The History of Christianity: From the Disciples to the Dawn of the Reformation

(Rick Simeone) #1

Lecture 5: Paul and Christianity’s First Expansion


o Paul is the source for the earliest religious claims concerning
the Holy Spirit, Jesus as Lord, and the church as the body
of Christ.

o He is the earliest recorder of such Christian practices as
baptism, the Lord’s Supper, healing, speaking in tongues,
and prophecy.

o His letters show the diverse forms of authority and structure
the early communities developed, from the authority of the
apostle himself to the local boards of elders.

o In his responses to various crises in his communities, Paul
illustrates the need for translation and interpretation of
fundamental experiences and convictions in solving human
conflicts and errors.

Paul’s Letters
• Paul’s letters open a window to a variety of serious tensions that
challenged the first urban Christians and continued to haunt this
religion through the centuries.

•    The issue of authority was fundamental: Jesus is Lord of all, but
how is his reign exercised? Paul was sent as a delegate (apostolos)
by God and the risen Christ, but his claims to authority were not
self-validating or universally recognized. What was the relationship
between the itinerant authority of the apostle and the local
authorities placed in the church?

•    Becoming “God’s assembly” through conversion—this is an
intentional not a national or biologically based community—
demands “holiness,” but how is “difference” to be expressed? What
manner of life distinguishes the “saints” from the “world”?
o Distinctions from Gentiles were fairly easy, given that idolatry
and the vice characteristically associated with idolatry were
easy to detect and prohibit.
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