paul will present Jesus—
“who was declared Son of God by a mighty act in
that he rose from the dead” (1:4; cf. Acts 2:36)—
as the real source of universal blessings.
“Gracious favor and peace,” Paul states, come
from “God our great Benefactor and from our
lord Jesus the Anointed” (1:7, Scholars Version).
Eager to convince the Roman congregations
that his distinctive “gospel [ evangelion ]” is correct,
Paul announces the same grand theme of salva-
tion “through faith” that he had used in his ear-
lier letter to the Galatians. “God’s way of righting
wrong,” he insists, is “a way that starts from faith
and ends in faith.” He then cites the same passage
from Habakkuk that he had quoted in Galatians:
“He shall gain life who is justifi ed through faith”
(Rom. 1:17; cf. Gal. 3:11; Hab . 2:4). Or, as the
Scholars Version renders it: “‘The one who de-
cides to live on the basis of confi dence in God is
the one who gets it right.’” The Greek term that
Paul uses here, pistis , is usually translated as
“faith,” but has a broader connotation of “trust,” a
deep confi dence in God’s reliability, such as that
which Abraham displayed when God summoned
him to a new life (see below). For Paul, such con-
fi dence in God is the foundation on which the
divine–human relationship must be built.

The Gentiles’ Idolatry
and Its Consequences

In the fi rst part of Romans, Paul surveys the
causes and consequences of humanity’s present
alienation from God, turning fi rst to the Gentiles,

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364 part five paul and the pauline tradition

pronounced Abraham “righteous” while the pa-
triarch was still uncircumcised has enormous
implications for the uncircumcised Gentiles,
providing a prophetic model of God’s plan to
save all peoples through faith. In achieving justi-
fi cation by placing his trust in God, Abraham is
not only the father of his Jewish descendants but
also “the father of all who have faith when uncir-
cumcised, so that righteousness is ‘counted’ to
them” (4:3–11). Therefore, Gentiles who imi-
tate Abraham’s example—trusting that God will
do what he has promised—are also heirs of the
divine promises given in Genesis. Without com-
promising his impartiality, God succeeds in
justifying both Jew and Gentile, encompassing
previously distinct groups in an act of redemp-
tive grace. As Abraham proved his confi dence
in  God by obediently responding to Yahweh’s
voice, so must the faithful now respond to
God’s new summons through Christ (4:15–25).
“Justifi ed through faith” in Jesus’ sacrifi cial
death, a demonstration of divine love, believers
are now reconciled to God (5:1–11).
In using Abraham’s example to support his
thesis that people are “justifi ed by faith quite
apart from success in keeping the law” (3:28; cf.
4:1–25), Paul selects only one verse (Gen. 15:6)
from the thirteen chapters that Genesis devotes
to Abraham’s story. Another New Testament
letter—traditionally ascribed to James, Jesus’
Torah-keeping “brother”—cites a different
part of the Genesis narrative to argue that it was
not Abraham’s trust in itself but his faith ex-
pressed in action that pleased God. Insisting
that “faith divorced from deeds is barren,” the
author of James interprets Abraham’s signifi –
cance as that of a person who demonstrates his
faith through his deeds, such as (almost) offer-
ing his son Isaac as a human sacrifi ce. Only by
translating his trust into action, James declares,
did Abraham prove “the integrity of his faith.”
Tellingly, James then cites the same Genesis
verse that Paul had evoked to illustrate the suf-
fi ciency of faith alone, but, by placing Genesis
15:6 in the broader context of Abraham’s
actions, James interprets the passage quite
differently (James 2:14–26). Although most

in a single universal God, such as that character-
izing postexilic stages of Israelite religion, is a
late historical development. Today’s readers, in-
cluding many ethicists and psychologists, may
similarly be puzzled by Paul’s assumed link be-
tween idolatry and homosexual behavior, a con-
nection prevalent in the fi rst-century ce Jewish
milieu but not verifi able by the standards of con-
temporary science. (For an exploration of this
topic, see Michael Coogan and Dale Martin in
“Recommended Reading.”)

Jews Are Also Alienated from God When Paul
turns from describing Gentile errors to address-
ing his fellow Jews, he does not accuse them of
idolatry, though he judges them “equally
guilty.” Although God provided Jews with the
Torah to guide them in righteousness, a fact
that gives them an initial advantage over the
Gentile nations, they have not, Paul asserts,
lived up to the Law’s high standards. As a re-
sult, Jews have not achieved justifi cation before
God any more than Gentiles have. Paul reiter-
ates his argument to the Galatians that the
Torah fails to effect a right relationship be-
tween God and the lawkeeper ; it serves only to
make one conscious of sin (2:17–3:20).
All humanity, then, both Jew and Gentile,
is in the same sinking boat, incapable of saving
itself. No one can earn through his or her own
efforts the right to enjoy divine approval. Paul
now goes on to show how God—whose just na-
ture does not permit him to absolve the unjust
sinner—works to rescue undeserving humanity
(3:21–31).

Abraham as the Model of One
“Justifi ed” by Faith

Paul realizes that, if his doctrine is to convince
Jewish Christians, it must fi nd support in the
Hebrew Bible. He therefore argues that God’s
plan of rescuing sinners through faith began
with Abraham, foremost ancestor of the Jewish
people. As in Galatians, he cites Genesis 15:6:
Abraham’s faith in God “was counted to him as
righteousness.” For Paul, the fact that God

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chapter 15 freedom from law and justification by faith 365

himself but all his descendants from their
Maker (see Box 15.3 ). Like some other Jewish
teachers of the fi rst century ce , Paul interprets
the Genesis story of Adam’s disobedience as a
tragic Fall from grace, a cosmic disaster that in-
troduces sin and death into the world. (Paul’s
word for “sin”— hamartia —is a Greek archery
term that means “missing the mark” or “falling
short of a desired goal.” Aristotle used the same
term to denote the “fatal fl aw” of the tragic hero
in Greek drama. Hamartia commonly refers to
an error of judgment rather than an act of in-
born human wickedness.) In Paul’s moral
scheme, the entire human race fails to hit the
target of reunion with God, thus condemning
itself to death—permanent separation from the
Source of life.
Obedience to the Torah cannot save be-
cause the Law merely defi nes errors and assigns
legal penalties. It is God himself who overcomes
the hopelessness of the human predicament.
He does this by sending his Son, whose perfect
obedience and sacrifi cial death provide a saving

commentators believe that James is merely
correcting a later misinterpretation of Paul’s
doctrine of faith, and not necessarily contradict-
ing it, his conclusion that people are “justifi ed
by deeds and not by faith in itself ” (2:25) does
not precisely accord with the Pauline equation
of faith and righteousness (see Chapter 18).
(For another New Testament author’s view on
the “works of the law,” see Box 15.2 .)

Faith in Christ Ensuring Deliverance
from Sin and Death

The Roles of Adam and Christ At the outset of his
letter (1:5), Paul declares that he tried to bring
the whole world to a state of obedient faith. In
chapter 5, he outlines a theory of history in
which God uses these two qualities— obedience
and faith—to achieve human salvation. God’s
intervention into human affairs became neces-
sary when the fi rst human, Adam (whose name
means “humankind”), disobeyed the Creator.
Through this act, Adam alienated not only

Paul’s “gospel”—that Gentiles may
become full-fl edged members of the Christian com-
munity without having to keep Torah ordinances—
so completely won the day that later generations of
Christians have taken it for granted. By the end of
the fi rst century ce , Gentile converts numerically
dominated the church, relegating Torah-keeping
Jewish Christians to a small minority. Although the
writings of Torah-observant Christians were not in-
cluded in the New Testament canon, occasional
voices of dissent from the Pauline position appear in
Christian Scripture. The author of Matthew’s
Gospel, for example, argues that Israel’s Messiah
“did not come to abolish the Law [Torah]” and that
it remains binding on Jesus’ followers:

If any man therefore sets aside even the least of
the Law’s demands, and teaches others to do the
same [as Paul did], he will have the lowest place
in the kingdom of Heaven, whereas anyone who

keeps the Law, and teaches others so [as did
Paul’s opponents], will stand high in the king-
dom of Heaven. (Matt. 5:19)

In describing Jesus’ future judgment on those
claiming to follow him, the Gospel writer is even
more severe:

Not everyone who calls me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter
the kingdom of Heaven, but only those who do the
will of my heavenly Father [who commanded Israel
to obey his laws]. . . . Then I [Jesus as eschatological
judge] will tell them [the condemned] to their
faces, “I never knew you; out of my sight, you and
your wicked ways.” (Matt. 7:21–23)

The phrase here translated “wicked ways” is
more accurately rendered “ subverters of the Law,”
as in the Scholars Version. According to Matthew,
Jesus will thus condemn Christians who fail to imi-
tate his example in observing Torah regulations.
Paul, of course, would disagree.

box 15.2 Differing New Testament Views on Torah Keeping

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366 part five paul and the pauline tradition

that Jesus showed in submitting to a shameful
death on the cross. A model of selfl ess devotion
and confi dence in divine mercy, Jesus’ human
life acquired cosmic signifi cance when the Deity
accepted his faithfulness as a means of validating
or redeeming the human race. A majority of
commentators, however, seem to endorse the
traditional view that belief or trust in Christ
correctly expresses Paul’s concept. (For a per-
ceptive treatment of this issue, see Dunn in
“Recommended Reading.”)
Some later theologians used Romans 5 to
formulate a doctrine of original sin, which states
that all human beings inherit an unavoidable
tendency to do wrong and are innately corrupt.

counterweight to Adam’s sin. As all Adam’s chil-
dren share his mortal punishment, so all will
share the reward of Christ’s resurrection to life.
It is the believer’s trust in the saving power
of Christ that makes him or her “righteous,”
enabling the just Deity to accept persons trust-
fully responding to his call (5:12–21).
Several scholars have proposed that, in a few
crucial passages, Paul’s use of the phrase “faith
in Christ” ( pistis Christou ) should be translated as
the “faith of Christ,” referring to the faithfulness
that Jesus displayed in loyally serving God to the
end (Rom. 3:22, 25–26; cf. Gal. 2:16; 3:22). In
this view, Christian faith can be interpreted as a
willingness to imitate the perfect trust in God

In Romans 5, Paul attributes the exis-
tence of sin and death to the fi rst man’s deliberate
disobedience of a divine command, that which pro-
hibited Adam and Eve from eating the fruit of the
tree of knowledge (Rom. 5:12–23; cf. Gen. 3).
According to orthodox interpretations of Paul’s
thought, particularly Augustine’s doctrine of origi-
nal sin, the fi rst couple’s error resulted in a death
sentence not only for them but also for their de-
scendants, all of whom are born under divine con-
demnation. In scrutinizing Genesis 3, however,
readers will notice that most of the terms com-
monly used to describe the tale of Adam’s and Eve’s
alienation from Yahweh are entirely absent. The
Genesis narrator makes no reference to sin, evil,
rebellion, disobedience, punishment, damnation,
or a fall from grace—all are interpretative terms
supplied by later theologians. The narrator, more-
over, does not present the talking serpent who per-
suades Eve to taste the forbidden fruit as “bad,” but
only as “subtle” or “shrewd.” Interestingly, after
Genesis 3, no writer in the canonical Hebrew Bible
( Tanakh ) ever again refers to this Genesis episode
or accords it any theological signifi cance.
It was not until shortly before Paul’s day that
Hellenistic-Jewish writers began to reinterpret the

events related in Genesis 3. During the fi rst cen-
tury bce , a Hellenistic Jew in Alexandria, Egypt,
composed the Wisdom of Solomon, a book that
integrated Greek philosophy with the Hebraic bib-
lical tradition. (Excluded from the Tanakh , the
Wisdom of Solomon was part of the Septuagint
Apocrypha and is included in Catholic and
Orthodox editions of the Old Testament.)
According to this source, the devil was responsible
for introducing death into human experience:
“God created man for immortality, and made him
the image of his own eternal self; it was the devil’s
spite that brought death into the world” ( Wisd . of
Sol. 2:23–24). Other extrabiblical traditions that it
was the devil, speaking through the serpent, who
tempted Eve to sin were eventually incorporated
into the noncanonical Life of Adam and Eve, a
Hellenistic work that imaginatively dramatizes
Satan’s role in corrupting the fi rst humans.
Whether directly infl uenced by this work or by the
oral traditions underlying it, Paul evidently adopts
the book’s Hellenistic view that Adam and Eve are
the sources of sin and death (Rom. 5:12–21; 2 Cor .
11:3; cf. 1 Tim. 2:4). (A Jewish apocalyptic work,
2  Esdras [c. 100 ce ], also explores the concept of
original sin; see Chapter 19.)

box 15.3 Paul’s Views on the Origin of Sin and Death

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chapter 15 freedom from law and justification by faith 367

The Law’s Holiness
and Human Perversity

Paul makes one fi nal attempt to place the Torah
in the context of salvation history and to account
for its failure to produce human righteousness.
In Galatians, Paul describes the Law harshly, re-
ferring to it as slavery, bondage, and death.
Writing more temperately in Romans, he judges
the Law “holy and just and good” (7:12). If it is,
why does it not serve to justify its practitioners?
In this case, Paul answers that the fault lies
not in the Torah but in human nature. The
Torah is “spiritual,” but human beings are “un-
spiritual” and enslaved by sin. Throughout this
long passage (7:7–25), Paul uses the fi rst person,
as if he were analyzing his own nature and then
projecting his self-admitted defects onto the rest
of humanity. His rhetorical “I,” however, should
probably be read “we”—for he means to de-
scribe human nature collectively. Laws not only
defi ne crimes, he asserts, but create an aware-
ness of lawbreaking that does not exist in their
absence. Thus, the Torah makes sin come alive
in the human consciousness (7:7–11).
Speaking as if sin were an animate force
inside himself, Paul articulates the classic state-
ment of ethical frustration—the opposition
between the “good” he wishes to do and the
“wrong” he actually performs. As he confronts
the huge gap between his conscious will and his
imperfect actions, Paul can only conclude that
it is not the real “he” who produces the moral
failure, but rather the “sin that lodges in me”
(7:14–20). For Paul, “sin” is not only autono-
mous but a personification of supernatural
forces profoundly hostile to humankind.
With his higher reason delighting in the
Torah but his lower nature fi ghting against it,
he fi nds that he incurs the Law’s punishment—
death. He bursts with the desire to attain God’s
approval but always “misses the mark.” In agony
over his fate, he seeks some power to rescue
him from an unsatisfying existence that ends
only in death (7:21–25). Paul may be accused
of attributing his personal sense of moral im-
perfection to everyone else, but his despairing

From Au gustine to Calvin, such theologians had
a deeply pessimistic view of human nature, in
some cases regarding the majority of people as
inherently depraved and justly damned.
Paul, however, emphasizes the joyful as-
pects of God’s reconciliation to humanity. It is
the Deity who initiates the process, and God’s
“grace”—his gracious will to love and to give
life—far exceeds the measure of human fail-
ings. So powerful is God’s determination to
redeem humankind, Paul implies, that he may
ultimately save all people:

It follows, then, that as the issue of one mis-
deed was the condemnation for all [people],
so the issue of one just act is acquittal and life
for all [people]. For as through the disobedience
of the one man [Adam] the many were made
sinners, so through the obedience of the one
man [Christ] the many will be made righteous.

(Rom. 5:18–19; see Paul’s similar declaration
in 1 Cor . 15:21–23)

This passage, in which Paul optimistically seems
to envision a universally redeemed humanity,
must be balanced against his more negative
evaluation of human sinfulness in Romans 8.
In this chapter, he contrasts two different ways
of life that produce opposite results. Those who
submit to their “lower nature” make themselves
God’s enemies and earn “death”; those united
with Christ, however, live on a higher plane,
“the level of the spirit,” which produces “life
and peace” (Rom. 8:5–13).

A Distortion of Paul’s Teaching on Freedom In
chapter 6, Paul seems to be refuting miscon-
ceptions of his doctrine on Christian freedom.
As in Galatia, some persons were apparently
acting as if liberty from the Law entitled them
to behave irresponsibly. In some cases, they
concluded that “sinning” was good because it
allowed God’s grace more opportunity to show
itself. Paul reminds such dissidents that sin is a
cruel tyrant who pays wages of death. In con-
trast, Christ treats his servants like a generous
benefactor, bestowing the gift of everlasting
life (6:1–23).

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368 part five paul and the pauline tradition

does it happen that the people to whom God
granted his covenants, Torah, Temple, and
promises failed to recognize Jesus as the Christ?
First, Paul argues that God never intended all
Israelites to receive his promises; they were
meant for only a faithful remnant, represented
in Paul’s day by Jewish Christians (9:1–9). (But
does Paul’s theory of a “faithful remnant” fully
agree with other parts of his argument?)
Second, Paul tries to show that Israel’s pres-
ent unbelief is part of God’s long-range plan to
redeem all of humanity. In a long discourse
sprinkled with loose paraphrases of passages
from the Hebrew Bible, Paul makes several im-
portant assumptions about God’s nature and
the manner in which the Deity controls human
destiny. He fi rst assumes that because God’s
will is irresistible, humans’ freedom of choice is
severely limited. Citing the Exodus story, Paul
reminds his readers that Yahweh manipulated
the Egyptian king in order to demonstrate his
divine strength ( Exod . 9:15–16). He argues
that God’s omnipotence entitles him to show
favor or cruelty to whomever he pleases. Paul
compares the Deity’s arbitrariness to that of a
potter who can assign one clay pot an honor-
able use and smash another if it displeases him.
Implying that might makes right, Paul declares
that no human being can justly challenge the
supreme Potter’s authority to favor one person
and not another (9:10–21; 10:7–10).
Paul’s assumption is that the Creator pre-
determines the human ability to believe or dis-
believe, thus foreordaining an individual’s
eternal destiny. This assumption troubles many
believers for its apparent repudiation of free
will, although some have embraced it. Later
theologians such as Augustine and Calvin for-
mulated a doctrine of predestination, in which
God—before the world’s creation—decreed
everyone’s fate, selecting a few for salvation and
relegating the majority to damnation.
Paul, however, emphasizes the positive aspect
of God’s apparent intervention into the human
decision-making process. In God’s long-range
plan, Jewish refusal to recognize Jesus as the
Messiah allows Gentiles to receive the Gospel;

self-examination illustrates why he believes that
the Law is unable to deliver one from the lethal
attributes of imperfect human nature (8:3).

Renewed Life in the Spirit

Paul then tries to show how God accomplishes
his rescue mission through Christ (8:1–39). By
sharing humanity’s imperfect nature and dying
“as a sacrifi ce for sin,” Christ transfers the Torah’s
penalties to sin itself, condemning it and not the
human nature in which it exists (8:3–4). Because
Christ’s Spirit now dwells within believers, sin no
longer exerts its former control, and new life can
fl ourish in each Christian’s body. Thus, Christians
escape their imperfection, having put it to death
with Christ on the cross. No longer sin’s slaves,
they become God’s children, joint heirs with
Christ (8:5–17).

Universal Renewal Paul uses mystical language
to describe not only human nature but also the
cosmos itself struggling to be set free from the
chains of mortality. During this period of cosmic
renewal, the whole universe wails as if in child-
birth. Believers now hope for a saving rebirth,
but that reality is still ahead. Ultimately, they will
be fully reshaped in the Son’s image, the pattern
of a new humanity reconciled to God (8:18–30).

Doxology Paul concludes this section of his let-
ter with a memorable doxology. It is a moving
hymn of praise to the God who has lovingly pro-
vided the means for humanity to transcend its
weakness and attain “the liberty and splendour ”
of God’s children. In this brilliant credo, Paul
declares his absolute confi dence that no suffer-
ing or power, human or supernatural, can sep-
arate the believer from God’s love (8:31–39).

The Causes and Results
of Israel’s Disbelief

Now that he has explained his position on the
Law and the means by which God arranges hu-
man salvation, Paul explores the diffi cult ques-
tion of Israel’s rejection of its Messiah. How

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chapter 15 freedom from law and justification by faith 369

supreme authorities” was written before his im-
prisonment and prosecution at Rome. We do
not know if his counsel would be the same after
his experience in the emperor Nero’s court, but
in chapter 13 he recommends a program of
obedience and cooperation with government
offi cials. Echoing the Stoic view that the state
exists to maintain public order and to punish
wrongdoing, Paul argues as if the Roman
Empire were a “divine institutios ” — an opinion
contrasting with his earlier view that the present
world is ruled by demonic forces (2 Cor . 4:4).
Although he emphasizes the Christian’s
duty to pay taxes and submit to legally consti-
tuted authority, Paul does not consider the eth-
ical problem of a citizen’s duty to resist the
state’s illegal or exploitative acts. Nor does he
urge believers to change the present social
system, probably because it will soon end.
Immediately following his message of submis-
sion to the state (13:1–10), Paul reminds his
Roman correspondents that their rescue from
the present evil age is rapidly approaching: “It
is time for you to wake out of sleep, for deliver-
ance is nearer to us now that it was when fi rst
we believed. It is far on in the night; day [of the
Parousia ] is near” (13:11). Paul’s apparent toler-
ation of human slavery in his brief letter to
Philemon may also stem from his conviction that
Jesus will soon take over world rule, ending all
imperial abuses (see Chapter 16).

Rome as Anti-Christ Paul implies that voluntary
cooperation with Rome will benefi t Christians;
he could not know that he soon would be
among the fi rst victims of a state-sponsored per-
secution of his faith (see Figure 15.3). Following
the emperor Nero’s execution of many Roman
believers (c. 64–65 ce ) and the threat of more
persecution under Domitian (81–96 ce ), some
New Testament authors came to regard the
state as Satan’s earthly instrument to destroy
God’s people. After the Jerusalem Temple was
razed in 70 ce , Rome became the new Babylon
in the eyes of many Christians. The author of
Revelation pictures Rome as a beast and pre-
dicts its fall as a cause of universal rejoicing

thus, nations previously ignorant of God can be-
come part of his covenant people and thereby,
through faith, receive redemption. In a famous
analogy, Paul likens Gentile believers to branches
from a wild olive tree that have been grafted onto
the cultivated olive trunk, which signifi es Israel. If
some of the old branches from the domesticated
tree had not been lopped off, there would have
been no room for the new (11:16–18). For hu-
manity’s universal benefi t, God has taken advan-
tage of Israel’s unresponsiveness to produce a
greater good.
Paul also states that the creation of
churches in which Greeks and Romans now
worship Israel’s God will incite a healthy envy
among Jews, kindling a desire to share the
churches’ spiritual favor. Furthermore, Israel’s
disbelief is only temporary. When all Gentiles
become believers, then the original branches
will be regrafted onto God’s olive tree and “the
whole of Israel will be saved” (11:19–27).
Paul does not explain why both Israelites
and Gentiles could not have been saved simul-
taneously, but he remains absolutely certain
that the Jews are still God’s chosen people.
Writing before Rome destroyed the Jewish state
in 70 ce , Paul does not predict divine ven-
geance upon Israel. He affi rms instead that
God’s own integrity ensures that he will honor
his promises to the covenant community. Some
later Christian writers argue that God disowned
Israel, replacing it with the Christian church. In
contrast, Paul’s witness confi rms Israel’s con-
tinuing role in the divinely ordered drama of
human salvation (11:1–36).

Behavior in the Church and the World

Paul’s ethical instruction ( chs . 12–15) is closely
tied to his sense of apocalyptic urgency. Because
the New Age is about to dawn, believers must con-
duct themselves with special care, not only in their
personal lives but also in their behavior toward the
imperial powers that govern society at large.

Cooperation with Government Authority Paul’s
advice that “every person must submit to the

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is so short, believers must submit to existing gov-
ernments and lead blameless lives.

Questions for Review

1. As Paul describes it in Romans 1–3, how is all
humanity trapped in a hopeless predicament?
How has God acted to rescue people from the
power of sin and death?

2. Defi ne what Paul means by such terms as righ-
teousness, justifi cation, and faith. According to
Paul’s evaluation of the Torah in Galatians and
Romans, why are Torah observances such as
circumcision irrelevant to God’s action
through Christ?

3. In both Galatians and Romans, Paul cites ex-
cerpts from Genesis 15 and Habakkuk 2 to
prove that God always intended faith to be the
means by which humanity was to be “justifi ed.”
Compare Paul’s interpretation of Abraham’s
example with that given by James (2:14–26). In
what ways does James disagree with Paul’s ex-
planation of the Genesis text?

(Rev. 17–19). At the time Paul wrote, however,
the adversarial relationship between church
and state was still in the future (see the photo
essay preceding Chapter 19, “The Tension
Between Caesar and Christ”).

Summary

Romans is the most comprehensive statement of
Paul’s teaching. In it, Paul wrestles with the prob-
lems of humanity’s estrangement from God and
God’s response to human need. Arguing that
Torah observance cannot justify one to the righ-
teous God, Paul states that in Christ the Deity
creates a new humanity, a new beginning.
Through Christ, all persons of faith can become
God’s children and benefi t from the promises
made to Abraham.
God’s ultimate plan is to defeat sin and recon-
cile all humanity—ironically, fi rst Gentiles and
then Jews—to himself. Because the time remaining

figure 15.3 Fourth-century Roman lime relief depicting the apostles Peter and
Paul. Because early church traditions assert that both apostles were executed in Rome
during Nero’s reign, their images are commonly paired. Paul’s letter to the Galatians
indicates that their historical relationship was not so close (Gal. 2:11–13).

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chapter 15 freedom from law and justification by faith 371

Questions for Discussion and Refl ection

1. Some commentators have argued that Paul mis-
understands the purpose of Torah obedience.
They claim that most Jewish teachers of his day
did not present Torah observance as a means of
salvation and that Paul’s contrast between
“works” and “faith” misrepresents fi rst-century
Judaism. From your reading of Galatians and
Romans, how would you explain Paul’s position?

2. What aspects of Paul’s teaching in Galatians or
Romans are most infl uenced—hence limited—
by his particular historical/social circum-
stances? If Paul were alive today, would a
knowledge of modern anthropology and bio-
logical evolution cause him to change his pre-
sentation of the Adam–Christ parallel? How
could Paul’s notion of inherited Adamic sin be
translated into an understanding of humanity’s
biological heritage in which humans retain ge-
netic traits of more “primitive” ancestors?

3. How do you think Paul’s ideas about submis-
sion to governmental authority should be mod-
ifi ed to refl ect post-Enlightenment principles
of freedom and individual rights? If Paul had
survived Nero’s persecutions, would he have
revised his advice in Romans 13?

4. Why does Paul, who believed that Mosaic Law
had been superseded by divine grace and faith
in Christ, base his condemnation of homosex-
uality on a Torah statute (Lev. 18:22; 20:13)?
How do you think Paul’s views on same-sex
love need to be reinterpreted?

of Paul’s emphasis on uniting different races in
Christ for the African American community.

Dunn, James D. G. Epistle to the Galatians. Peabody,
Mass.: Hendrickson, 1993. Discusses Pauline
themes of faith and justifi cation.

Koperski , Veronica. What Are They Saying About Paul
and the Law? Mahwah, N.J.: Paulist Press, 2001.
Essays on current interpretations of Paul’s views
on the Torah.

Martyn , J. Louis. Galatians. Anchor Bible Series. New
York: Doubleday, 1997. A new translation and
commentary.

Riches, John. “Galatians.” In M. D. Coogan , ed. The
Oxford Encyclopedia of the Books of the Bible , Vol. 1,
pp. 311–315. New York: Oxford University Press,
2011. Emphasizes Paul’s historic break with the
past and its historical reinterpretations.

Soards , Marion. “Galatians, Letter to.” In K. D.
Sakenfeld , ed., The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the
Bible, Vol. 2, pp. 508–514. Nashville: Abingdon
Press, 2007. A helpful introduction.

Wiley, Tatha . Paul and the Gentile Women: Reframing
Galatians. New York: Continuum International,
2005. Examines the effect of Paul’s gospel on
women believers.

Romans
Campbell, Douglas A. The Deliverance of God: An

Apocalyptic Rereading of Justifi cation in Paul . Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans , 2009. Much more detailed
than most books listed in this text, it reinterprets
Romans as a statement of divine grace and un-
conditional love.

Coogan , Michael. God and Sex: What the Bible Really
Says. New York: Twelve, 2010. Lucidly surveys dif-
fering biblical attitudes toward various sexual rela-
tionships, including marriage and homoeroticism.

Crossan, John Dominic, and Reed, Jonathan L. In
Search of Paul: How Jesus’ Apostle Opposed Rome’s
Empire with God’s Kingdom , reprint edition.
San Francisco: HarperOne, 2005. A scholarly
analysis of Roman culture that emphasizes the
political dimension of Paul’s mission.

Dunn, James D. G. “Faith, Faithfulness.” In K. D.
Sakenfeld , ed., The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the
Bible, Vol. 2, pp. 407–423. Nashville: Abingdon
Press, 2007. Offers important insights on Paul’s
gospel of salvation through faith.

. The Theology of Paul the Apostle. Grand
Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans , 1998. Thorough expo-
sition of Paul’s thought, using Romans as his
most important theological statement.

Ehrensperger , Kathy. That We May Be Mutually
Encouraged: Feminism and the New Perspective in
Pauline Studies. New York: T and T Clark
International, 2004.

Recommended Reading

Galatians
Braxton, Brad R. No Longer Slaves: Galatians and

African American Experience. Collegeville, Minn.:
Liturgical Press, 2002. Explores the implications

Abraham
Adam
antinomianism
circumcision
deacon
doxology
Fall, the
Galatia

original sin

Philemon

Phoebe
predestination
Roman Empire
syncretism
Torah

Terms and Concepts to Remember

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372 part five paul and the pauline tradition

scholarly study of Paul’s relationship to rabbinic
Judaism.

. Paul, the Law and the Jewish People.
Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1983.

Soards , M. J.; Sampley , J. P.; and Wright, N. T., eds.
Romans–First Corinthians, The New Interpreter’s Bible,
Vol. 10. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2000. Provides
extensive commentary.

Watson, Francis. Paul, Judaism, and the Gentiles:
Beyond the New Perspective, rev. ed. Grand Rapids,
Mich.: Eerdmans , 2007. A perceptive sociological
approach.

Westerholm , Stephen. Perspectives Old and New on
Paul: The “Lutheran” Paul and His Critics. Grand
Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans , 2004. A thorough re-
view of recent Pauline scholarship on the rela-
tionship of Jewish law and Christian faith.

Witherington , Ben, III, and Hyatt, Darlene. Paul’s
Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary.
Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans , 2004.

Wright, N. T. Justifi cation: God’s Plan and Paul’s Vision .
Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2009.
Argues that through the “faithfulness of Christ”
God gathers believers into his covenant with
Abraham.

. Paul: In Fresh Perspective. Minneapolis:
Fortress Press, 2006. Approaches Paul’s doctrine
of justifi cation in the context of fi rst-century
Jewish theology. For more advanced students.

Yinger , Kent L. The New Perspective on Paul: An
Introduction. Eugene , Ore.: Wipf and Stock Pub,
2011. A lucid and balanced exposition on schol-
ars’ recent interpretations of Paul’s attitude
toward Mosaic law and Christian faith .

Eisenbaum , Pamela. Paul Was Not a Christian: The
Original Message of a Misunderstood Apostle. San
Francisco: HarperOne , 2010. Argues that Paul
continued to see himself as a Jew who promul-
gated Israel’s Messiah.

Elliott, Neil. “Romans.” In M. D. Coogan , ed., The
Oxford Encyclopedia of the Books of the Bible , Vol. 2,
pp. 271–279. New York: Oxford University Press,
2011. Offers a variety of traditional and innovative
interpretations of Paul’s arguments on Christ and
Judaism, including nontheological views.

Fitzmyer , Joseph A. Romans. The Anchor Bible, Vol. 33.
New York: Doubleday, 1993. A new translation
with extensive commentary.

Gorman, Michael J. Apostle of the Crucifi ed Lord: A
Theological Introduction to Paul and His Letters.
Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans , 2004. Explores
Paul’s doctrine of justifi cation by faith.

Horsley, Richard, ed. Paul and the Imperial Roman
Order. New York: Bloomsbury T & T Clark, 2004.
Collection of cutting-edge essays on the political
aspects of Pauline thought.

Martin, Dale B. Sex and the Single Savior: Gender and
Sexuality in Biblical Interpretation. Louisville, Ky.:
Westminster John Knox, 2006. Includes a careful
analysis of Paul’s views on sexuality, passion, and
marriage.

Moo, Douglas. “Romans, Letter to the.” In K. D.
Sakenfeld , ed., The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the
Bible, Vol. 4, pp. 841–852. Nashville: Abingdon
Press, 2009. Examines the letter’s historical back-
ground, purpose, and theological contents.

Sanders, E. P. Paul and Palestinian Judaism.
Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1978. An important

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373

chapter 16

Letters from Prison
Philippians and Philemon

He [Jesus] did not think to snatch at equality with God, but made
himself nothing, assuming the nature of a slave. Philippians 2:6–7

According to an early church tradition, Paul
wrote four canonical letters while imprisoned in
Rome—Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and
Philemon. Known as the “captivity letters,” they
were long believed to represent the apostle’s most
mature refl ections on such topics as the divine
nature of Christ (Phil. 2:5–11; Col. 1:13–20; 2:9–15)
and the mystic unity of the church (Eph. 1–5).
Rigorous scholarly analysis of the four
works, however, has raised serious questions
about the time and place of their composition,
as well as the authorship of two of them. All lead-
ing scholars accept Philippians and Philemon as
genuinely Pauline, but many (perhaps more
than half) challenge Paul’s authorship of
Colossians. Even more deny that he wrote
Ephesians, a work that differs in content, tone,
and style from the apostle’s accepted letters.

Because so many scholars question Paul’s respon-
sibility for Colossians, we discuss it among the
disputed letters in Chapter 17. (For scholarly
arguments defending or denying Pauline au-
thorship of these works, see the “Recommended
Reading” at the end of Chapter 17.)

Place of Origin

Scholars pose various objections to the traditional
belief that Paul wrote Philippians and the other
letters while under house arrest in Rome (Acts 28).
In the apostles’ day, traveling the almost 800 miles
between Rome and Philippi, located in north-
eastern Greece, took as long as ten months (see
Figure 16.1). Philippians implies that Paul’s friends

Key Topics/Themes Although it contains
some sharp criticism of his opponents, Paul’s
letter to the Philippian church reveals an
unusual warmth and friendliness in general.
Urging cooperation for the mutual benefi t
of all believers, Paul cites an early hymn that
depicts Jesus as the opposite of Adam—a

humbly obedient son whose self-emptying
leads to his heavenly exaltation.
The apostle’s only surviving personal
letter, Philemon shows Paul accepting the
Greco- Roman institution of slavery while
simultaneously emphasizing that Christians of
all social classes are intimately related in love.

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374 part five paul and the pauline tradition

for two years (Acts 23–25). Still other critics
point out that we lack proof that Paul was actu-
ally jailed in Ephesus; they also claim that the
diffi culties in traveling between Macedonia and
Rome have been overstated. Where Paul was
imprisoned remains an open question, al-
though many commentators still uphold the
traditional view that Paul’s prison letters ema-
nate from the Roman capital (see Figure 16.2).

Letter to the Philippians

Paul enjoyed an unusually warm and affection-
ate relationship with Christians at Philippi. He
and Timothy had established the church during
their fi rst tour of Greece (Acts 16:11–40), and
he maintained an intimate communication

made four journeys between Philippi and his place
of imprisonment and that a fi fth trip was planned
(Phil. 2:25–26). Some scholars consider the dis-
tance separating these two cities too great to travel
so frequently. They propose Ephesus, a city where
Paul spent three years (Acts 20:31) and that is only
about ten days’ travel time from Philippi, as the
place of origin. Philippians’ references to the
Praetorian Guard, the Roman emperor’s personal
militia (1:13), and “the imperial establishment”
(4:22) do not necessarily mean that the letter orig-
inated in Rome. Ancient inscriptions recently
discovered in Ephesus show that members of the
Praetorian Guard and other imperial officials
were stationed in the Roman province of Asia,
where Ephesus and Colossae are located.
Although many scholars support the
“ Ephesian theory,” others suggest that Paul
wrote from Caesarea, where he was imprisoned

figure 16.1 Potential sites where Paul wrote his “prison letters.” Paul may have written these letters in
Rome (in the far west on this map), in Ephesus (on the coast of present-day Turkey), or in Caesarea (in the far
eastern Mediterranean). Note that Ephesus is much closer to Philippi than either of the other two cities.

0 100 200 300 Miles

0 100 200 300 Kilometers

SICILIA

CRETE
CYPRUS

M E D I T E R R A N E A N S E A

B L A C K S E A

Samaria

Antioch

Colossae
Laodicea

Thessalonica
Beroea

AthensCorinth

Puteoli

ITALIA

Danube River

A
D

R I A T
I C

S E A

Ephesus
Smyrna Sardis

Philadelphia

Thyatira
Pergamum

Troas

Derbe
Lystra

Iconium

Philippi

Jerusalem

Caesarea
Joppa

Miletus
Myra
PergaAttalia
Patara
Salamis
Seleucia

Tyre

Paphos

Cos

Mitylene

Cnidus Tarsus

Antioch

Syracuse

Rhegium

Neapolis

Tres Tabernae

Ptolemais

Sidon

Jamnia

Rome

Alexandria

Cyrene

Damascus

A S I A

M A C E
D O N I A

ACHAIA

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chapter 16 letters from prison 375

Like all genuinely Pauline letters, Philippians
reveals the author’s quick changes of mood,
ranging from a personal meditation on the
meaning of his impending death to a brief but
savage attack on his opponents. The letter fea-
tures so many abrupt changes of subject and
shifts in tone that many analysts believe it to be,
like 2 Corinthians, a composite work, containing
parts of three or four different missives.

with the Philippians, who were the only group
from whom he would accept fi nancial support
(4:15–16). In welcome contrast to the “boasting”
and threats that characterize the letters to
Corinth and Galatia, Philippians contains no
impassioned defense of his authority, undoubt-
edly because his friends in Philippi did not
question it. The author instead exposes a more
kindly and loving aspect of his personality.

figure 16.2 St. Paul in Prison. In this painting by Rembrandt (1606–1669), Paul
sits in his murky cell, composing letters to inspire faith and hope in the membership
of his tiny, scattered churches. Notice that the light from the cell’s barred window
seems to emanate from Paul himself, surrounding his head like a halo and glowing
from the pages of the manuscripts he holds.

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376 part five paul and the pauline tradition

The Signifi cance
of Paul’s Imprisonment

After affectionately greeting the Philippians (1:
1–11), Paul explores the signifi cance of his prison
experience and courageously underscores its pos-
itive effects. Apparently widely talked about, his
case gives other believers the opportunity to wit-
ness publicly for Christ. At the same time, not all
of Paul’s fellow Christians support him; they use
his imprisonment as a means of stirring up new
troubles for the prisoner. Paul does not identify
those Christians whose personal jealousies com-
plicate his already diffi cult situation, but they may
have been connected with the “advocates of cir-
cumcision” denounced in chapter 3. In Acts’ nar-
ration of Paul’s arrest, imprisonment in Caesarea,
and transportation to Rome under armed guard,
the Jerusalem church leadership is conspicuously
absent from his defense. Perhaps those who
shared James’s adherence to Torah obligations
were in some degree pleased to see Paul and his
questionable views under legal restraint.
Paul’s attitude toward his troublesome rivals
is far milder than it is in Galatians. Determined
to fi nd positive results even in his opponents’
activities, Paul adopts a stoic detachment and
concludes that their motives, whether sincere or
hypocritical, are fi nally irrelevant: They success-
fully proclaim the Christian message (1:12–18).
As he contemplates the possibility of his exe-
cution, Paul is torn between wishing to live for his
friends’ sake and wishing to “depart and be with
Christ,” thereby attaining a posthumous union
with his Lord while awaiting resurrection (see 1
Cor . 15). Paul places himself on a par with his
beloved Philippians when he states that they run
the same race as he to win life’s ultimate prize
(1:19–30). Despite his ceaseless efforts, Paul re-
mains aware of his imperfection and explicitly
states that he is not yet certain of victory (3:10–14).

The Hymn to Christ

Chapter 2 contains the letter’s most important
theological concept. Urging the Philippians to
place others’ welfare before their own, Paul cites

According to this theory, the note thanking
the Philippians for their fi nancial help (4:10–20
or 23) was composed fi rst, followed by a letter
warning the church about potential trouble-
makers (partially preserved in 1:1–3:1a and
4:2–9). A third letter bitterly attacks advocates
of circumcision (3:1b–4:1). The letter may be a
single composition, however, for Paul com-
monly leaps from topic to topic, registering
different emotional responses to different
problems in the course of a single letter.
Philippians is important not only for the in-
sight it permits into Paul’s volatile character but
also for the clues it gives to early Christian beliefs
about Jesus’ nature. The key passage appears in
Philippians 2:5–11, in which Paul seems to quote
an early Christian hymn celebrating Jesus’ hum-
ble obedience and subsequent exaltation.

Organization

Philippians covers a variety of topics, but it can
be divided into six relatively brief units:

1. Salutation and thanksgiving (1:1–11)
2. Paul’s meditation on his imprisonment (1:

12–30)
3. An exhortation to humility, in imitation of

Christ’s example (2:1–18)
4. The recommendation of Timothy and

Epaphroditus (2:19–3:1a)
5. An attack on advocates of circumcision and

an exhortation to live harmoniously, in imi-
tation of Paul (3:1b–4:9)

6. A note of thanks for fi nancial help (4:10–23)

Philippians

Author: Paul.
Audience: Congregation at Philippi in north-
eastern Greece.
Date and place of composition: About 56 ce if
from Ephesus, 61–62 if from Rome, or 58–60 if
from Caesarea (dating depends on the location
of Paul’s imprisonment).
Occasion or purpose: To express his friendship
with the Philippians and to thank them for their
monetary support.

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chapter 16 letters from prison 377

God-like status (Gen. 3:5), Jesus takes the
form of a slave. Instead of rebelling against
the Creator, he is fully obedient unto death.
Finally, Adam’s disobedience brings shame
and death, but Jesus’ total obedience brings glory
and exaltation. Jesus’ self-emptying earns him the
fullness of God’s reward, the bestowal of “the
name above all names,” to whom all creation sub-
mits. In accordance with his usual method of
using theology to impart behavioral instruction,
Paul implicitly compares the reward given to
Jesus for his humility with that in store for humbly
obedient Christians. Now shining like “stars in a
dark world,” they will inherit a future life similar to
that which Jesus now enjoys (2:14–18). (For a lucid
discussion of the Adam–Christ contrast, see
Dewey et al. in “Recommended Reading.”)

Recommendations of Timothy
and Epaphroditus

The references to Timothy and Epaphroditus ,
two of his favorite companions, suggest Paul’s
warm capacity for friendship. Timothy, whose
name appears as courtesy coauthor of this letter
(1:1), is one of Paul’s most reliable associates.
Unlike Barnabas and John Mark, with whom
Paul quarreled, Timothy (who is half Jewish and
half Greek) shares Paul’s positive attitude to-
ward Gentile converts. In the apostle’s absence,
Paul trusts him to act as he would (2:19–24).
Epaphroditus , whom the Philippians had
sent to assist Paul in prison, has apparently
touched Paul by the depth of his personal devo-
tion. Epaphroditus’s dangerous illness, which
delayed his return to Philippi, may have result ed
from his helping the prisoner. Paul implies
his  gratitude when urging the Philippians to
give Epaphroditus an appreciative welcome
home (2:25–3:1a).
Paul’s concern for individual believers in
Philippi is also apparent in his personal mes-
sage for two estranged women, Euodia and
Syntyche . Pleading with sensitivity and tact for
their reconciliation, he ranks the two women as
co-workers who share his efforts to promote the
gospel (4:2–3).

Jesus’ behavior as the supreme example of hum-
ble service to others. To encourage his readers to
emulate the same self-denying attitude that Jesus
displayed, he recites a hymn that illustrates his in-
tent. The rhythmic and poetic qualities of this
work, as well as the absence of typically Pauline
ideas and vocabulary, suggest that it is a pre- Pauline
composition. The fi rst stanza reads as follows:

Who though he was in the form of God,
Did not count equality with God
A thing to be grasped,
But emptied himself,
Taking the form of a servant,
Being born in the likeness of men.

And being found in human form
He humbled himself
And became obedient unto death.

(2:6–8, Revised Standard Version)

The hymn’s second stanza (2:9–11) describes
how God rewards Jesus’ selfl ess obedience by
granting him universal lordship, elevating him
to heaven, thereby glorifying “God, the Father.”
In this famous passage, which has been trans-
lated in various ways to highlight different theo-
ries about Christ’s divinity, Jesus’ relation to the
Father is ambiguously stated. Since the fourth
century ce , when the church offi cially adopted
the doctrine of the Trinity, it has commonly been
assumed that the hymn refers to Jesus’ prehuman
existence and affi rms the Son’s co-eternity and
co-equality with the Father. (See Box 16.1 for
different ways of translating Philippians 2.)
Remembering Paul’s explicit subordination
of Jesus to God in 1 Corinthians (15:24–28),
many readers will be cautious about attributing
post–New Testament ideas to the apostle. A
growing number of scholars believe that Paul
employs the hymn in order implicitly to con-
trast two “sons” of God—Adam (Luke 3:38)
and Jesus. (The Adam–Christ contrast fi gures
prominently in 1 Corinthians 15:21–23, 45–49,
and in Romans 5:12–19.) The mention of
“form” (Greek, morphe ) refers to the divine
image that both Adam and Jesus refl ect (Gen.
1:26–28). But whereas Adam tried to seize

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Unlike the two other great monotheis-
tic religions, Judaism and Islam, Christianity tradi-
tionally expresses its ideas and insights in formal
doctrines. During the fi rst three or four centuries
ce , Christian teachers were bitterly divided on the
precise way to defi ne Jesus’ divine nature and his
relationship to God. Whereas some Christians ar-
gued that Jesus was subordinate to the Father, oth-
ers insisted that he was co-equal and co-eternal
with God. The view that Jesus and God were the
same Being eventually prevailed and was formu-
lated in the concept of the Trinity, a doctrine ar-
ticulated in the famous Nicene Creed.
Throughout the long controversy, both sides
cited Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi to sup-
port their confl icting arguments. In the second
chapter of Philippians, Paul apparently quotes a
pre-Pauline Christian hymn praising Jesus’ example
of humble obedience to the Father, a willing submis-
sion to the divine will that led to his death and post-
humous exaltation. Understanding exactly what the
hymn states about Jesus’ relation to God—whether
in a prehuman heavenly existence he was “equal to
God”—depends largely on how one interprets a cru-
cial Greek verb, which translators render in a variety
of ways, giving different theological meanings to the
text. The King James Version provides a traditional
wording consistent with the orthodox belief that
Jesus is the Second Person of the Trinity, whereas
most modern translations refl ect the ambiguity of
the passage. (To avoid repetition, the second stanza
is omitted in several examples. The key phrases for
theological interpretation are placed in italics.)

philippians 2:5–11
king james version

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ
Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not
robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of
no reputation, and took upon him the form of a
servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
and being found in fashion as a man, he
humbled himself, and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore
God also hath highly exalted him, and given
him a name which is above every name: that at
the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of
things in heaven, and things in earth, and things
under the earth; and that every tongue should
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of
God the  Father.

new american bible

Your attitude must be that of Christ.
Though he was in the form of God,

he did not deem equality with God
something to be grasped at.

Rather, he emptied himself
and took the form of a slave,
being born in the likeness of men.

He was known to be of human estate,
and it was thus that he humbled himself,
obediently accepting even death,
death on a cross!

Because of this,
God highly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
above every other name,

box 16.1 Comparative Translations of the Hymn in Philippians 2

Attacking Advocates of Circumcision

In chapter 3, fl ashes of Paul’s old fi re give his
words a keen edge. This section (3:1b–20),
which is thought to have originated as a sepa-
rate memorandum, attacks Judaizers who insist
on circumcising Gentile converts. Denouncing
circumcision as “mutilation,” he contemptu-
ously dismisses his opponents as “dogs”—the
common Jewish tag for the uncircumcised.

Paul provides valuable autobiographical infor-
mation when he cites his ethnic qualifi cations—
superior to those of his enemies—to evaluate
the advantages of being a Jew. Despite his ex-
emplary credentials—and his scrupulousness
in keeping the Torah regulations—he discounts
his Jewish heritage as “garbage.” All human ad-
vantages are worthless when compared to the
new life God gives in Christ (3:1–11).

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So that at Jesus’ name
every knee must bend
in the heavens, on the earth,
and under the earth,
and every tongue proclaim
to the glory of God the Father:
Jesus Christ Is Lord!

new revised standard version

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,

but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.

And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.

revised english bible

Take to heart among yourselves what you fi nd in
Christ Jesus: He was in the form of God; yet he laid no
claim to equality with God, but made himself noth-
ing, assuming the form of a slave. Bearing the hu-
man likeness, sharing the human lot, he
humbled himself, and was obedient, even to the
point of death, death on a cross! . . .

new international version

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ
Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be
grasped,

but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—even death on
a cross! . . .

new jerusalem bible

Make your own the mind of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in the form of God,
did not count equality with God
something to be grasped.

But he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
becoming as human beings are;

and being in every way like a human being,
he was humbler yet,
even to accepting death, death on a cross. . . .

scholar’s version

[You should] think in the same way that the
Anointed Jesus did, who

although he was born in the image of God,
did not regard “being like God”
as something to use for his own advantage,
but rid himself of such vain pretension
and accepted a servant’s lot.
Since he was born like all human beings
and proved to belong to humankind,
he recognized his true status
and became trustfully obedient all the way to death,
even to death by crucifi xion.

Letter to Philemon

Consisting of a single chapter, Philemon is a
short letter dealing with a large topic—the rela-
tionship of Christian slaveholders to their
human property. Contemporary readers are typ-
ically shocked that Paul, who had proclaimed
the essential equality of all believers united in

Christ (Gal. 3:28), does not use this occasion to
denounce the institution of slavery as totally in-
compatible with Christian faith. Although Paul
does not condemn the practice of buying and
selling human beings—probably because he
believes that the Greco-Roman world order
will  soon end—he does argue persuasively for
a  new relationship between master and slave.
He asks the slave owner, Philemon, to accept

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380 part five paul and the pauline tradition

whole congregation meeting in Philemon’s
house. ( Apphia may have been the host’s wife,
and Archippus their son.)
Because the exact circumstances that
prompted Paul to write his only surviving per-
sonal letter are not clear, scholars differ in
their reconstruction of the situation involv-
ing Onesimus and his master. According to one
plausible interpretation, Onesimus had stolen
money or other property from Philemon.
Somehow he then made his way from Colossae
to Rome or Ephesus (if that is where Paul
was  imprisoned), where the apostle converted
him to Christianity. Paul therefore speaks of
Onesimus as “my child, whose father I have be-
come” (by imparting to him the life-giving faith
in Christ) (v. 10). Some recent commentators,
however, think it highly unlikely that Onesimus
happened to encounter Paul by pure chance.
More likely, they suggest, Onesimus — after hav-
ing displeased his master—deliberately set out
to fi nd Paul and enlist his aid in reconciling
with Philemon, whom the apostle had earlier
converted to the faith. Accord ing to widely ac-
cepted Roman legal practice, a third party could
settle disputes between masters and slaves, and
Paul may have fi lled that role. Punning on the
meaning of Onesimus’s Greek name (“useful”),
Paul writes to Philemon that the slave was “once
so little use to you, but now useful indeed, both
to you and to me” (v. 11).
Although Onesimus had made himself al-
most indispensable to the imprisoned apostle,
Paul—perhaps compelled by Roman law—
decides to send the slave back to his master.
Maintaining a fi ne balance between exercising
his apostolic authority and appealing to the
equality existing among all Christians, Paul asks
Philemon to receive Onesimus back, treating
him “no longer as a slave, but as more than a
slave—as a dear brother, very dear indeed to me
and how much dearer to you” (v. 16). We do not
know if Paul is thereby requesting the master to
free Onesimus , granting him legal and social
status to match his Christian freedom, but the
writer clearly underscores the slave’s human
value. Paul writes that Onesimus is “part of

his runaway slave, Onesimus , as a “beloved
brother,” thereby establishing a new bond of
kinship humanely linking Christian owners and
their human chattel.
Unfortunately for enslaved persons, the di-
vine intervention into human history that Paul
expected to occur in his own day did not happen.
Israel’s Messiah did not reappear to overthrow
unjust governments and set up a divinely empow-
ered kingdom in which transformed believers
would enjoy the full social and racial equality that
Paul had envisioned. To the contrary, as late as
the pre–Civil War United States (1860), Southern
clergy and slaveholders continued to cite Paul’s
letter to Philemon as scriptural justifi cation for
their “peculiar institution” of legally sanctioned
slave labor. The historical consequences of Paul’s
brief missive to his friend Philemon give this per-
sonal note an extraordinary importance (see
Harrill in “Recommended Reading”).

The Question of Slavery

In seeking out Paul’s purpose in writing this let-
ter, it is helpful to realize that it is addressed not
only to Philemon but also to “ Apphia our sister,
and Archippus our comerade -in-arms, and the
congregation at your house” in the town of
Colossae (v. 2; because Philemon has only one
chapter, all citations refer to verse numbers).
Although the letter’s main body (vv. 4–24)
speaks directly to Philemon (the Greek pronoun
“you” is singular throughout this section), the
text was clearly intended to be read aloud to the

Philemon

Author: Paul.
Audience: Philemon’s house church, probably
at Colossae in western Asia Minor.
Date and place of composition: About 55–56 ce
if from Ephesus, 61–63 if from Rome, or 58–60
if from Caesarea (dating depends on the loca-
tion of Paul’s imprisonment).
Occasion or purpose: To reconcile Philemon
with one of his slaves, Onesimus , and perhaps
to secure Onesimus’s services for himself.

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chapter 16 letters from prison 381

their children to pay off fi nancial debts. In a
passage known as the “Book of the Covenant,”
Mosaic Law decrees that after six years’ servi-
tude a male Hebrew slave is to be set free. Any
children born to him and one of his master’s
female slaves, however, are to remain the mas-
ter’s property. If at the end of six years’ time
the freed man wishes to remain with his wife
and family, he must submit to a mutilation of
his ear (the organ of obedience) and remain a
slave for life ( Exod . 21:2–6). This legal statute
clearly favors slave owners’ “rights.”
Following Torah regulations—and the in-
stitutions of Greco-Roman society at large—
New Testament writers neither condemn slavery
nor predict its abolition. Only after the scientifi c
Enlightenment of the eighteenth century ce
was the persistence of slavery seen as inconsis-
tent with the ethical principles of Christian
freedom and with the innate worth of all hu-
mans as “images” of God. In American history,
both pro- and antislavery parties used the New
Testament to support their confl icting views.
Slavery’s proponents argued that biblical writ-
ers, including Paul, accepted the institution as
a “natural” condition. Focusing on Paul’s doc-
trines of freedom and Christian equality (Gal.
3:28), slavery’s opponents eventually persuaded
the Western world to grant a corresponding
social and legal freedom to all people.

Paul’s Lasting Infl uence

During his lifetime, Paul fought constantly to
win other Christians’ recognition that his gospel
and claim to apostleship were legitimate. Even
his own churches frequently challenged his au-
thority and doubted his view that humans receive
salvation through God’s free gift, accepted in
faith rather than through obedience to the bibli-
cal Torah. Ironically, in the decades following
his death—as the church rapidly changed from
a mostly Jewish to a largely Gentile institution—
Paul was recognized as chief among the mission-
ary apostles, and his doctrine became the basis
for much of the church’s theology.

myself” and that Philemon should welcome him
as he would the apostle himself (vv. 12, 17).
Paul also gives his guarantee to reimburse
Philemon for any debt Onesimus may have
incurred, or perhaps money he may have em-
bezzled or stolen (vv. 18–20). Appealing to
Philemon’s reputation for showing love to his
fellow Christians (vv. 4–6), Paul gently pres-
sures the slave owner to be generous, anticipat-
ing that Philemon “will in fact do better than I
ask” (vv. 20–21). Is Paul asking Philemon, in a
not-too-subtle way, to free Onesimus in order
for him to remain in Paul’s service?
Having invoked his apostolic authority and
addressed his letter so that it will be read before
the entire congregation at Colossae (which will
expect Philemon to live up to his saintly reputa-
tion and give Onesimus a loving welcome?), Paul
adds a fi nal element of persuasion at the letter’s
close. As if penning an afterthought, Paul says that
he now expects to be freed from his prison and
will pay Philemon a personal visit (v. 22), an apos-
tolic parousia ensuring that his requests will be
honored. He concludes with greetings from,
among others, Mark and Luke, traditional authors
of the two Gospels bearing their respective names.

Slavery in Context

Most readers today are deeply disappointed
that Paul does not reject slavery outright as an
intolerable evil. Instead, he advises slaves not to
be “trouble[d]” about their status, advising
them to remain in whatever social “condition”
they had when they first became Christians
(1  Cor . 7:17–24). Paul’s reasons for accepting
the slave–master arrangement even in Christian
society probably derive from his expectation
that Jesus would soon return.
But other factors also infl uenced Paul’s
lack of interest in abolishing slavery or reform-
ing other unjust social customs. In its accep-
tance of slavery, the Hebrew Bible differs little
from the Greco-Roman society in which Paul
lived. The Torah does, however, distinguish
between Gentile slaves captured in battle and
native-born Israelites who sold themselves or

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382 part five paul and the pauline tradition

Now, as then, believers may fi nd it easy to dis-
agree on Paul’s intentions in many “obscure
passages.”

Paul’s Accomplishments

In a characteristic remark, Paul observes that
he works harder than any other apostle to bring
the Christian message to potential converts (2
Cor . 11:23). Even today, the enormous dis-
tances he traveled, by sea and on foot, would
challenge the physical stamina of the most ded-
icated missionaries. He established Christian
“colonies” throughout Syria, Asia Minor,
Macedonia, and Greece and left behind an im-
pressive network of churches (see Fig ure 16.3).
These were interconnected by itinerant

By the mid-second century, when the docu-
ment known as 2 Peter was written, Paul’s col-
lected letters had assumed the authority of
Scripture, at least in some Christian circles. At
the same time, Paul’s diffi cult ideas and some-
times ambiguous phrasing left his work open to
a variety of interpretations. The author of 2
Peter denounces students of Paul who inter-
pret Pauline thought in a way contrary to offi –
cial church teaching:

[Paul] wrote to you with his inspired wisdom.
And so he does in all his other letters, . . .
though they contain some obscure passages,
which the ignorant and unstable misinterpret
to their own ruin, as they do the other
scriptures.

(2 Pet. 3:16)

figure 16.3 Locations of the major churches at the end of Paul’s ministry (c. 62 ce ). Most of the
tiny cells of Christians are at the eastern end of the Mediterranean (Palestine and Syria) or in Asia Minor
(present-day Turkey). Paul established many of the churches in western Asia Minor, as well as the fi rst churches
in Greece (Philippi to Corinth). We do not know who founded the Italian churches, including the one in Rome.
How or when Christianity was introduced to Egypt (Alexandria) or to other sites in Africa ( Cyrene ) is also unknown.

0 100 200 300 Miles
0 100 200 300 Kilometers
SICILIA
CRETE
CYPRUS
M E D I T E R R A N E A N S E A
B L A C K S E A
Samaria
Antioch
Colossae
Laodicea
Thessalonica
Beroea
AthensCorinth

Puteoli
ITALIA

Ephesus
Smyrna Sardis
Philadelphia
Thyatira
Pergamum
Troas
Derbe
Lystra
Iconium
Philippi
Jerusalem
Caesarea
Joppa
Rome
Alexandria
Cyrene
Damascus
Danube River
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Miletus
Myra

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Salamis
Seleucia
Tyre
Paphos
Mitylene
Cnidus Tarsus
Antioch
Syracuse
Rhegium
Neapolis
Ptolemais
Sidon
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M A C E D O N I A

ACHAIA

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chapter 16 letters from prison 383

unjust, and otherwise sinful humanity. As
supreme patron and benefactor, however, he
sets in motion the process of reconciling an
estranged human creation to himself.

The Role of Jesus Paul realized that his fellow
Jews expected an undefeated Messiah and that
Jesus’ crucifi xion was a major “stumbling block”
to Jewish acceptance. He therefore formu-
lated a theology of the cross. In Romans and
Galatians, he interprets the Crucifixion as a
redemptive act in which human “weakness”—
Jesus’ “shameful” death—is the means by which
God bridges the great moral gulf between him-
self and humanity. Demonstrating absolute
obedience to the divine will, Jesus sacrifi ces his
life to satisfy God’s justice and obtain forgive-
ness for others.

Justifi cation By “justifi cation” Paul means
being “made righteous” or having a right stand-
ing or relationship with God. Keeping the
Mosaic Torah cannot justify people because the
Torah only serves to make them aware of law-
breaking, of committing “sin” ( hamartia ), of
falling short of ethical perfection. When he
died voluntarily, Jesus not only took on himself
the Law’s penalty for all sinners but also trans-
ferred just punishment to sin itself. He thus rid
sin of its power to operate uncontrolled in what
Paul calls our “fleshly” (physical) or “lower”
nature (Rom. 1–4; 7–8).

Adam and Christ In Paul’s view of human his-
tory, the earthly prototype—Adam—willfully
disobeyed God, thus separating himself from
life’s source and bringing sin (error) and death
to himself and all his descendants. In Jesus,
God found Adam’s moral opposite, a man of
perfect obedience who achieved a right rela-
tionship with God and through his resurrection
became God’s Son (Rom. 1:4). Now the model
of a renewed humanity reconciled to God,
Jesus as Christ brings life to all who place their
trust (faith) in him (Rom. 5; 1 Cor . 15), thereby
imitating the loyalty or “faithfulness” of Jesus
himself.

missionaries (many trained by Paul himself)
and at least partly united by memories of Paul’s
preaching and his voluminous written legacy.
As the author of Acts realized, Paul also made
himself a formidable model for later believers
to emulate.

Paul—Christianity’s First Great
Interpreter of Christ

In introducing Pauline thought (in Chapter 13),
we listed some of the assumptions and personal
experiences, such as his mystical encounter with
the risen Christ, that helped shape Paul’s distinc-
tive ideas about God’s changed relationship to
humanity, Jew and Gentile alike. In assessing his
legacy, we can briefl y review several of Paul’s
most enduring contributions, teachings that
have influenced the church for almost two
millennia.
Although not a systematic thinker, Paul was
the fi rst to create a coherent theology about
Jesus and is thus counted as Christianity’s
first theologian. In interpreting Jesus’ career
theologically—showing how God ( theos ) revealed
his will through Jesus’ death and resurrection—
Paul laid the foundations on which later inter-
preters of the “Christ event” built. We have
space here to summarize only a few of Paul’s
main ideas. The ones we select illustrate the
general trend of his views on the nature of God
and his purpose in using Jesus to reconcile the
previously alienated human and divine compo-
nents of the universe.

God As a “Hebrew born and bred” (Phil. 3:5),
Paul is unquestionably a monotheist, recogniz-
ing the Jewish God as the entire world’s sover-
eign and judge. Steeped in the Hebrew Bible’s
composite portrait of Yahweh, Paul regards
God as embodying human traits on a superhu-
man scale. Both “severe” and “kind,” he mani-
fests his dual nature to humankind, alternately
condemning or showing mercy according to
his irresistible will. He is incomparably holy,
just, and pure; his perfect justice does not allow
full communion with imperfect, deliberately

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384 part five paul and the pauline tradition

Paul regards these spiritual gifts as further evi-
dence of the “last days” and urges believers to
produce the Spirit’s good fruits—steadfast loy-
alty and a grateful awareness that in Christ they
attain a new nature. Thus, they are prepared
for the “splendor” of the resurrection body
they will receive at the Parousia .

Summary

This brief survey, concentrating on Paul’s vision
of God’s plan to redeem humanity through
Christ, does scant justice to the range and profun-
dity of Pauline thought. The apostle’s views on
free will and predestination, Christian ethics, the
church, human sexuality, and related matters
merit fuller discussion than we can offer here.
Embattled in his own day, within two genera-
tions after his death Paul became a monument of
orthodoxy (correct teaching) to many church
leaders. The letters to Timothy and Titus, written
in Paul’s name by a later disciple, show in what
high regard the apostle was held (see Chapter 17).
After another 1,400 years had passed, Paul again
became a center of controversy. During the
Protestant Reformation, confl icting interpreta-
tions of the Pauline belief that human beings are
saved by faith and not by works (including the
performance of sacramental rituals) deeply
divided Roman Catholics and Protestants. Today,
Paul remains a stimulating, dynamic infl uence
wherever the New Testament is read. Second only
to Jesus in his lasting infl uence on Christendom,
he is the prism through which Jesus’ image is
most commonly viewed.

Questions for Review

1. Why is it diffi cult to know exactly where Paul
was imprisoned when he wrote to Philemon
and the church at Philippi?

2. Although the hymn Paul cites in Philippians 2
is commonly interpreted as describing Jesus’
prehuman existence, many commentators be-
lieve that it contains instead an implied con-
trast between Adam’s disobedience and Jesus’
humble obedience. Summarize the arguments
for and against these differing interpretations.

Salvation Through Faith The idea that humans
are saved by their faith is one of Paul’s most
distinctive and revolutionary ideas. By “faith,”
Paul does not mean belief in a creed or a set of
religious doctrines. For Paul, faith is a dynamic
force that motivates a confi dence and trust that
Israel’s God, humanity’s great benefactor, will-
ingly justifi es believers through Christ, bring-
ing even Gentiles into a covenant relationship
with him. Whether it is the loyalty or “faithful-
ness of Christ,” his perfect submission to the di-
vine will, or believers’ “faith in Christ[’s]”
saving power, Jesus is the cosmic agent who rec-
onciles humankind to God. Because God, the
divine patron, grants his rewards freely, a per-
son can neither earn nor deserve them. Hence,
the regulations of the Torah—including cir-
cumcision and food purity laws—are irrelevant.

God and Christ Although he calls the glorifi ed
Jesus “lord” (Greek, kyrios ) and assigns him the
highest possible status in God’s plan for univer-
sal redemption, Paul remains a Jewish mono-
theist, always regarding the Son as subordinate
to the Father (1 Cor . 15:24–28). Jesus refuses to
attempt “equality with God” and is eternally the
model of humble submission to the paternal
will (Phil. 2:6–7). In some metaphysical sense,
however, the Son is the agent by whom God
created the universe, in whom “the complete
being of the Godhead dwells embodied” and
through whom the divine purpose is revealed
(Col. 1–2). As human beings were originally
created in God’s “image” (Gen. 1:27), so Christ
is that divine–human image perfected (Col.
1:15). (Even if not by Paul, these passages in
Colossians express a Pauline Christology .)

Eschatology Because he believes that he is liv-
ing at the very edge of the New Age that Jesus’
advent introduced, Paul places much of his eth-
ical instruction to the church in the context of
End time. Jesus’ resurrection and ascension to
heaven now allow Christ’s Spirit to dwell in
each believer, giving him or her charismatic
gifts of prophesying, healing, teaching, and
speaking in or interpreting ecstatic language.

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chapter 16 letters from prison 385

Byrne, Brendan. “The Letter to the Philippians.” In
R. E. Brown et al., eds., The New Jerome Biblical
Commentary , 2nd ed., pp. 791–797. Englewood
Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1990.

Dewey, Arthur J.; Hoover, Roy W.; McGaughy , Lane C.;
and Schmidt, Daryl D., eds., “Paul’s Correspon-
dence to the Philippians.” In The Authentic Letters of
Paul: A New Reading of Paul’s Rhetoric and Meaning,
pp. 165–196. Salem, Ore.: Polebridge Press, 2010.
Includes a perceptive reading of the Christ–Adam
contrast in the famous hymn.

Fitzmyer , Joseph A. The Letter to Philemon: A New
Translation with Introduction and Commentary.
Anchor Bible. New York: Doubleday, 2000. A de-
tailed analysis by a major scholar.

Harrill , J. Albert. “Philemon, Letter to.” In K. D.
Sakenfeld , ed., The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the
Bible, Vol. 4, pp. 497–499. Nashville: Abingdon
Press, 2009. Includes discussion of pre–Civil War
U.S. Supreme Court decisions that cite Philemon
to affi rm the legality of racial slavery.

Holloway, Paul A. Consolation in Philippians: Philo-
sophical Sources and Rhetorical Strategies . Albany,
N.Y.: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Pro-
poses that Paul uses Stoic ideas and rhetoric to
“ console” suffering believers through rational
argument.

Knox, John. Philemon Among the Letters of Paul, rev.
ed., New York: Abingdon Press, 1959. Develops
Edgar Goodspeed’s theory that about 90 ce a
Paulinist —perhaps the former slave Onesimus ,
who may then have been bishop of Ephesus—
collected Paul’s letters and circulated them
among the entire church.

Martin, R. P.; and Hawthorne, G. F. Philippians , rev.
ed., World Biblical Commentary 43. Nashville:
Thomas Nelson, 2004.

Saunders, Stanley P. “Philippians, Letter to.” In K. D.
Sakenfeld , ed., The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the
Bible , Vol. 4, pp. 503–507. Nashville: Abingdon
Press, 2009. A conventional description of the let-
ter’s contents.

Silva, Moises . Philippians, 2nd ed. Baker Exegetical
Commentary on the New Testament. Grand
Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2005.

Wright, N. T. The Epistles of Paul to the Colossians and
Philemon. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries.
Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press Academic,
2007. Explores the slavery issue .

3. Identify Philemon and Onesimus and their con-
nection to Paul. Why do you think Paul does not
condemn human slavery as an evil institution?

4. Summarize Paul’s major contributions to
Christian thought, including his beliefs about
the eschaton , his teachings about the nature
and function of Christ (Christology), and his
doctrine of justifi cation by faith.

Question for Discussion and Refl ection

1. Like all historical fi gures, Paul is fi rmly linked to
his particular time and place. On many issues,
such as the restricted role of women and a hierar-
chical view of society, Paul refl ects the accepted
norms of his day. Writing as a former Pharisee
who believed that the crucifi ed Messiah would
soon return to judge the world, bringing human
history to an end, Paul often fails to address such
important issues as the evils of slavery, widespread
poverty, and governmental injustice. Do you think
that if Paul were alive today—and fully aware of
the past 1,900 years of human development—he
would revise his opinions on such topics as mas-
ter–slave relationships, celibacy, homosexuality,
and unquestioning submission to governmental
authorities? If they had followed Paul’s advice in
Romans 13, could the leaders of the American
Revolution have framed the Declaration of
Independence or broken free of British control?

Recommended Reading
Ascough , Richard S. “Philippians.” In M. D. Coogan ,

ed., The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Books of the Bible,
Vol. 2, pp. 167–170. New York: Oxford University
Press, 2011. Includes scholarly speculations about
where Paul was imprisoned and about the letter’s
composite nature.

Christology
Epaphroditus
Onesimus

Philemon
Philippi
Timothy

Terms and Concepts to Remember

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