The Man and His Task

In the story of the beginnings of Christianity there is one man who claims a larger space than all others of that first century put together. Some have looked upon him as the one true interpreter of Jesus, others as the man who turned the new faith aside from the simple teaching of Jesus, yet no one has disputed his importance. In any history of New Testament times his thought and work fill the main place after the study of Jesus. What makes this more remarkable is certain facts about this man. He was not one of the twelve. He had no such standing as belonged to one who had associated with Jesus. He had been, indeed, a persecutor of the new way. He began his work on his own account. The mother church at Jerusalem gave him no credentials. There were times, in fact, when the recognized leaders of the church, Peter and James, were opposed to him.

There are two reasons why this special attention is given to Paul. In the first place, we are in better position to know him than any other figure of the New Testament. The picture of Jesus, it is true, stands out clear and definite. And yet our oldest Gospels were written a full generation after his death, they give us his words in Greek, while he spoke Aramaic, and of his life they report but a few months or years. Of his followers almost all, even of the leaders like the twelve, are but names to us. Paul is the exception. It is true that most of our knowledge of his life is limited to a period of seven years. And yet there is probably no man of antiquity who is better known to us. It is not simply that so large a part of the book of Acts is given to him, nor yet the fact that we possess writings from his own hand. It is the character of these writings. This man was not writing for a public press, nor for unknown readers, nor for posterity. He was not producing "literature," or thinking of style or of the impression he would make. We see a soul of deep passion, of strong conviction, and transparent sincerity pouring forth its thought and feeling. And this man's thought is never mere thought, no theoretic theology; it is his faith and his experience. Not the Confessions of Augustine, nor the letters of Luther, nor the Journal Intime of Amiel reflect so truly or transparently the man.

The second reason for the space given to Paul is the importance of the man. It was this man, not one of the twelve, who saw the meaning of Christianity as a universal religion and freed it from Judaism, who saw it as a spiritual faith and freed it from Jewish rule and law. It was he who carried it out into the great Roman world and established it province by province about the Mediterranean. When in his last years he was looking toward Rome and Spain, he could speak of those things "which Christ wrought through me, for the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and deed, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Holy Spirit; so that from Jerusalem, and round about even unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ" (Rom 15:18, 19).

Our first question about such a man is, Where did he come from, and what was his preparation for such a work? Scattered here and there we find not a few references that help us answer these queries. Three times Paul speaks of his race (Rom 11:1; 2 Cor 11:22; Phil 3:5). To say that Paul was a Jew means as little for that time as it does now. There were Jews then, as now, loyal to every tradition of their faith. There were Jews, especially in the dispersion, who were of a more liberal cast, as well as some who had turned from the faith of their fathers. Though Paul's home was in the dispersion, in Tarsus of Cilicia, he belonged in the first class. "A Hebrew of the Hebrews" he calls himself. In such a home the native Aramaic tongue was spoken, which was not the rule with the Jews dwelling abroad. The Pharisaic standard prevailed, the strictest observance of the law. As to his own life, he could appeal to those who knew him at Tarsus and at Jerusalem (Acts 26:4, 5). He had completed his education at Jerusalem under the noted teacher Gamaliel, perhaps at the home of an elder sister (Acts 22:3; 23:16).

Paul was a Hellenist, a Greek Jew. However strict the home might have been, the fact remains that he spoke Greek as well as Hebrew, that his early life was passed in a great city, and that he had a knowledge of the world of his day and its thought that none of the twelve could have had. A language is never a lifeless vehicle; it always involves a certain direct contact with another life and knowledge of it. The Greek tongue was the channel through which there poured the rich life of that old world. True Paul was not a student of Greek rhetoric or literature. He did not attend the great university at Tarsus, which could be mentioned with the schools at Athens and Alexandria. But this language that he knew was still open door and open window for the thought of the wide Roman world. When Paul went out to preach the gospel it was more than a mere language that he possessed.

Paul was a Roman. Like many Jews he had two names. It is interesting to note that it is not by his Hebrew name Saul, but his Roman name Paul, that he is best known. Far more important than the name is the fact that Paul was a Roman citizen, and was one by birth. How the family had obtained this privilege we do not know. It suggests a family not only of standing but of some means. Roman citizenship was by no means so common yet in the empire. For Paul it meant more than a welcome protection in his work. It had its effect upon his spirit and character. He is not simply a Hebrew of Hebrews; he is a man of Tarsus. "a citizen of no mean city." It gives him an imperial outlook. The world of the twelve is Palestine; Paul's world is the empire, and it is the empire that he plans to take for Christ.

All this means an unusual equipment for a great task. The soil from which Christianity sprang was Judaism. No Greek or Roman could have been its interpreter. For that a Jew was needed, and Paul was more of a Jew than were the twelve. But it needed not only a Jew, but a Jew who had found out where Judaism failed. Here again Paul's experience fitted him. His very strictness as a Pharisee made him see the failure of the law, and saved him from such half-way positions as James and Peter could take. At the same time Paul's life as Hellenist and as Roman fitted him for the task that was waiting: to take this religion freed from Judaism, to interpret it to the world of Greek thought, and to plant it in communities throughout the great world of Roman life. The fruits of his toil show his fitness for the task. Besides all this there was his personal character, an unusual combination of strong traits. He had the strength of will that could stand alone and that never knew defeat. He had a deep religious nature that enabled him to speak the new message from his own heart. He had the insight into the meaning of the new faith and the ability to state it. He had the master mind to plan the planting of a church throughout the empire, and the patience and skill and tact to carry out that plan.

Directions for Reading and Study

As to Paul the Jew: 2 Cor 11:22; Rom 11:1; Phil 3:5; Acts 22:3; 23:16; 26:4, 5; Gal 1:14; Rom 8:2; 9:1-3.

As to" Paul the Hellenist: Acts 17:16-34. Paul meets these Greeks as a Palestinian Jew could not have done. Note his tact and courtesy, and his skill in finding a point of contact for his message.

As to Paul the Roman: Acts 16:36-39; 21:39; 22:25-29; 25:10-12.