By Bart Ehrman, PhD, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Although the Gospels occur earlier in the New Testament, they were not the first books to have been written. The letters of Saint Paul were penned 15 or 20 years before the earliest Gospel, Mark. This makes his writings the earliest surviving work that we have from any Christian author…
The letters of Saint Paul are, for the most part, epistles that Paul wrote to churches that he had established in Asia Minor, Macedonia, and Achaia, territories that are today known as Turkey and Greece, where Paul was most active as a missionary. In these letters of Paul, we learn not only about the difficulties that the Christian Church was facing in the early years of its existence, but we also learn about the life and teachings of Paul himself, who was arguably the most important figure in the history of Christianity, after Jesus.
Learn more about Paul’s Epistles
Paul’s Historical Importance
Maybe 20 years ago, there a survey was taken of college professors in a variety of fields—history, political science, philosophy, classics—in which these professors were asked who, in their opinion, was the most important person in the history of Western civilization. Now, if I were to ask that question of my class at Chapel Hill, the answer would come back, Jesus was the most important person in the history of Western civilization; a case could be made that Jesus was the most important person. As it turns out in this particular survey, Jesus came in tied for fifth. He tied with the apostle Paul for fifth place. The most important person in the survey, to the surprise of my students, was Alexander the Great.
This is a transcript from the video series History of the Bible: The Making of the New Testament Canon. Watch it now, on Wondrium.
Paul, however, changed the religion of Jesus, so that it was no longer the religion of Jesus, but it was the religion about Jesus.
The logic was that Alexander the Great was the one who spread Greek culture throughout the Mediterranean world. Without Greek culture, our form of civilization wouldn’t exist. The Romans eventually conquered essentially the same region that Alexander the Great had. They continued to perpetuate Greek customs, culture, religion, and language, so that this became the culture of the Mediterranean world that was inherited after the Roman Empire, through the Middle Ages, into today. On this logic, Alexander the Great was the most significant figure in the history of Western civilization because, without him, Jesus would not have been able to make the impact that he did.
Learn more about the roots of the Gospel narratives
Transforming The Work Of Jesus Into Christianity
In any event, in this survey, it’s interesting that Paul and Jesus tied for fifth. In the opinion of the scholars who were being surveyed, they tied because, without Paul, the religion that Jesus promoted would not have become what we call Christianity. According to this opinion, Jesus was a Jewish prophet and teacher who didn’t aim to found a new religion. They said that Jesus preached about the God of the Jews, he taught about the Hebrew Bible, the law of Moses, and how people could best follow the law. They viewed it that Jesus was a Jew promoting a form of Judaism. Paul, however, changed the religion of Jesus, so that it was no longer the religion of Jesus, but it was the religion about Jesus.
“All that I knew among you was Christ and him crucified.”
For Paul, it was the death and resurrection that brought salvation from sin. So, in the opinion of some scholars, Paul transformed the simple religion of Jesus into the religion about Jesus, thereby creating Christianity.
I’m not going to say that I agree with this particular opinion; I don’t think that Paul is the one who invented the idea that Christ died for the sins of the world. He is, though, the one who popularized this view, and spread this view throughout the Mediterranean world. He was more responsible than anyone else that we know of for creating Christianity as a major world religion, as opposed to a sect within Judaism. To that extent, Paul’s efforts were extremely important.
Learn more about ways early Christians interpreted these texts
Common Questions About Saint Paul
Saint Paul was one of the first people to spread the word of Christ and is believed to have authored multiple epistles in the New Testament. His writings focus on the sacrifice Christ made for the salvation of all people.
Saint Paul originally advocated against Christianity, but after receiving a vision from Jesus, he began to preach the gospel of Christ, whose teachings he wrote about extensively in the epistles. Eventually he was executed.
Saint Paul was a major figure when it came to turning Christianity into a worldwide religion, as he purportedly authored 13 of the 27 books of the New Testament. He is known for his philosophical writings and passionate teachings. However, critics accuse him of endorsing the repression of women and attacking homosexuality in his writings.
As the patron saint of missionaries, Paul had a spiritual awakening after hearing the voice of Jesus, which inspired him to stop persecuting Christians and instead travel far and wide to spread the teachings of Christ.
