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A. Galatians 2
is one of the passages that led scholars in the 19th century to
drive a wedge between Peter and Paul. A
famous essay was published in 1831 by F.C. Baur arguing that Paul’s opponents
were sent by Peter. From this point
on, a “contrast was thus established among interpreters between Gentile and
Jewish Christianity, and this contrast has influenced the understanding of
Paul’s relationship to Jerusalem even up to the present day” (William
Campbell, “Judaizers” in Dictionary of Paul and his letters; edited by
Hawthorne, Martin & Reid; p.513).
B. “At the end of the nineteenth century,
in the heyday of classical liberalism, it became a commonplace to speak of
Paul as the second founder of Christianity.
That was intended as the greatest of insults” (Silva, 149).
1. “The Mythmaker: Paul and the
Invention of Christianity” by Hyam Maccoby (Talmudic scholar); published in
1986
2. “Paul: The Founder of
Christianity” by Gerd Lüdemann; published in 2002
3. “How Jesus Became a Christian” by
Barrie Wilson
4. “Early
Christians appear to have been fundamentally divided over both the nature of
Jesus and whether to adhere to the Mosaic Law or not. In the second phase of
Christian development, St. Paul acquired the most pivotal character in giving
Christianity a new philosophy and ideology. There were fundamental
differences of opinion between Paul and James the Righteous. While James
looked after the Jerusalem Church, Paul was preaching in the West,
particularly to the gentiles. The Western Church evolved along Pauline
doctrinal lines, whereas the Church in Jerusalem developed along monotheistic
teachings” (Christianity: A Journey from Facts to Fiction; Chapter 7
“The Evolution of Christianity” by Mirza Tahir Ahmad founder of the Ahmadiyya
religious movement).
5. “Christianity or Paulinity?” by
Adeel Rehman
a. Paul said you cannot be
justified by the law of Moses (Acts 13:38-39).
b. Jesus said salvation comes by
keeping the commandments (Matthew 19:16)
6. For a
biblical response to these anti-Pauline sentiments see J. Gresham Machen, The
Origin of Paul’s Religion and David Wenham, Paul: Follower of Jesus or
Founder of Christianity?
C. Assumptions that cannot be proven by
those who distinguish between Paul and Jesus or Paul and Peter:
1. Did Peter repent when Paul
rebuked him in Gal.2:11-21?
a. If he did then there was no
“wedge” between their theology.
b. The conclusion
we must accept is that Peter did repent or else Paul’s argument falls apart
in Galatians 2.
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2. The assumption is that
Paul was a liar at worst or badly mistaken at best. His ministry, teaching and Gospel did not
come directly from Jesus Christ and God the Father (Galatians 1:1; Luke 6:13; Acts
1:2,21-26; Gal.1:1; cf. Heb.3:1).
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“Granted, his [Paul’s] letters do not often refer to Jesus'
teachings. But telling the story of Jesus when he wrote to his communities
was not his purpose; presumably, he had talked about Jesus when he first
created those communities.” (Marcus Borg, “Paul’s Unconventional Wisdom”)
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a. “what I am writing to you, I
assure you before God that I am not lying” (Gal.1:20).
b. “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do
not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a man was caught
up to the third heaven” (2 Cor.12:1-2).
c. “And I know how such a man—whether in the body or apart from the body
I do not know, God knows— was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible
words, which a man is not permitted to speak” (2 Cor.12:3-4).
i. These are oaths that Paul swears!
ii. An oath is an abbreviated covenant
wherein a person places oneself under a curse (cf. Exodus 20:7).
iii. Truth is established through
testimony and oaths. Either Paul is
accursed for lying under oath about his testimony or others are accursed for
not believing Paul’s testimony.
iv. If
Jesus did indeed rise again from the dead and ascend into heaven (testimony
of entire early church) then there is no reason to doubt Paul.
3. This
view typically rejects the Christian belief in a transcendent, personal God
Who reveals Himself in history.
D. Dangers of
setting Paul against Jesus:
1. The Judaizers pitted Paul against
Peter and Jesus. So too does much of
liberal theology.
2. Muslim apologetics makes great
use of liberal theology’s contrasting Paulinity versus Christianity.
3. Paul was hounded by the Judaizers
wherever he went. So too, Christians
are hounded by liberal theology wherever we preach the Gospel in Muslim
contexts.
4. In his
book, Christianity and Liberalism (1923) J. Gresham Machen argued that
“the chief modern rival of Christianity is Liberalism.” See also David Wenham, Paul: Follower of
Jesus or Founder of Christianity? (1995)
E. Was Paul at
odds with Jesus regarding table fellowship? (cf. Matthew 22:1-14; Luke
14:16-24)
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1. Jesus was going to go into
the home of a centurion and heal his servant! (Matthew 8:6-8)
a. Jesus says that many
with the faith of the centurion will “come from east and west, and recline at the
table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew
8:10-11; cf. Luke 13:28-29).
b. The sons of the kingdom will be cast out
into the outer darkness (Matt.8:12).
c.
Nothing is implied in this passage about faith + circumcision. The centurion comes to Christ through
faith alone and the implication is that the nations would also.
2. “It is not what enters into the mouth that
defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”
(Matthew 15:11; cf. Matt.15:18)
a. The larger context is the great faith of
the Canaanite woman (Matt.15:28).
b. The Canaanite woman is eating the crumbs
from the table of the Jews
i. “It is not good to take the children’s
bread and throw it to the dogs” (Matt.15:26).
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“It is a well-known fact that all sorts of contrasts have been
said to exist here. But however
different the modality in Paul’s ministry may be as compared with Jesus
Christ’s, it can be rightly said that Paul does nothing but explain the
eschatological reality which in Christ’s teachings is called the Kingdom”
(Herman Ridderbos, When the Time Had Fully Come, “Redemptive-Historical
Character of Paul’s Preaching” pp.48f.).
“Moreover, we can see continuity between the messages of Jesus and
of Paul. Jesus' two focal points were "the way" as a path of
radical personal transformation and "the Kingdom of God" as a
radical political vision.
In the Gospels, Jesus speaks about
"the narrow way" that leads to life, of "taking up one's
cross," as the path of personal transformation. Paul speaks about
"dying and rising with Christ." Jesus speaks about "the
Kingdom of God"; Paul proclaims "Jesus is Lord." Despite the
differences in language, I see these two sets of phrases as parallel in
meaning….Like Jesus, Paul was executed by the Roman Empire [and rejected by
the Jews]. Is this
coincidental? I don’t believe so. I believe it is because both subverted
the conventional wisdom of their day.” (Marcus Borg, “Paul’s Unconventional
Wisdom”)
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ii. “Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs…” (Matt.15:27).
iii. The plea of the woman was heard on
the basis of faith alone.
3. “Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that
whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, 19 because it does not go into his heart,
but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (Thus He declared all foods
clean.)” (Mark 7:18-19)
a. The larger context is the faith of the Syrophoenician woman whose
daughter had an unclean spirit. This
woman went into the house where Jesus was staying (Mark 7:24,25)!
b. The “woman was a Gentile” (Mark 15:26).
c. This Gentile woman’s request is
answered by Jesus on the basis of her faith.
i. “Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not good to take the
children’s bread and throw it to the dogs” (Mark 7:27).
ii. “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under
the table feed on the children’s crumbs” (Mark 7:28).
F. It was Peter and the Judaizers who
were at odds with Jesus regarding Gentiles and table fellowship (Gal.2:11-21.
cf. Acts 15:7-11).
a. “Are you so lacking in
understanding also? Do you not
understand…” (Mark 7:18)
b. The voice from heaven said to
Peter, “What God has cleansed, no
longer consider unholy.” (Acts 10:15)
c. Peter said, ““You yourselves
know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner
or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man
unholy or unclean” (Acts 10:28).
G. Were Jesus and Paul at odds with the
Old Testament teaching about table fellowship?
1. Eschatological blessing comes
through the seed of Abraham and not through circumcision or the Law of Moses
(Genesis 12:1-3; Galatians 3:8-9).
2. A sign
of the Messianic Age was all the peoples of the earth partaking in the
eschatological banquet (Psalm 22:26-31; Isaiah 25:6-9; 56:3-8).
H. What
accounts for the differences in Paul’s style of teaching and the other
Apostles?
1. The genre of Paul’s writing is
epistolary.
2. Jesus taught the other Apostles
primarily in parables. Presumably He
did not teach Paul in this fashion.
3. The other Apostles were with Jesus
during His earthly ministry whereas Paul was not.
4. Paul’s education at the feet of
Gamaliel was different than the other apostles and this may have affected his
teaching style.
5. The
origin of Paul and the Apostle’s message was the same, but Paul’s mission was
more greatly felt in the Gentile world.
Why does Paul prefer the
name “Cephas” to “Peter”?
For those who argue that
the Pope is the successor to Peter: How does Galatians 2:7-9 poke a hole in
their argument? (cf. Ephesians 3:8; 2 Timothy 1:11)
“Peter, so
far from usurping the title of universal bishop, confines his charge to the
circumcision, and resigns the rest of the world to Paul. Peter opened the gate to the Gentiles, but
Paul gathered them in. A universal bishop
could make out a better claim by proving his succession to Paul than to Peter”
(John Brown, 79).
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