PAUL AND JESUS
Paul and the Historicity of Jesus
What can Paul, the earliest writer of Christianity, tell us about the
historical Jesus? This short article shows some of the things that Paul
recognizes to be true of Jesus.
1. Jesus was the preexistent creator of the universe (Col. 1:15-16)
2. He was virgin born (Gal. 4:4)
3. He was a descendant of both Abraham and David (Rom. 9:15, 1:3)
4. He existed in "form of man" and in the "form of God" (Phil 2:5,
8)
5. He was born a Jew and lived under the Jewish law and system (Gal
4:4)
6. He set forth an example that all should follow (Rom. 13:14)
7. Paul summarized the Sermon on the Mount in his writings (Rom.
12:14-21)
8. Jesus' life was characterized by service and humility (Phil.
12:5, 7-8), as well as meekness, gentleness, and self-sacrificial love (2
Cor. 10:1, Gal. 2:2)
9. Paul knew Jesus' apostles personally (Gal. 1:17f)
10. Paul knew that Jesus' brother and Peter were married (1 Cor.
9:5)
11. Jesus instituted a memorial meal of bread and wine on the night
that he was betrayed (1 Cor. 11:23-25)
12. Jesus was betrayed (1 Cor. 11:23)
13. He was crucified under Roman rule (1 Cor. 1:23, Phil. 2:8)
14. The responsibility of the crucifixion lay with the Jewish
authorities (1 Thess. 2:15)
15. Jesus was buried for three days (1 Cor. 15:4)
16. Jesus rose from the dead (1 Cor. 15:4)
17. Jesus was seen by 500 witnesses who were still alive at the
time of Paul's writings (1 Cor. 15:4)
18. Jesus' brother James was still alive at the time of Paul's
writings as well as other unnamed brothers (Gal 1:9, 1 Cor. 9:3)
The above is quite amazing when we recall that many today insist that
Paul was not concerned with the historical Jesus, but rather with the
Christ of faith. As F. F. Bruce observes, "The outline of the Gospel
story as we trace it in the writings of Paul agrees with the outline
which we find elsewhere in the New Testament, and in the four Gospels in
particular." (F.F. Bruce, The New Testament Documents: Are They
Reliable? p. 79.)
N.T. Wright adds the following:
[A]t one fixed point in the early years of Christianity,
the story which was being told has substantially the same shape as the
story which we observed in Luke, Matthew, and Mark. It is the
Israel-story, fulfilled, subverted and transformed by the Jesus-story,
and now subverting the world's stories. In its new form, it generates
and sustains a symbolic universe, in which the writers of epistles and
gospels alike understand themselves and their readers as living: the
world in which the fulfilled Israel-drama is now moving toward its
closure, its still unreached ending." (N.T. Wright, The New Testament and
the People of God, p. 409.)
From this, therefore, we can see that the earliest writings on Jesus
fundamentally agree with the Gospel record.
Sources:
Gregory Boyd, Cynic Sage or Son of God?: Recovering the Real Jesus in
an Age of Revisionist Replies, p. 191-192
Norman L. Geisler, Christian Apologetics, p. 309
Go back to Contend for the Faith.
This page hosted by
Get your own Free Home Page