Paul's Three Influences

Paul’s distinctive contribution to Christianity is his heresy- the doctrine of salvation by faith. A salvation available not just to the descendants of Abraham, but to the pagan, non-Jewish world as well. When he was writing to those in the Roman capital, Paul makes the declaration that proved to be the cornerstone of all his writings Romans 1:16-17, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, ‘The one who is righteous will live

According to a study by Brown, the apostle Paul was likely born in approximately 5 to 10 AD which was during the reign of the emperor Augustus . Paul was a melting pot of several different cultures. At the time, the Hellenistic movement was sweeping the Roman empire; thus the Greek and Roman cultures both had their influences on citizens. So, too, Paul’s parents were of Jewish descent; while he was young, they sent him to Jerusalem to study under a Pharisaic instructor . The intermingling of a multiplicity of cultures renders Paul a very diverse teacher.

The book under review is titled, Reading Romans in Context: Paul and Second Temple Judaism, edited by Ben C. Blackwell, John K. Goodrich, Jason Maston with a foreword by Francis Watson.

The choices that Erik made throughout his life never came without consequences, many of his choices, whether they were choices directed to him or not, affected Paul. Paul illustrates this idea by saying, “When we moved to Houston, when Erik was eleven, he realized that football was the star attraction,”(Bloor 29) This is talking about the “birth” of the “Erik Fisher Football Dream”; Erik use to play soccer and was successful at it, but he realized that football was the place to be if he wanted attention. Paul could’ve started playing soccer at that time as well and Erik didn’t want to risk being outshined by his younger brother. Another way Erik affected Paul, in a more indirect way, was when Arthur becomes Erik’s crony, “What will Arthur do

The purpose behind this paper is to offer a brief review on a book called “Reading Romans in Context: Paul and Second Temple Judaism” . This review will focus on four major components, first being the editor’s information. The editor’s information will cover education, any positions they hold today, and whatever scholarship information that is currently available. The second thing that will be reviewed will be a concise summary of the major theme of the book followed by the third, an honest and courteous evaluation of the book. The fourth thing that will be added is a bibliography at the end of the paper for reference of the book.

From what we know about Paul, he was not one of the biggest fans of Christianity before his conversion. Though, as our text recognizes, there isn’t much knowledge of Paul’s life before becoming a follower of Jesus, and much of it is sourced from the Acts. We do know that while Paul was a Jew his name was Saul. Scholars theorize that he was a Jewish missionary. We know that he was raised to be Jewish, and he was a Pharisee. Our textbook elaborates that Saul was, in fact, a very dedicated Jew. He wrote in one of his letters “I advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors” (Gal 1:14). Scholar Johnny Awwad goes as far as to suggest that Paul was an apocalyptic

Paul D’s motivation fluctuates throughout the book, but his goal always ends up centering around finding his manhood. When Paul D resided at Sweet Home, he believed that he was a man, “so named and called by one who would know” (Morrison 147). Paul D understands manhood as a label that can be bestowed on him by another authoritative figure. Paul D lives almost as the child of Mr. Garner, and therefore he listens to what Mr. Garner says about being a man. Mr. Garner defines being a man as being able to use a gun and make choices.

Paul more than anyone was responsible for the spread of the Jesus movement into the Gentile world. By the end of the first century Christianity had become an important religious force. Paul while respectful of its Jewish origins moved the Christian faith into a position where it was no longer bound by Jewish law and was able to embrace people of any cultural background. After his own conversion, Paul passionately espoused his message from the Palestinian world through Asia Minor and southern Europe to Rome, the heart of the empire. Some of his letters by Paul to fledgling churches throughout the Roman Empire are contained in the New Testament and outline Paul 's theology. He insisted that Gentiles had as much access to the faith as Jews and that freedom from the Law set everyone free. It was this teaching which was essential for the development and success of the early church which would otherwise have remained another Jewish sect.

Paul knew the importance of this meeting. He had already been in this before more than once maybe twice. As he sat in complete silence, his last encounter with Principal Sweet played in his mind over and over again.

Without Paul, all of Jesus’s followers would have remained Jewish. Jesus’s disciples thought that the afterlife was going to happen very soon, so they awaited and kept on being Jewish. Paul knew Jesus’s main disciples. After Jesus’s death, Paul went out and talked with these disciples and formed a plan to spread Jesus’s teachings. Paul convinced them to start converting others, Paul was the one who organized the early converters and told them what to do. When Jesus’s disciples started to try and convert Jewish people, they remained unsuccessful and low on resources. Paul gave them the resources they needed, as he was doing very well at converting. These resources helped the other heads of the religion to start converting. They listened to Paul, and because of Paul they started to be successful at gaining more followers. Paul decided to convert Gentiles, the non-Jewish people. Paul expanded the religion from being a small branch off of Judaism,

As long as Paul could remember he had his giant glasses on and was told he couldn’t see without them. But even though Paul can see fine without them. Paul, unfortunately, deals with this on a day to day basis. We discover who Paul is and how significant events changed him. Paul also experiences switching schools. We see how Paul sees the world and his perspective on certain events.

It was very likely that Paul wrote his letter to the Romans around 55-56 C.E. while he was on his third missionary journey. It is also believed that he was in the city of Corinth when he wrote it. Paul was writing to the church in Rome, which at the time the members were predominately Jewish. At the time there were approximately 50,000 Jews living in Rome. They either worked as slaves or had once worked as slaves, but gained their freedom. During this time, the Jews were given special protection from the Roman government, because they did not have to partake in pagan religious festivals or worship the Roman emperors. Unfortunately, in the late 40’s the emperor, Claudius, expelled a large number of the Jewish people because of a disturbance over a man named “Chrestus.” Therefore, the church in Rome likely became highly Gentile (Winn). In the event of these actions by the emperor the leadership of the Roman church became mostly Gentile.

Paul became an advocate for the inclusion of the Gentiles among the ‘true’ followers of Christianity. Until this moment in history, Jewish Christians believed that non-Jews had to convert to Judaism and follow the law like them, which included many dietary restrictions and circumcision. Gentiles who worship in the synagogue but did not convert were only

The influences on Paul’s Jewish background and the Greco-Roman Culture. Per Hawthorne, “Paul, one man who lived in two cultures, Saul, who is also called Paul, was born in Tarsus, the city of Tarsus, where Paul was born, a very important city. Tarsus, one of the largest trade centers on the Mediterranean coast, a seaport city, a rich city mainly because of trade”. However, Merchants from Tarsus were well known throughout the Roman empire: Known for their crafts, and monetary investments in their cities, the merchants of Tarsus invested in good roads, education, public health, and beautification projects, throughout the Roman empire, Tarsus is known for the quality of their tents. Nevertheless,” Paul’s father was a tent maker and very wealthy, his father had been given citizenship an honor through

In Willa Cather’s short coming of age like story “Paul’s Case,” Paul, the protagonist, shows contempt for everyone in his dull life including family and teachers and he has no friends. As a way of escaping the life that he thinks is so dreary and boring he indulges himself in his obsessions which include art, theater, music, and his job where he is an usher at Carnegie Hall in Pittsburgh. His unrealistic ideas that the art world and world of ritzy first class people is like a fantasy like utopia leads him to become obsessed even more with observing others and eventually money. He sees it that being rich is is destiny. This selfishness also leads to his compulsive lying which he mostly uses to get attention from peers. Throughout Paul also becomes more self destructive in his habits and ideas. He imagines what it would be like for his dad to shoot him, he steals money from the bank his father makes him quit his job as an usher to work at to spend on a luxurious secret vacation where he also buys a gun from his thoughts of suicide. And eventually in the end, the money that he craved/desired and thought would bring him happiness lets him down and on the converge of ultimate sorrow, he takes his own life as he jumps in front of a train. But why does he act the way he does? Well, a psychoanalysis of Paul may reveal that the reason for his actions and for committing suicide might have stemmed from the fact that his psyche lies in the id realm and he is missing a superego.