WEBVTT

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Prof: The last time we
talked about the historical

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Jesus,
and I talked about some of the

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methodology that scholars debate
about what criteria you use to

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figure out what in the Gospels
might tell you something about

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the actual historical Jesus and
what may be later writing,

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or myths, or legends,
or editions of the Gospel

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writers themselves.

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There's a very similar kind of
problem with Paul,

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and it's rather debatable what
we know historically about the

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historical Paul than what we
find in different literary

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accounts.

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With Paul there's a lot more to
go on.

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For one thing,
as I'll explain later today,

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we actually have at least seven
letters from Paul that he wrote

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himself that most scholars
believe are actually authentic

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to Paul.

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Then we have some other letters
that are written in his name.

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We also have the traditions
that are in the Book of Acts of

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the Apostles that you've read,
which talk about Paul and his

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travels.

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There's a lot more material to
go on with Paul but there's

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still quite a bit of debate
about what is historical about

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Paul and what is later legend,
or what is stuff that's just in

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some of the letters that may not
have been by him at all.

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In fact, if you remember,
we go back to the lecture we

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had at the very beginning of the
semester,

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one of the times where we
talked about where does Paul go

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when in the Book of Acts,
where does he go according to

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Galatians 1 and 2.

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At that point I tried to show
that the two accounts of Paul's

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back and forth between Damascus
and Jerusalem,

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the amount of time he spent in
Jerusalem,

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when he was there,
for how long,

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who he saw,
who knew him,

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all those different things that
are presented in the Book of

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Acts,
I argued are probably not

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historical because if we've got
Paul's own descriptions of his

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movements in Galatians 1 and 2,
it's much more likely,

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we think, that we have more
accurate historical material

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from Galatians then we do from
Acts.

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That's one of the places we
would go is first to try to see

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what we've got in Acts,
what do we have in his letters.

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This is a controversial thing
too.

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What I've said is Paul probably
didn't spend nearly as much time

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in Jerusalem as the Acts of the
Apostles wants to make it sound

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like.

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I don't believe he started off
his ministry in Jerusalem,

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as Acts makes it sound to be.

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There will be other things
about Paul that I'll talk about

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today from Acts that I at least
believe we should doubt whether

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they're historical,
or at least we can't use them

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in any kind of dependable way as
providing a biography of the

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Apostle Paul.

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What does Paul though tell us
about himself?

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Well actually let me say this,
that's not all there is with

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Paul.

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There's a ton more material
about Paul that you have to work

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through in the whole European
tradition.

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Paul has been thought of as the
founder of Christianity.

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Some people have said,
Jesus was not really the

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founder of Christianity,
he was a moral prophet,

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he went around talking about
different things,

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Paul was the one who really
founded Christianity,

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he was the one who built
churches, he was the one who

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came up with the dogmas and
doctrines of Christianity,

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he's the one who preached that
what's the central aspect of

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faith is faith in a crucified
Messiah who's then raised by

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God,
and it's faith in Christ that's

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the foundation of Christianity
not,

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some people might say,
Jesus of Nazareth's own

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faithfulness to God himself.

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All of these things,
people have said,

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makes Paul more the founder of
Christianity then Jesus is.

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In fact, though,
Paul has been read in so many

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different ways throughout the
last 2,000 years that people

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have even compared him to
Proteus.

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Does anybody remember the
Homeric figure of Proteus from

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the Odyssey?

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Anybody know?

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Proteus is this guy that is
captured by Odysseus and his

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sailors,
and they're trying to get a

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secret out of him,
so they hold onto him and he

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turns into different things.

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He turns into different animals
and he turns--

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and they keep holding onto him
until he finally turns back into

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a man and then they can force
him to give him their secret.

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Wayne Meeks,
my predecessor in the chair I

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occupy here at Yale,
published a book in which--it's

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just come out in a second
edition,

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in which he talks about the
Apostle Paul and how he's been

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represented throughout history.

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In his essay,
he calls Paul the Protean

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Apostle;
because Paul himself even says,

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"I have become all things
to all people,"

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in 1 Corinthians 9.

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Is Paul the kind of person who
everybody makes out of him

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whatever they want to make out
of him?

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He turns into different kinds
of things according to who's

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looking at him,
and that's exactly the way Paul

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has come across in many
different aspects of Western

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history.

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The early church,
for example,

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didn't think of Paul as being
so much the great theologian

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that sometimes he became in
later Christian tradition.

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They certainly didn't think of
him as sort of the best

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Protestant Apostle as he would
become for Lutherans and for

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Calvinists.

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Paul was mainly known as a
martyr.

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In the early church when you
see Paul depicted in art and in

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literature,
most often he's not depicted so

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much as this great theologian,
he's depicted as the great

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martyr, whose head was cut off
in Rome.

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So the great martyr apostle is
the early church's way of

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looking at him.

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Then St.

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Augustine, and then following
him Martin Luther,

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they saw in Paul someone who
was more like their own sort of

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psychological way of thinking
about themselves.

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They saw Paul as this guy who
was really trying to be

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righteous.

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Luther tried to do everything,
he was a Catholic monk,

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and so he was trying to do all
the kind of things that the

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Catholic Church expected,
and he just became crushed

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under all the requirements of
doctrine,

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and ethics, and Catholic
requirements.

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He finally--he was--he felt
like I have to be perfect in

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order to be acceptable to God
but no matter how much I try I

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can't do it,
I can't keep the law,

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I can't keep the church's
teachings,

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I'm this total moral failure.

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And so he read Paul as this
person who experienced his life

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as trying to live up to the
requirements of God which they

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interpreted as the law,
and just found out you couldn't

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do it.

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This expressed for Luther a
sort of universal human

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experience that all of us feel
when we try to live up to very

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demanding ethical and moral
guidelines,

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and we find out we can't.

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We always fall short of what
God wants us to do,

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none of us is perfect,
we're all sinners.

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This idea that Paul represented
this psychological struggling

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figure of trying to be righteous
and trying to earn his

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righteousness by works.

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And then all of a sudden Luther
discovers,

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when he read Galatians and
Romans, wait we're saved by

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faith apart--
we're saved by grace through

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faith apart from works,
therefore works don't matter,

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therefore all the Roman
Catholic requirements that we

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have to do this,
and that, and that,

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that's not where salvation
comes from,

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it comes from simply your faith.

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This Paul then became the
Paul--not the ancient Christian

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martyr Apostle so much but the
Paul of the psychological

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discovery that true Gospel is,
you're saved by grace through

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faith.

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It's nothing you can do,
and therefore works of the law

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don't matter with you and God.

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The great Lutheran Protestant
Paul then becomes invented as

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this man who had this
psychological struggle and

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through this psychological
struggle broke out through that

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into this discovery of grace,
the grace of God.

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That became this anguished
guilt ridden Paul who discovers

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Grace and that's been one of the
main figure of Paul that you get

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in Protestantism ever since
Martin Luther and John Calvin.

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As I said, there are other
people,

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even in the modern--the
nineteenth and twentieth

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century,
who became more interested

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history and they noticed that
Paul,

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that Paul's letters don't sound
like what you get from Jesus in

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the Gospels.

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They just sound like different
kinds of stuff.

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Jesus was preaching the Kingdom
of God was going to come.

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Paul preaches Jesus as the
King, Jesus as the Messiah.

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In fact, people have said the
message of Jesus was about God

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and the Kingdom.

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By the time you get to Paul,
Paul's message is about Jesus

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himself,
so this shift of the proclaimer

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Jesus,
becoming the proclaimed in

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Paul, that is Jesus being
proclaimed by Paul,

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is one of the shifts that
historians noticed in the

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nineteenth-- twentieth century.

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All of this stuff sort of--are
different ways of figuring Paul

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in history.

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In fact, one of the ways that
people talked about this was

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Paul was actually the corrupter
of the noble pristine religion

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of Jesus.

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Jesus was a great moral teacher;
he didn't care about all these

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Christian doctrines about the
trinity, and about hell and

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heaven, and all this kind of
stuff.

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Jesus was just saying things
like, consider the lilies of the

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field,
how they grow,

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they toil not,
neither do they spin,

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and yet I say that it's Solomon
in all his glory was not arrayed

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like one of these.

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I should be in a movie, right?

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"Jesus of Nazareth at
Yale."

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Jesus comes across sometimes as
being this moral teacher who's

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floating around on boats in the
sea of Galilee with his

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disciples saying things,
consider the sparrow,

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and then Paul comes along,
according to this reading,

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and he turns all that into this
stuff about doctrine,

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and hell, and heaven,
and doing the right thing,

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and God's condemnation.

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So for these kinds of people
Paul was actually the founder of

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Christianity because he
destroyed the kind of message

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that the historical Jesus
taught.

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This is what you get from
someone like Friedrich

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Nietzsche, who wasn't that crazy
about Jesus but he really hated

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Paul.

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So Nietzsche said this,
this is Paul the corruptor of

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Jesus' religion,
this is that kind of Paul.

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"The glad tidings,"
that is the Gospel,

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the good news,
"were followed closely by

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the absolutely worst tidings,
those of St.

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Paul.

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Paul is in the incarnation of a
type which is the reverse of

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that of the Savior.

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He is a genius in hatred in the
standpoint of hatred."

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Nietzsche goes on to talk about
Paul "by making the heroic

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but unfortunate death of Jesus
into a sacrifice for sin,"

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which is what Nietzsche thought
Paul had done,

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"nailed Christ to his
cross."

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That's what Nietzsche says
about Paul.

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The cross was Paul's invention
for Christianity and that what's

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made Christianity.

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Or George Bernard Shaw,
he has a great thing.

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When I was a high school kid,
remember I told you about this.

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I grew up in this very
conservative church in Texas and

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I went to this big public high
school,

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and I mean I had gone to Sunday
school my whole life and I

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wasn't very well read in
literature.

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Well in high school we were
reading some plays by George

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Bernard Shaw.

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We were assigned,
I think, mainly the play and I

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was flipping through a bunch of
George Bernard Shaw stuff,

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and I came across
"Androcles and the

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Lion," I think was the name
of the play about the--

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Androcles is the young man who
finds the lion with a thorn in

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his paw,
he pulls the thorn out of the

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lion's paw,
and then the lion's very

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grateful and then years,
years, years later Androcles

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becomes a Christian and he's
thrown into the lions in the

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Roman Coliseum and it just so
happens that the lion whose paw

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he cured is the one who's
supposed to eat him.

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Of course the lion comes up and
recognizes, and licks him,

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and he saves him.

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And so "Androcles and the
lion" is this story about

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the Christian martyr who's saved
by the lion.

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Well that's the play,
but Shaw always appended these

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wonderful introductions to his
plays,

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and sometimes the introductions
are more interesting than the

11:50.327 --> 11:52.617
plays themselves because this is
where Shaw,

11:52.620 --> 11:55.670
who was a wonderful atheist in
the beginning of the twentieth

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century,
where he just lets loose and he

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just slams all kinds of
political stuff but a lot of

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religion.

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He just really doesn't like
religion.

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I remember coming across this
in a library or something,

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and here I was this pious
little Protestant boy,

12:10.908 --> 12:12.648
growing up in my conservative
little church,

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and here was this guy very,
very smart in this introduction

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to Androcles and the lion
explaining to me how bad

12:19.164 --> 12:23.004
Christianity was really and how
Paul had screwed the whole thing

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up.

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It kind of blew my mind.

12:26.350 --> 12:30.750
It took me days to get over
this, but George Bernard Shaw

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said this about Paul,
"No sooner had Jesus

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knocked over the dragon of
superstition than Paul boldly

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set it up on its legs again in
the name of Jesus."

12:44.080 --> 12:48.500
Paul is the one who makes
Jesus' movement superstitious or

12:48.495 --> 12:52.435
here he said this also,
"Paul is the true head and

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founder of our reformed church,
as Peter is of the Roman church.

12:57.460 --> 13:02.970
The followers of Paul and Peter
made Christendom while the

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Nazarenes were wiped out."

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The religion of Jesus,
according to Shaw,

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disappeared from the earth,
and all that we were left with

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is this shell called
Christendom.

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So all those things are Paul.

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We're going to talk about--for
the next few days we're going to

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talk about Paul,
both the authentic letters he

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wrote,
we're going to try to figure

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out who he was,
and then we're going to talk

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about how he was depicted by his
own followers in the Bible and

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then by some of his followers
outside of the Bible.

13:32.460 --> 13:35.080
What does Paul tell us about
himself?

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There are some important
things, but there are just a

13:37.260 --> 13:38.100
couple of details.

13:38.100 --> 13:44.580
One, in Philippians 3:5-6,
Paul tells us that he was of

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the tribe of Benjamin,
so he even knows his tribal

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identity as a Jew,
he was a Pharisee--now that

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surprises some people.

13:56.408 --> 13:59.208
In fact Paul doesn't ever say,
I used to be a Pharisee but I'm

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no longer, he basically just
calls himself a Pharisee.

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In fact Paul's the one Pharisee
from pre-70 Judaism that we know

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much about at all.

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We don't know--a lot of the
rabbis of the Pharisees appear

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in rabbinic documents but those
come from hundreds of years

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later.

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Paul's one person who calls
himself a Pharisee and whose

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writings we actually possess;
so Paul calls himself a

14:20.480 --> 14:21.020
Pharisee.

14:21.019 --> 14:24.119
He says that he was a
persecutor of the church before

14:24.116 --> 14:27.566
he became a follower of Jesus,
and he implies that this was

14:27.572 --> 14:29.242
out of zeal for the law.

14:29.240 --> 14:33.370
Paul started off a very law
abiding,

14:33.370 --> 14:37.870
in fact zealous for the law
Jew, even to the point of being

14:37.873 --> 14:40.953
a Pharisee,
and he says in Philippians that

14:40.947 --> 14:42.997
he was righteous under the law.

14:43.000 --> 14:46.290
Now, this is one of the reasons
that scholars in the last part

14:46.288 --> 14:49.628
of the twentieth century started
questioning this more Lutheran

14:49.633 --> 14:52.603
idea that Paul came to his
knowledge of grace because he

14:52.597 --> 14:54.807
felt like he couldn't keep the
law.

14:54.808 --> 14:56.898
I've tried to keep the law,
I just can't keep the law,

14:56.904 --> 14:58.174
I've tried I just can't do it.

14:58.168 --> 15:01.798
Well he tells us in Philippians
that he actually was pretty

15:01.801 --> 15:05.231
righteous with the law,
so maybe Paul didn't have such

15:05.232 --> 15:08.242
a problem with the law after all
for that reason.

15:08.240 --> 15:10.580
Those are the things he tells
us in Philippians.

15:10.580 --> 15:13.870
In Galatians 5:11 he also says
at one point,

15:13.868 --> 15:17.538
"Am I still preaching
circumcision?"

15:17.538 --> 15:21.118
Now that just kind of hangs
there, "am I still

15:21.120 --> 15:23.340
preaching circumcision?"

15:23.340 --> 15:26.350
The one thing that at least
tells us is that Paul,

15:26.347 --> 15:28.617
at one time,
preached circumcision.

15:28.620 --> 15:31.850
Was that maybe the reason that
he was persecuting these

15:31.851 --> 15:33.111
followers of Jesus?

15:33.110 --> 15:35.810
That some of them were not
preaching circumcision.

15:35.809 --> 15:37.489
Well we don't know.

15:37.490 --> 15:40.340
Now there are several other
things about Paul that we don't

15:40.335 --> 15:43.375
get from his letters but that if
you pick up most books on Paul

15:43.375 --> 15:46.415
nowadays at the bookstore they'd
probably tell you these things

15:46.418 --> 15:49.318
about Paul's biography,
but these are things that we

15:49.315 --> 15:51.295
only find in the Acts of the
Apostles.

15:51.298 --> 15:54.178
As I've tried to get you to
see, there are a lot of things

15:54.184 --> 15:56.874
in the Acts of the Apostles that
we should doubt their

15:56.869 --> 15:58.919
historicity,
especially when it comes to

15:58.916 --> 15:59.176
Paul.

15:59.178 --> 16:02.378
Some of the things about Paul
that people think they know

16:02.375 --> 16:05.395
about Paul as historical facts
only come from Acts.

16:05.399 --> 16:06.579
What are those?

16:06.580 --> 16:11.250
One, he was brought up and
educated in Jerusalem at the

16:11.245 --> 16:15.045
feet of Gamaliel,
a very famous first century

16:15.046 --> 16:15.906
rabbi.

16:15.908 --> 16:19.508
Well it's only in Acts that
Paul says that about himself.

16:19.509 --> 16:23.029
Is this something that Luke
kind of made up or put in there,

16:23.028 --> 16:24.398
or part of tradition?

16:24.399 --> 16:28.079
His original name was Saul,
according to Acts.

16:28.080 --> 16:30.350
Paul never tells us that
himself.

16:30.350 --> 16:33.630
It's not too unlikely,
a lot of Jews then,

16:33.629 --> 16:37.639
as Jews now,
might have two separate names,

16:37.639 --> 16:40.689
sort of their American name and
then their Israeli name or

16:40.687 --> 16:42.737
something;
their Hebrew name and their

16:42.740 --> 16:44.780
English name,
so maybe Paul did have two

16:44.779 --> 16:45.249
names.

16:45.250 --> 16:47.680
But he never calls himself Saul
in his letters;

16:47.678 --> 16:50.008
that's a name that he's given
in Acts.

16:50.009 --> 16:53.889
He also says in Acts that he's
a Roman citizen and that he was

16:53.894 --> 16:55.364
born a Roman citizen.

16:55.360 --> 16:58.460
That's a pretty impressive
thing for a Jew in the eastern

16:58.457 --> 17:01.277
part of the Mediterranean to be
a Roman citizen,

17:01.278 --> 17:04.818
and in the first part of the
first century that would have

17:04.815 --> 17:06.175
been fairly unusual.

17:06.180 --> 17:10.300
But Paul claims that in Acts,
but only in Acts.

17:10.298 --> 17:15.678
In Acts Paul is portrayed as
speaking Hebrew fluently.

17:15.680 --> 17:18.770
He gets up in Jerusalem and
gives whole long speeches in

17:18.768 --> 17:20.588
Hebrew,
it may mean Aramaic,

17:20.587 --> 17:24.237
but sometimes in ancient Greek
texts they'll say Hebrew and

17:24.236 --> 17:28.196
what we think they probably were
talking about was Aramaic,

17:28.200 --> 17:30.980
which is kind of a dialogue
of--dialect of Hebrew and

17:30.979 --> 17:31.459
Syriac.

17:31.460 --> 17:34.310
Paul seems to be speaking
Hebrew in Acts.

17:34.308 --> 17:38.548
Paul never in his letters gives
us any indication that he spoke

17:38.545 --> 17:39.155
Hebrew.

17:39.160 --> 17:41.930
Did he speak Hebrew?

17:41.930 --> 17:46.010
I would say Greek at least
seems to be his first language,

17:46.009 --> 17:50.519
and we don't have any direct
indication that he spoke Hebrew.

17:50.519 --> 17:54.199
Then one of the things that's
important for us today:

17:54.202 --> 17:57.272
according to Acts,
Paul's normal modus

17:57.270 --> 17:59.870
operandi,
his way of operating,

17:59.871 --> 18:03.931
was to go to a town and go to
the synagogue first and,

18:03.930 --> 18:06.210
only after he was rejected in
the synagogue,

18:06.210 --> 18:08.050
would he then go preach to the
Gentiles.

18:08.049 --> 18:08.949
Do you remember?

18:08.950 --> 18:11.340
This goes along with that Acts
theme that we talked about,

18:11.338 --> 18:13.878
to the Jew first and then to
the Greeks,

18:13.880 --> 18:16.370
so look with me because we're
going to talk about 1

18:16.373 --> 18:17.623
Thessalonians in a bit.

18:17.618 --> 18:22.208
Acts 17 gives the account of
when Paul first went to the

18:22.210 --> 18:25.800
Thessalonica,
at least according to Acts.

18:25.798 --> 18:30.478
Now Thessalonica is an
important Roman city in

18:30.478 --> 18:33.618
Macedonia,
that is the home area of

18:33.618 --> 18:36.548
Alexander the Great,
and Philip his father,

18:36.548 --> 18:39.828
which is now considered by the
Romans sort of part of--

18:39.828 --> 18:43.388
mainly sort of the area that's
ruled also with Achaia or

18:43.386 --> 18:43.966
Greece.

18:43.970 --> 18:47.590
It's a Greek speaking area but
Thessalonica is a Roman kind of

18:47.594 --> 18:50.044
city,
it's Romanized to some extent,

18:50.042 --> 18:53.992
it's right on a major highway
running east to west so it's an

18:53.990 --> 18:55.240
important place.

18:55.240 --> 18:58.840
Here's the way Acts describes
Paul's getting to Thessalonica.

18:58.838 --> 19:00.838
Now what I'm going to do is I'm
going to read this carefully

19:00.840 --> 19:02.910
because we're going to then go
to 1 Thessalonians and say,

19:02.910 --> 19:06.880
can we confirm any of the Acts
material from Paul's own

19:06.876 --> 19:10.326
description about what happened
Thessalonica?

19:10.328 --> 19:13.638
After Paul and Silas [this is
Acts 17:1]

19:13.644 --> 19:17.644
had passed through Amphipolis
and Apollonia,

19:17.640 --> 19:21.530
they came to Thessalonica where
there was a synagogue of the

19:21.528 --> 19:21.988
Jews.

19:21.990 --> 19:25.440
And Paul went in,
as was his custom,

19:25.440 --> 19:28.850
and on three Sabbath days
argued with them from the

19:28.846 --> 19:31.456
scriptures,
explaining and proving that it

19:31.464 --> 19:35.024
was necessary for the Messiah to
suffer and to rise from the dead

19:35.017 --> 19:37.397
and saying,
"This is the Messiah,

19:37.400 --> 19:40.350
the Christ, Jesus,
whom I am proclaiming to

19:40.346 --> 19:41.186
you."

19:41.190 --> 19:44.930
Some of them were persuaded and
joined Paul and Silas,

19:44.932 --> 19:47.762
as did a great many of the
devout Greeks,

19:47.759 --> 19:50.019
and not a few leading women.

19:50.019 --> 19:54.659
Luke likes that phrase,
he likes to say that a few

19:54.657 --> 19:59.957
leading women also were
converted in different places.

19:59.960 --> 20:01.580
It's more than one place he
does this.

20:01.578 --> 20:06.618
But the Jews [we see that turn
that we've often seen in Acts]

20:06.617 --> 20:09.197
became jealous,
and with the help of some

20:09.195 --> 20:12.735
ruffians in the marketplaces,
they formed a mob and set the

20:12.742 --> 20:14.202
city in an uproar.

20:14.200 --> 20:17.900
While they were searching for
Paul and Silas to bring them out

20:17.904 --> 20:20.764
to the assembly,
they attacked Jason's house.

20:20.759 --> 20:23.869
When they could not find them
they dragged Jason and some

20:23.865 --> 20:26.635
believers before the city
authorities shouting,

20:26.640 --> 20:29.340
"These people who have
been turning the world upside

20:29.338 --> 20:32.318
down have come here also,
and Jason has entertained them

20:32.320 --> 20:32.920
as guests.

20:32.920 --> 20:35.690
They are all acting contrary to
the decrees of the emperor,

20:35.690 --> 20:38.270
saying that there is another
king named Jesus."

20:38.269 --> 20:41.329
The people and the city
officials were disturbed when

20:41.328 --> 20:43.978
they heard this,
and after they had taken bail

20:43.976 --> 20:46.796
from Jason and the others,
they let them go.

20:46.798 --> 20:50.248
That very night the believers
sent Paul and Silas off to

20:50.246 --> 20:53.436
Berea, and when they arrived
they went to the Jewish

20:53.442 --> 20:54.322
synagogue.

20:54.318 --> 20:55.998
They're arrested,
they have to post bail,

20:56.000 --> 20:58.190
and then during the night they
send them off,

20:58.190 --> 20:59.700
get them out of out,
and they go to Berea,

20:59.700 --> 21:02.740
and again, Paul and Silas go
first to the synagogue.

21:02.740 --> 21:07.020
That's the account from Acts,
now let's look though at 1

21:07.021 --> 21:10.451
Thessalonians,
and let's compare a few things

21:10.449 --> 21:11.149
here.

21:11.150 --> 21:15.880
First, we're going to ask,
what does 1 Thessalonians tell

21:15.875 --> 21:18.065
us about several things.

21:18.068 --> 21:22.568
How did Paul work as a
missionary?

21:22.569 --> 21:23.889
How did he do this?

21:23.890 --> 21:28.520
He was going around trying to
convince Gentiles to accept that

21:28.523 --> 21:31.363
Jesus of Nazareth,
this guy they had never heard

21:31.364 --> 21:34.034
of before,
who had been executed by the

21:34.031 --> 21:38.261
Romans way off in a corner of
the world in Jerusalem,

21:38.259 --> 21:41.139
that this guy was not only the
new king of the Jews,

21:41.140 --> 21:44.410
he had been raised from the
dead and made king of the Jews,

21:44.410 --> 21:46.770
but that now he was going to be
king of the whole world,

21:46.769 --> 21:49.599
and that even Gentiles should
be loyal to him,

21:49.598 --> 21:53.228
and they should all become
loyal to the God of Israel,

21:53.230 --> 21:56.810
precisely because the God of
Israel had raised this Jesus guy

21:56.806 --> 21:59.936
from the dead,
and therefore he demanded faith

21:59.936 --> 22:03.006
and adherence,
and worship from all the world,

22:03.010 --> 22:03.970
even Gentiles.

22:03.970 --> 22:06.440
That's what he's doing,
he's going around to different

22:06.440 --> 22:09.050
towns and he's trying to plant
little house churches,

22:09.048 --> 22:12.118
little cell groups in the
different cities of the Greeks

22:12.116 --> 22:13.006
where he goes.

22:13.009 --> 22:15.849
Here's what he talks about in 1
Thessalonians.

22:15.849 --> 22:17.869
He gives this long thanksgiving.

22:17.868 --> 22:21.878
Paul, Silvanus [Silvanus is the
Latinized name of Silas so we're

22:21.882 --> 22:25.582
talking about the same person
that Acts called Silas called

22:25.576 --> 22:28.666
Silvanus here],
and Timothy to the church of

22:28.670 --> 22:31.030
the Thessalonians,
and God the Father and the Lord

22:31.028 --> 22:32.828
Jesus Christ,
grace to you and peace.

22:32.828 --> 22:35.618
We always give thanks to God
[and then he goes into this long

22:35.615 --> 22:38.255
thanksgiving about their faith]
because our message of the

22:38.261 --> 22:41.001
Gospel came to you not only in
word but also in the power of

22:41.001 --> 22:43.371
the Holy Spirit,
full conviction just as you

22:43.365 --> 22:45.425
know what kind of persons we
preach among.

22:45.430 --> 22:48.550
You became imitators of us in
the Lord in spite of

22:48.553 --> 22:52.253
persecutions you received the
word with joy inspired by the

22:52.250 --> 22:53.270
Holy Spirit.

22:53.269 --> 22:56.799
You became an example to all
the believers in Macedonia and

22:56.800 --> 22:57.350
Achaia.

22:57.348 --> 23:00.618
[Achaia refers then to the main
part of Greece where Athens of

23:00.617 --> 23:03.347
course is and Corinth.]
For the word of the Lord had

23:03.351 --> 23:06.621
sounded forth from you not only
in Macedonia and Achaia,

23:06.618 --> 23:09.158
but in every place your faith
in God has become known,

23:09.160 --> 23:11.410
so that we have no need to
speak about it.

23:11.410 --> 23:15.490
[Now here's the report that
they're getting and this has a

23:15.487 --> 23:18.487
few clues.]
For the people of those regions

23:18.490 --> 23:20.780
[that is of Macedonia and
Achaia]

23:20.779 --> 23:25.069
report about us what kind of
welcome we had among you and how

23:25.070 --> 23:30.050
you turned to God from idols,
to serve a living and true God

23:30.048 --> 23:32.908
and to wait for his Son from
heaven,

23:32.910 --> 23:35.250
whom he raised from the dead,
Jesus,

23:35.250 --> 23:38.550
who rescues us from the wrath
that is coming.

23:38.548 --> 23:41.918
That basically sounds like a
little nutshell of what Paul

23:41.915 --> 23:43.655
must have preached to them.

23:43.660 --> 23:46.660
There's a wrath coming,
you're going to be destroyed in

23:46.661 --> 23:49.611
that wrath,
you can be rescued from that

23:49.605 --> 23:53.945
wrath if you turn to this guy,
Jesus, that we tell you about,

23:53.953 --> 23:57.703
who's the Son of God and God
raised him from the dead and you

23:57.703 --> 24:01.583
will wait for him to come from
heaven and he'll rescue you.

24:01.578 --> 24:04.968
That's kind of the nutshell of
this message.

24:04.970 --> 24:07.620
Notice, who is Paul talking to
here?

24:07.618 --> 24:11.138
What kind of people were they
before they became followers of

24:11.140 --> 24:11.610
Jesus?

24:11.609 --> 24:15.789
Were they Jews?

24:15.789 --> 24:18.079
Is Paul talking to Jews?

24:18.078 --> 24:20.568
This is not a trick question,
it's right there in front of

24:20.567 --> 24:20.827
you.

24:20.828 --> 24:23.428
He's talking to Gentiles
because he says,

24:23.432 --> 24:26.952
"You turned from gods to
serve the living and true

24:26.948 --> 24:27.858
God."

24:27.858 --> 24:31.058
So these are clearly Gentiles
he's addressing so that's one

24:31.056 --> 24:34.086
clue about this is that Paul is
addressing Gentiles in 1

24:34.086 --> 24:35.076
Thessalonians.

24:35.078 --> 24:38.878
Look at Chapter 2:9,
he gives us another little

24:38.876 --> 24:43.166
clue, "You remember our
labor and toil."

24:43.170 --> 24:46.020
Now my translation,
I'm using the New Revised

24:46.022 --> 24:48.862
Standard Version,
and in order--as I said before,

24:48.857 --> 24:50.987
in order to make this
translation usable for

24:50.990 --> 24:53.820
liturgical use in churches
they've actually made inclusive

24:53.818 --> 24:55.108
some of the language.

24:55.108 --> 24:58.118
It says--the Greek says,
"You remember our labor

24:58.124 --> 24:59.694
and toil, brothers."

24:59.690 --> 25:02.250
My English translation says,
"brothers and

25:02.249 --> 25:04.309
sisters,"
but the Greek just says

25:04.307 --> 25:07.037
adelphoi, which means
"brothers,"

25:07.035 --> 25:10.605
it can include women sometimes,
so it's sort of like the word

25:10.605 --> 25:12.755
"men"
in older English when it was

25:12.761 --> 25:14.871
supposed to include both women
and men.

25:14.868 --> 25:17.928
The Greek adelphoi can
include women but it's just the

25:17.930 --> 25:20.070
masculine Greek word,
"brothers,"

25:20.070 --> 25:21.500
here that's in the text.

25:21.500 --> 25:23.540
That's not just a linguistic
point--

25:23.538 --> 25:26.748
I'm going to return to that
later because I'm going to argue

25:26.747 --> 25:30.167
that there's something important
about this fact that Paul seems

25:30.172 --> 25:32.512
to address only men in 1
Thessalonians.

25:32.509 --> 25:36.509
You remember our labor and
toil, brothers.

25:36.509 --> 25:39.509
We worked night and day so that
we might not burden any of you

25:39.513 --> 25:41.833
while we proclaimed to you the
Gospel of God.

25:41.829 --> 25:44.109
You are witnesses and God also.

25:44.108 --> 25:46.668
Now one of the things to
notice, notice what Paul's

25:46.670 --> 25:49.490
saying, he's saying that they
themselves practice manual

25:49.487 --> 25:49.997
labor.

25:50.000 --> 25:52.630
One of the things that Paul
wants to insist is that he

25:52.634 --> 25:55.024
didn't--he and Silas,
and Timothy didn't live off

25:55.019 --> 25:56.809
handouts from the Thessalonians.

25:56.808 --> 25:59.348
He's insisting,
we owned--we earned our own

25:59.346 --> 26:01.876
keep,
we practiced our own trade,

26:01.877 --> 26:04.987
what exactly was Paul's trade
is again--

26:04.990 --> 26:07.250
Acts calls him a leather worker
or a tent maker.

26:07.250 --> 26:09.770
The word there in Greek is not
exactly clear,

26:09.769 --> 26:12.359
but some people have said that
if that Acts account is true,

26:12.358 --> 26:14.278
then Paul may have been the
kind of person--

26:14.278 --> 26:16.488
there was not a lot of tents
you made for city dwellers,

26:16.490 --> 26:19.190
some, but they made awnings
that would go--

26:19.190 --> 26:21.470
these leather type and canvas
awnings that would go in front

26:21.471 --> 26:23.291
of shops and everything to keep
the sun off,

26:23.289 --> 26:24.739
and they did make tents.

26:24.740 --> 26:27.230
So if that's true and Paul was
a tent maker or a leather

26:27.228 --> 26:29.538
worker, that's the kind of thing
he would have made,

26:29.535 --> 26:31.205
but remember that's only in
Acts.

26:31.210 --> 26:34.530
At least here we get a definite
indication from his own letters

26:34.525 --> 26:37.675
that Paul was a manual laborer,
he worked with his hands.

26:37.680 --> 26:42.720
He doesn't tell us exactly in
his letters what he did.

26:42.720 --> 26:44.460
We did night and day so we
wouldn't burden you.

26:44.460 --> 26:46.890
You are witnesses in God also,
how pure, upright,

26:46.887 --> 26:49.567
and blameless our conduct was
toward you believers.

26:49.568 --> 26:52.708
As you know we dealt with each
one like a father with his

26:52.711 --> 26:53.331
children.

26:53.328 --> 26:56.748
They practiced manual labor
when they were there.

26:56.750 --> 27:02.130
Now look at verse 14,2:14:
For you, brothers,

27:02.134 --> 27:06.144
became imitators of the
churches of God in Christ Jesus

27:06.141 --> 27:07.701
that are in Judea.

27:07.700 --> 27:11.450
[They're in Macedonia he's
talking about the churches also

27:11.448 --> 27:13.748
in Judea.]
For you suffered the same

27:13.750 --> 27:17.960
things from your own compatriots
as they did from the Jews,

27:17.960 --> 27:19.810
who killed both the Lord Jesus
and the prophets,

27:19.809 --> 27:21.529
and drove us out.

27:21.528 --> 27:24.008
That displeased God and opposed
everyone by hindering us from

27:24.009 --> 27:26.199
speaking to the Gentiles so that
they may be saved.

27:26.200 --> 27:29.060
Thus they have been constantly
filling up the measure of their

27:29.057 --> 27:31.397
sins but God's wrath has
overtaken them at last.

27:31.400 --> 27:35.970
Now what's going on here is at
least that Paul is saying you

27:35.973 --> 27:39.963
people in Thessalonica,
you received persecution just

27:39.958 --> 27:42.808
like the followers of Jesus did
in Judea.

27:42.808 --> 27:47.648
Who is persecuting these
followers of Jesus in

27:47.654 --> 27:49.274
Thessalonica?

27:49.269 --> 27:51.459
Pardon?

27:51.460 --> 27:53.910
Compatriots,
in other words,

27:53.912 --> 27:54.732
Greeks.

27:54.730 --> 27:59.350
They're not being persecuted by
Jews, they're being persecuted

27:59.346 --> 28:01.236
by their fellow Greeks.

28:01.240 --> 28:04.400
They're experiencing
persecution too once they've

28:04.403 --> 28:07.043
decided to follow this Jewish
Messiah.

28:07.038 --> 28:09.848
They're not experiencing
persecution from Jews,

28:09.854 --> 28:12.184
they're experiencing it from
Greeks.

28:12.180 --> 28:16.820
Now you put all that together,
there is no mention of Jews

28:16.817 --> 28:19.827
anywhere in 1 Thessalonians at
all.

28:19.828 --> 28:23.088
In other words,
it's pretty clear that Paul is

28:23.088 --> 28:26.998
addressing a church that's
composed of all Gentiles.

28:27.000 --> 28:31.500
They became followers of Jesus
by turning away from idols.

28:31.500 --> 28:32.670
They weren't Jews.

28:32.670 --> 28:35.410
They were also experiencing
persecution as the churches in

28:35.410 --> 28:38.150
Judea but they don't experience
persecution from Jews,

28:38.150 --> 28:40.630
they're experiencing
persecution from Gentiles,

28:40.630 --> 28:41.670
their own neighbors.

28:41.670 --> 28:45.310
Now notice how this doesn't fit
the narrative of Acts.

28:45.308 --> 28:47.688
According to Acts,
Paul goes first to the

28:47.686 --> 28:49.976
synagogue,
he preaches to the Jews,

28:49.980 --> 28:52.960
some of them believe including
leading women,

28:52.960 --> 28:56.940
and he forms the nucleus of his
group with Jews,

28:56.940 --> 28:59.850
and then he adds onto that
nucleus Gentiles.

28:59.848 --> 29:02.668
That doesn't seem to fit 1
Thessalonians where there's no

29:02.671 --> 29:03.881
Jews mentioned at all.

29:03.880 --> 29:06.370
The only people he addresses
are Gentiles,

29:06.371 --> 29:09.041
and he says they were
persecuted not by Jews,

29:09.044 --> 29:11.904
as is in the case in Acts,
but by Gentiles.

29:11.900 --> 29:15.430
Again Paul's letters seem to
provide a somewhat different

29:15.434 --> 29:19.034
picture than we got in Acts,
and it's easy to see how Acts

29:19.032 --> 29:21.182
told the story the way it did.

29:21.180 --> 29:23.500
Remember, over and over,
the Acts of the Apostles

29:23.500 --> 29:25.240
presents Paul in the same
pattern.

29:25.240 --> 29:27.270
All the people in Acts go to
the Jews first,

29:27.269 --> 29:30.169
they preach in synagogues
first, city after city,

29:30.170 --> 29:32.510
they're rejected by the Jews or
at least by most of them,

29:32.509 --> 29:34.059
and then they go to the
Gentiles later,

29:34.059 --> 29:35.979
so it's schematic in Acts.

29:35.980 --> 29:38.900
In 1 Thessalonians we don't
have a schematic history,

29:38.900 --> 29:41.270
we probably have a much better
idea of what actually happened,

29:41.269 --> 29:44.029
which was that Paul founded
this church with Gentile

29:44.034 --> 29:46.694
believers and when they
experienced persecution it

29:46.691 --> 29:49.511
wasn't from the Romans and it
wasn't from Jews,

29:49.509 --> 29:50.839
it was from their neighbors.

29:50.838 --> 29:53.678
We're going to come back to 1
Thessalonians but that's just

29:53.683 --> 29:56.583
basically the set up that when
we look at what's going on in

29:56.577 --> 29:58.717
Thessalonica,
we need to look at 1

29:58.718 --> 30:02.808
Thessalonians and not depend on
Acts again to tell us the story.

30:02.808 --> 30:07.208
Any question about that before
I go on?

30:07.210 --> 30:13.120
Okay, other things about Paul,
Paul has this many letters in

30:13.116 --> 30:15.116
the New Testament.

30:15.118 --> 30:18.838
As you've been reading in your
textbook you've already noticed

30:18.837 --> 30:22.127
that Bart Ehrman talks about the
undisputed letters.

30:22.130 --> 30:25.280
This just means these are the
letters that almost all scholars

30:25.279 --> 30:26.519
will agree Paul wrote.

30:26.519 --> 30:31.239
The disputed letters--that is
the letters that scholars

30:31.237 --> 30:34.267
disagree about,
and then there are three

30:34.270 --> 30:37.620
letters that most scholars are
agreed are not by Paul.

30:37.618 --> 30:41.168
The undisputed letters are
Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians,

30:41.172 --> 30:44.792
Galatians, Philippians,
1 Thessalonians and Philemon.

30:44.788 --> 30:50.298
Most of us reject as being by a
later disciple of Paul,

30:50.298 --> 30:52.588
maybe even written in the
second century,

30:52.588 --> 30:55.418
some people believe these are
decades after Paul's death that

30:55.421 --> 30:59.961
these letters are written,
1 and 2 Timothy and Titus.

30:59.960 --> 31:03.560
We also call these the Pastoral
Epistles because they show Paul

31:03.563 --> 31:06.933
trying to teach Timothy and
Titus how to be good pastors of

31:06.933 --> 31:07.693
a church.

31:07.690 --> 31:09.870
It's Paul giving instruction,
so-called Paul,

31:09.865 --> 31:12.135
giving instruction to pastors
of the church.

31:12.140 --> 31:14.610
Now for these letters there's a
lot more debate about.

31:14.608 --> 31:17.578
I would say that--I've ranked
them here according to how

31:17.577 --> 31:20.647
likely some scholars believe
they may have been written by

31:20.653 --> 31:21.143
Paul.

31:21.140 --> 31:24.590
More scholars will take 2
Thessalonians as being by Paul;

31:24.589 --> 31:26.369
a lot of us doubt it.

31:26.368 --> 31:31.618
A few--fewer scholars will take
Colossians as being by Paul with

31:31.624 --> 31:35.224
more doubt on that,
and then Ephesians is a letter,

31:35.224 --> 31:38.704
is a different letter written
by a different person which used

31:38.699 --> 31:42.079
Colossians as a model,
and more people believe that

31:42.082 --> 31:43.852
Ephesians is not by Paul.

31:43.848 --> 31:47.888
In a rank of descending
probability, 2 Thessalonians,

31:47.891 --> 31:52.401
Colossians, and Ephesians are
doubted as being truly by the

31:52.397 --> 31:53.717
Apostle Paul.

31:53.720 --> 32:00.280


32:00.278 --> 32:03.678
That's just to give you what's
going on here.

32:03.680 --> 32:05.700
Just for a moment,
let me back up also and tell

32:05.701 --> 32:07.771
you before we turn to some
particular texts in 1

32:07.768 --> 32:08.558
Thessalonians.

32:08.558 --> 32:12.338
Remember the lecture about the
house church and remember I

32:12.336 --> 32:16.506
talked about the Roman household
structure and the patron client

32:16.511 --> 32:17.441
structure?

32:17.440 --> 32:20.290
Now this will be very
important, especially for your

32:20.294 --> 32:22.314
discussions this week on
Philemon.

32:22.308 --> 32:25.438
Remember that the Roman
household is a pyramid kind of

32:25.441 --> 32:27.651
structure,
with the paterfamilias,

32:27.653 --> 32:29.823
the Roman head of the household
at the top,

32:29.818 --> 32:34.088
and that person's sons and
daughters being next in the

32:34.085 --> 32:36.215
level,
the person's slaves in the

32:36.217 --> 32:38.487
household being at the very
bottom level.

32:38.490 --> 32:41.500
Then above the slaves,
and below the sons and the

32:41.502 --> 32:44.222
daughters,
you've got people like freed

32:44.221 --> 32:48.231
persons of the householder who
become then the householder's

32:48.231 --> 32:48.981
clients.

32:48.980 --> 32:52.680
The clients give honor to their
patron and the patron gives

32:52.682 --> 32:56.512
financial security and sometimes
legal help or other kinds of

32:56.510 --> 32:57.900
help,
social help,

32:57.895 --> 33:00.005
social connections to the
client.

33:00.009 --> 33:03.409
You might even have free
people, free men and women who

33:03.413 --> 33:06.943
are connected to different
households even if they're not

33:06.944 --> 33:09.724
connected legally because in
Roman law,

33:09.720 --> 33:12.860
a freed slave,
the freed man was even legally

33:12.855 --> 33:16.425
a client of the patron,
still owed legal duties to the

33:16.431 --> 33:16.891
patron.

33:16.890 --> 33:20.750
It wasn't like the person who
was freed became entirely free

33:20.749 --> 33:24.019
and footloose and happy away
from the household.

33:24.019 --> 33:26.239
They still had connections,
both legal connections,

33:26.240 --> 33:29.500
but apart from the legal
requirements you would have even

33:29.503 --> 33:33.063
other non-legal clients become
like clients of a household.

33:33.058 --> 33:36.368
That's--we're going to see how
different house churches start

33:36.373 --> 33:37.813
constructing themselves.

33:37.808 --> 33:41.378
Paul, in his letters,
will repeatedly then address

33:41.375 --> 33:44.355
certain people by name and greet
them,

33:44.358 --> 33:46.628
and he'll say,
and the church that meets in

33:46.632 --> 33:48.312
your house or in their house.

33:48.308 --> 33:51.418
That's setting up that "I
did it."

33:51.420 --> 33:54.520
The people he's named are kind
of considered the patrons,

33:54.519 --> 33:57.959
the paterfamilias of the
house church and then the house

33:57.964 --> 34:00.304
church has this patron client
structure.

34:00.298 --> 34:04.138
Keep that in mind when we talk
about this.

34:04.140 --> 34:07.690
Let's back up again and say
now, so what did Paul teach to

34:07.692 --> 34:08.942
the Thessalonians?

34:08.940 --> 34:13.300
First, he taught them mainly to
turn from idol worship and

34:13.295 --> 34:14.285
polytheism.

34:14.289 --> 34:17.449
Now this is hard for us to
think about today because you

34:17.451 --> 34:20.781
don't go around to almost any
church and they have an altar

34:20.784 --> 34:23.064
call,
we had lots of altar calls in

34:23.063 --> 34:23.713
my church.

34:23.710 --> 34:25.860
They had songs at the end,
"Just As I Am"

34:25.864 --> 34:28.414
sung with like 75 different
verses and they're trying to get

34:28.409 --> 34:30.909
you to come down to confess
Jesus as your Lord and personal

34:30.909 --> 34:33.379
Savior and be prayed for,
and maybe be baptized,

34:33.375 --> 34:35.835
and they keep singing the
invitation song until you

34:35.842 --> 34:38.702
finally feel guilty enough that
you come down front for the

34:38.704 --> 34:41.274
altar call and "yes the
busses will wait,

34:41.268 --> 34:43.338
the busses will wait,
come on down."

34:43.340 --> 34:47.100
In almost no situation like
that are they saying you need to

34:47.101 --> 34:49.781
turn from--
stop worshipping Zeus and

34:49.775 --> 34:53.905
Apollo and Artemis and turn to
the living and true God.

34:53.909 --> 34:57.719
Our Gospels today have other
kinds of messages,

34:57.719 --> 35:00.109
but apparently,
the most fundamental message

35:00.106 --> 35:03.206
that Paul was telling people
when he went around to these

35:03.213 --> 35:05.493
Greek cities was idols are not
gods,

35:05.489 --> 35:08.039
you need to stop worshipping
these stones and rocks and

35:08.038 --> 35:09.888
things,
and start worshipping the God

35:09.887 --> 35:10.407
of Israel.

35:10.409 --> 35:12.599
The God of Israel is the only
true God;

35:12.599 --> 35:15.139
he's the only living God,
all the rest of these are dead

35:15.137 --> 35:15.457
gods.

35:15.460 --> 35:18.710
That's the main thing that Paul
seems to have been teaching as

35:18.708 --> 35:20.678
he quotes there in 1
Thessalonians.

35:20.679 --> 35:24.099
Like I said,
he's teaching them to accept

35:24.101 --> 35:28.981
the God of Israel as their God,
he's teaching them to accept

35:28.981 --> 35:32.851
the kingship of Jesus Christ as
God's Son and the Jewish

35:32.853 --> 35:36.323
Messiah,
to await the salvation of Jesus

35:36.317 --> 35:39.777
to come from heaven in the near
future,

35:39.780 --> 35:42.410
so, yes, Jesus is going to
swoop down from heaven,

35:42.409 --> 35:44.289
and Paul is expecting this very
soon,

35:44.289 --> 35:47.429
and then to avoid certain
Gentile behaviors,

35:47.429 --> 35:49.839
and he kind of will list
sometimes things he calls

35:49.836 --> 35:50.816
Gentile behaviors.

35:50.820 --> 35:53.920
One of the most important of
those Gentile behaviors was

35:53.923 --> 35:56.513
sexual immorality,
or in the Greek simply the word

35:56.512 --> 35:59.322
porneia where we get the
word "pornography."

35:59.320 --> 36:02.700


36:02.699 --> 36:05.849
This is very difficult to
translate into English because

36:05.846 --> 36:08.586
it could be used in Greek simply
for "sexual

36:08.590 --> 36:09.850
intercourse."

36:09.849 --> 36:13.549
A porne also was used
for "a prostitute"

36:13.550 --> 36:16.920
but it didn't mean necessarily
someone who sold--

36:16.920 --> 36:19.290
a porne just was "a
sex person,"

36:19.286 --> 36:21.646
"a sex woman"
or "a sex man,"

36:21.653 --> 36:24.913
so porneia meant really
basically just "sex."

36:24.909 --> 36:28.489
To Jews at the time it came to
represent every aspect of

36:28.487 --> 36:31.867
sexuality that they believed
were wrong and that only

36:31.869 --> 36:34.169
Gentiles did,
but they included a lot of

36:34.166 --> 36:34.856
things in this.

36:34.860 --> 36:37.260
Adultery would be included in
porneia,

36:37.260 --> 36:40.150
all kinds of having sex with
anybody else but your married

36:40.154 --> 36:42.494
partner would be considered
porneia,

36:42.489 --> 36:45.029
masturbation could be
considered porneia,

36:45.030 --> 36:47.900
homosexuality could be
considered porneia,

36:47.900 --> 36:51.150
having the woman on top with a
man could be considered

36:51.146 --> 36:53.596
porneia,
if the woman uses a dildo or

36:53.596 --> 36:55.906
something to penetrate the man
that could also be

36:55.905 --> 36:58.715
porneia,
any kind of oral sex whether it

36:58.717 --> 37:01.787
was homosexual or heterosexual,
any oral sex was considered

37:01.786 --> 37:04.956
porneia by the Jews,
so porneia was just any

37:04.958 --> 37:08.638
list of things that Jews
believed shouldn't be done and

37:08.644 --> 37:13.004
that Gentiles typically did,
and that's one thing Paul is

37:12.998 --> 37:14.468
very much against.

37:14.469 --> 37:17.499
He talks about that in one
place, look in 1 Thessalonians

37:17.498 --> 37:19.928
4,
now remember he's addressing

37:19.929 --> 37:23.709
here men who used to be Greeks
and who thought--

37:23.710 --> 37:26.190
who probably thought nothing at
all about having sex with lots

37:26.193 --> 37:27.093
of different people.

37:27.090 --> 37:29.650
The Greeks didn't seem to have
many--

37:29.650 --> 37:32.100
of course women weren't
supposed to have sex because the

37:32.101 --> 37:33.841
woman was the possession of the
man,

37:33.840 --> 37:37.020
but they didn't care about men
having sex with prostitutes,

37:37.018 --> 37:39.048
or other men,
or other women,

37:39.054 --> 37:41.094
there's no danger in that.

37:41.090 --> 37:45.550
He's talking to people whose
idea of sex was that it's not

37:45.550 --> 37:47.430
that big a deal,
4:1:

37:47.429 --> 37:50.269
Finally brothers [he's not
saying sisters here the word is

37:50.271 --> 37:52.771
"brothers,"
and you'll see why as he goes

37:52.766 --> 37:54.506
on.]
We ask and urge you in the Lord

37:54.510 --> 37:57.600
Jesus that as you learn from us
how ought to live and to please

37:57.603 --> 38:00.343
God as you are doing,
you do so more and more for you

38:00.335 --> 38:02.685
know what instructions we gave
you through the Lord Jesus.

38:02.690 --> 38:05.030
For this is the will of God,
your sanctification,

38:05.030 --> 38:07.700
that you abstain from
porneia,

38:07.699 --> 38:09.129
[It's translated in your text
maybe as

38:09.132 --> 38:11.382
"fornication";
it just means any kind of

38:11.382 --> 38:13.422
immoral sex.]
that each of you know how to

38:13.420 --> 38:15.510
control your own vessel
["vessel"

38:15.507 --> 38:17.587
is the actual Greek,
it may be translated as

38:17.588 --> 38:19.198
"body"
but it means "vessel"

38:19.201 --> 38:20.541
so there's a debate among
scholars,

38:20.539 --> 38:24.219
is this talking about control
your own body as a man or to

38:24.217 --> 38:28.087
control your woman whose the
vessel for your sexual overflow]

38:28.088 --> 38:32.408
in holiness and honor,
not with lustful passion not

38:32.409 --> 38:37.109
with desire like the Gentiles
who do not know God.

38:37.110 --> 38:41.590
Sexual desire and passion are
linked in Paul's mind only to

38:41.590 --> 38:44.990
the Gentile world,
not the body of Christ.

38:44.989 --> 38:48.529
"That no one wrong or
exploit a brother in this

38:48.525 --> 38:50.875
matter,"
"or sister"

38:50.884 --> 38:52.484
is not in the text.

38:52.480 --> 38:56.030
You don't exploit your brother
and the reason that makes a big

38:56.030 --> 38:59.060
difference is that ancient
people never thought about

38:59.057 --> 39:02.257
defrauding a woman by having sex
with her husband,

39:02.260 --> 39:05.880
they just didn't think that
way, but because the woman was

39:05.882 --> 39:08.872
the receptacle for the sexuality
of the man,

39:08.869 --> 39:12.049
and she was polluted by having
sex with any man except her

39:12.054 --> 39:14.614
husband,
to have sex with another man's

39:14.605 --> 39:18.085
woman was depriving that man of
his property rights,

39:18.090 --> 39:21.560
so it made no sense to talk
about defrauding the woman here,

39:21.556 --> 39:22.316
the sister.

39:22.320 --> 39:24.900
It made perfect sense in Paul's
mind to talk about defrauding

39:24.898 --> 39:25.498
the brother.

39:25.500 --> 39:27.970
"Because the Lord is
avenged in all these things.

39:27.969 --> 39:30.769
For God did not call you to
impurity but holiness,

39:30.768 --> 39:32.728
therefore whoever rejects this
rejects not human authority but

39:32.731 --> 39:34.051
God who gives us the Holy
Spirit."

39:34.050 --> 39:36.240
Notice what Paul's doing,
Paul just like almost anybody

39:36.237 --> 39:39.177
else of his society,
he's talking to men here,

39:39.181 --> 39:41.561
and he says,
you guys, now you're in this

39:41.559 --> 39:42.969
new church,
this new community,

39:42.967 --> 39:45.147
this is different from the way
you used to live,

39:45.150 --> 39:48.380
so you guys,
have your own mate and do what

39:48.380 --> 39:50.380
you need to do with her.

39:50.380 --> 39:54.000
Just control yourself and do
what you need to do with her,

39:53.996 --> 39:57.356
don't go after the woman of
your Christian brother.

39:57.360 --> 39:58.650
Why?

39:58.650 --> 40:01.120
Notice he says nothing about
any concern for the woman.

40:01.119 --> 40:05.029
At least in this text he shows
no concerns for the woman's

40:05.025 --> 40:05.775
interest.

40:05.780 --> 40:08.400
What he says is,
if you have sex with another

40:08.396 --> 40:11.186
man's woman you will be
defrauding your brother,

40:11.193 --> 40:13.873
you're robbing your brother of
his right.

40:13.869 --> 40:17.419
That shows this very
traditional Jewish sense about

40:17.418 --> 40:21.038
porneia sexuality that
Paul is expressing.

40:21.039 --> 40:24.399
You can see why he needs to say
this because he's addressing

40:24.398 --> 40:26.958
this group of guys who had all
been Greeks.

40:26.960 --> 40:28.730
Now what is he also saying?

40:28.730 --> 40:32.970
Look at 5:1-11,
this is something else he seems

40:32.967 --> 40:37.247
to need to clear up with them:
Concerning the times and

40:37.248 --> 40:39.708
seasons, brothers and sisters,
you do not need to have

40:39.711 --> 40:41.791
anything written to you,
for you yourselves know very

40:41.791 --> 40:44.201
well that the day of the Lord
will come like a thief in the

40:44.195 --> 40:44.565
night.

40:44.570 --> 40:46.660
When they say there is peace
and security,

40:46.659 --> 40:50.279
then sudden destruction will
come upon them as labor pains

40:50.275 --> 40:53.235
come upon a pregnant woman,
there will be no escape.

40:53.239 --> 40:55.979
He's talking about that Jesus
coming on the clouds of heaven

40:55.981 --> 40:56.261
now.

40:56.260 --> 40:58.660
He's getting to what he's--he
eluded to it the first,

40:58.657 --> 41:00.867
now he's telling you how it's
going to happen.

41:00.869 --> 41:03.699
This is how it's going to
happen and he's telling them you

41:03.699 --> 41:06.329
don't need to be--he's reminding
us of this, right?

41:06.329 --> 41:08.489
He's always said,
you don't need to be told this,

41:08.489 --> 41:10.559
I'm reminding you of stuff you
already know.

41:10.559 --> 41:12.259
This is stuff he's told them.

41:12.260 --> 41:15.330
But you beloved are not in
darkness for that day to

41:15.329 --> 41:17.049
surprise you like a thief.

41:17.050 --> 41:18.950
You are all children of light
and children of the day,

41:18.949 --> 41:20.859
we are not of the night as of
darkness,

41:20.860 --> 41:23.640
so let us not fall asleep as
others do but let us keep awake

41:23.641 --> 41:24.351
and be sober.

41:24.349 --> 41:26.109
For those who sleep,
sleep at night,

41:26.110 --> 41:29.080
those who are drunk get drunk
at night, but we belong to the

41:29.077 --> 41:29.477
day.

41:29.480 --> 41:31.350
In other words,
he says, basically,

41:31.347 --> 41:33.767
stay awake, stay aware,
it's going to happen,

41:33.766 --> 41:35.906
you don't know when,
just be ready.

41:35.909 --> 41:37.689
Why does he remind them of that?

41:37.690 --> 41:41.260
Let's look back,
4:13, now this is after he's

41:41.264 --> 41:44.274
talked about porneia,
4:13,

41:44.268 --> 41:48.448
"But we do not want you to
be uninformed brothers,"

41:48.454 --> 41:50.994
I grew up in that--
the King James Version says,

41:50.994 --> 41:52.494
"We would not have you
ignorant,

41:52.489 --> 41:54.259
brothers,"
which the men in my church like

41:54.264 --> 41:56.184
to say,
"We wouldn't have you,

41:56.179 --> 41:58.819
ignorant brothers,
about those who have

41:58.824 --> 41:59.734
died."

41:59.730 --> 42:01.590
Now notice, now he's telling
them something new,

42:01.592 --> 42:03.102
this is not stuff they already
know.

42:03.099 --> 42:05.799
This is new material,
so this is not stuff he's

42:05.795 --> 42:07.315
preached to them before.

42:07.320 --> 42:10.960
So that you may not grieve as
others who do not have hope

42:10.960 --> 42:13.170
[He's telling them don't grieve.

42:13.170 --> 42:14.880
People in the church seem to
have died,

42:14.880 --> 42:16.930
he says, don't grieve,
don't grieve.]

42:16.929 --> 42:20.059
For since we believe that Jesus
died and rose again,

42:20.059 --> 42:24.119
even so through Jesus God will
bring with him those who have

42:24.117 --> 42:24.597
died.

42:24.599 --> 42:27.959
For this we declare to you by
the word of the Lord that we who

42:27.963 --> 42:30.243
are alive,
who are left until the coming

42:30.244 --> 42:32.934
of the Lord,
[Paul believes that he probably

42:32.929 --> 42:35.479
will still be alive when Jesus
comes back]

42:35.481 --> 42:38.471
will by no means precede those
who have died.

42:38.469 --> 42:41.299
For the Lord himself,
with the cry of command,

42:41.300 --> 42:43.630
with the archangels' call,
with the sound of God's

42:43.626 --> 42:45.656
trumpet,
will descend from heaven,

42:45.661 --> 42:47.841
the dead in Christ will rise
first.

42:47.840 --> 42:50.350
[This is not something he's
told them before,

42:50.351 --> 42:51.891
see.]
Then we who are alive,

42:51.891 --> 42:54.121
who are left,
will be caught up in the clouds

42:54.119 --> 42:55.979
together with them to meet the
Lord in the air.

42:55.980 --> 42:58.350
And so we will be with the Lord
forever.

42:58.349 --> 43:00.899
Therefore encourage one another
with these words.

43:00.900 --> 43:03.770
This is pretty astounding to me.

43:03.768 --> 43:08.798
These people did not know what
happened to dead people in

43:08.800 --> 43:09.610
Christ.

43:09.610 --> 43:13.340
Paul hadn't told them that when
he preached to them.

43:13.340 --> 43:16.050
In modern Christianity,
in fact a lot of modern

43:16.054 --> 43:19.344
religion in the west,
we tend to think one of the

43:19.335 --> 43:22.715
main things people become
religious for is to live

43:22.719 --> 43:25.259
forever,
life after death,

43:25.260 --> 43:26.970
to go to heaven.

43:26.969 --> 43:31.069
What modern Christians think
salvation is is salvation from

43:31.068 --> 43:33.258
death or salvation from hell.

43:33.260 --> 43:37.840
These people converted to this
new group without having been

43:37.842 --> 43:39.322
told any of that.

43:39.320 --> 43:42.960
What seems to have happened is
that Paul converted them because

43:42.963 --> 43:45.083
he said,
Jesus will save you from this

43:45.077 --> 43:48.257
big apocalyptic coming wrath of
God that's coming upon the whole

43:48.264 --> 43:48.724
world.

43:48.719 --> 43:51.269
So convert, come to Jesus,
and he'll save you from that,

43:51.273 --> 43:52.903
he'll rescue you from that
wrath.

43:52.900 --> 43:55.840
What they seemed to have was
that, while they were still

43:55.835 --> 43:57.695
living,
any week now Jesus would come

43:57.699 --> 43:59.499
down,
he would destroy the evil

43:59.498 --> 44:02.928
people, and he would set up the
kingdom of God on earth,

44:02.929 --> 44:05.749
and we'd have a new kingdom,
a new eon that would last

44:05.748 --> 44:06.278
forever.

44:06.280 --> 44:08.520
God would be over everything,
Jesus would be the king of

44:08.521 --> 44:09.901
earth,
but it's not like it's going to

44:09.900 --> 44:11.140
happen in a thousand years from
now,

44:11.139 --> 44:13.049
they were all expecting it to
happen right now.

44:13.050 --> 44:16.810
What they converted to was to
escape the wrath and to live on

44:16.806 --> 44:18.056
into that kingdom.

44:18.059 --> 44:22.409
They weren't expecting anybody
to die, and somebody in their

44:22.411 --> 44:24.401
community dies,
and they go,

44:24.402 --> 44:25.142
what?!

44:25.139 --> 44:28.999
Mary just died,
she's going to miss out on a

44:29.001 --> 44:31.691
party,
she's not going to get--partake

44:31.692 --> 44:34.152
in the parousia,
which is this Greek word that

44:34.148 --> 44:35.568
means "the coming,
the appearing,

44:35.568 --> 44:36.828
the presence"
of Jesus.

44:36.829 --> 44:38.629
It's the word here for
"the coming of Jesus."

44:38.630 --> 44:40.790
The parousia of Jesus,
she's not going to be able to

44:40.786 --> 44:41.936
participate because she died.

44:41.940 --> 44:45.680
Paul says, wait,
I forgot to tell you something,

44:45.684 --> 44:48.074
there will be people that die.

44:48.074 --> 44:49.354
Don't grieve.

44:49.349 --> 44:51.589
Now that's a pretty radical
thing, in the ancient world you

44:51.585 --> 44:53.815
just don't go around telling
people, don't grieve over your

44:53.822 --> 44:54.172
dead.

44:54.170 --> 44:56.530
Grieving is a big deal for
everybody.

44:56.530 --> 44:57.990
You're supposed to grieve,
right?

44:57.989 --> 45:01.129
Paul is so radical he tells
them not to grieve.

45:01.130 --> 45:06.360
He says, don't grieve because,
Mary's died,

45:06.360 --> 45:10.120
but when Jesus comes back
before we all get swooped up

45:10.119 --> 45:13.789
into the air to be with him,
the graves will all open,

45:13.786 --> 45:15.776
the dead in Christ will rise
up,

45:15.780 --> 45:19.560
they'll all fly up in the air,
they'll meet Jesus in the air,

45:19.559 --> 45:22.469
and then we'll fly up in the
air, we'll meet Jesus in the

45:22.474 --> 45:23.804
air,
and then we'll all come back

45:23.804 --> 45:25.154
down here and have the Kingdom
of God.

45:25.150 --> 45:29.730
Don't worry the dead people
won't miss out on anything.

45:29.730 --> 45:37.150
Now isn't that curious that
Paul has to fill in this big gap

45:37.148 --> 45:39.788
in their knowledge.

45:39.789 --> 45:43.259
The very thing that most of us
modern people think you become a

45:43.257 --> 45:47.507
Christian for--
which is immortal life or the

45:47.507 --> 45:52.017
immorality of the soul,
or life after death--the

45:52.021 --> 45:54.951
Thessalonians didn't know
anything about.

45:54.949 --> 45:57.429
They did sort of know this
thing about eternal life I

45:57.429 --> 45:59.149
think,
but I think what they thought

45:59.150 --> 46:01.780
was, that if you were still
living when Jesus came back then

46:01.777 --> 46:03.067
you'd get to live forever.

46:03.070 --> 46:06.380
They were upset because people
in their community had died and

46:06.384 --> 46:09.214
they didn't know what was going
to happen to them.

46:09.210 --> 46:11.690
So Paul tells them this bit of
information.

46:11.690 --> 46:14.630
In other words,
what Paul had first told them

46:14.630 --> 46:17.970
was what would happen to them
when Jesus came back,

46:17.972 --> 46:20.982
they would be safe from the
wrath of God.

46:20.980 --> 46:24.010
Now Paul has to write to them
to say,

46:24.010 --> 46:26.280
now don't worry,
if people in your community die

46:26.275 --> 46:28.295
because it's all still going to
happen,

46:28.300 --> 46:30.860
but they won't get left out
either.

46:30.860 --> 46:37.070
It gives us a very interesting
sense of what kind of group this

46:37.068 --> 46:40.368
was,
that they didn't know something

46:40.369 --> 46:43.839
about Christianity,
the resurrection of Christians

46:43.835 --> 46:47.015
at the end of time,
that's so much part of the

46:47.018 --> 46:50.718
Creeds, part of modern faith,
part of faith of the last 2,000

46:50.717 --> 46:52.467
years,
and these early converts to

46:52.469 --> 46:54.299
this group didn't seem to know
it.

46:54.300 --> 46:56.580
So what kind of group is this?

46:56.579 --> 47:00.429
Now I want to go back to the
fact that I said over and over

47:00.427 --> 47:04.007
again Paul never addresses any
women in this letter.

47:04.010 --> 47:07.570
Now it's not because he doesn't
address women in other letters,

47:07.568 --> 47:10.838
and other letters Paul does
talk to women even by name.

47:10.840 --> 47:12.340
He talks about women's problems.

47:12.340 --> 47:15.620
If you look in 1 Corinthians,
and we will when we get there,

47:15.619 --> 47:19.419
Paul brings up this issue of
sexual immorality again,

47:19.420 --> 47:22.560
and there he talks to the
husbands and says,

47:22.559 --> 47:25.939
you husbands don't go fooling
around with somebody else's

47:25.936 --> 47:29.406
wife,
but he also talks to the wives.

47:29.409 --> 47:31.159
In other words,
Paul, in other places when he

47:31.164 --> 47:32.924
talks to husbands,
he talks to wives also.

47:32.920 --> 47:36.290
When he talks to men he talks
to women,

47:36.289 --> 47:40.149
he addresses women's problems
in different letters,

47:40.150 --> 47:44.830
but in 1 Thessalonians he never
talks to a woman at all,

47:44.829 --> 47:48.449
and he only talks about women
when he's talking about men

47:48.454 --> 47:51.824
trying to get them to control
themselves sexually.

47:51.820 --> 47:56.820
What he says to them is,
control your own thing guys,

47:56.820 --> 47:59.170
the Greek word translated
"body"

47:59.166 --> 48:02.026
or "vessel"
also means "thing,"

48:02.028 --> 48:04.758
skuos,
that's what Paul uses there,

48:04.757 --> 48:05.967
control your thing.

48:05.969 --> 48:09.229
Now does "thing"
refer to his body,

48:09.226 --> 48:11.886
his wife's body,
or his genitalia?

48:11.889 --> 48:14.739
It's anybody's guess,
and different interpreters

48:14.737 --> 48:17.947
disagree about how they would
want to translate it.

48:17.949 --> 48:21.789
What it certainly shows is that
Paul's addressing a group of

48:21.793 --> 48:24.333
men,
and one scholar from Copenhagen

48:24.327 --> 48:27.007
has written an article where she
says,

48:27.010 --> 48:28.460
we ought to take this seriously.

48:28.460 --> 48:30.980
At least at this stage in
Paul's career,

48:30.976 --> 48:34.776
maybe he really did see these
groups as being primarily male

48:34.784 --> 48:35.434
clubs.

48:35.429 --> 48:39.219
Sure, they may have had women
and daughters and wives as part

48:39.224 --> 48:42.334
of them in a way,
but maybe in Paul's conception

48:42.326 --> 48:45.076
these things were sort of like
fraternities.

48:45.079 --> 48:49.119
The fraternity of Jesus,
and that's why he addresses

48:49.121 --> 48:52.531
only men and he doesn't talk
about women.

48:52.530 --> 48:55.280
And that's why when he's
talking about--

48:55.280 --> 48:59.030
and these are a fraternity that
seem not to have expected the

48:59.034 --> 49:02.104
resurrection and all this other
kind of stuff,

49:02.099 --> 49:05.739
so Paul writes 1 Thessalonians
to clue them in on it.

49:05.739 --> 49:11.349
What this would be would be a
male club of Greek speaking,

49:11.351 --> 49:14.011
Gentile, manual laborers.

49:14.010 --> 49:19.880
They've now been initiated into
a new group that demands

49:19.878 --> 49:26.168
adherence and loyalty to the God
of the Jews and an expected

49:26.172 --> 49:28.202
Jewish Messiah.

49:28.199 --> 49:34.949
In other words,
this is an apocalyptic Jewish

49:34.945 --> 49:37.855
sect of Gentiles.

49:37.860 --> 49:42.780
Now we'll see after spring
break how some of Paul's other

49:42.775 --> 49:47.845
letters show that his churches,
if they started off like that,

49:47.846 --> 49:50.486
they became a lot more complex
later.

49:50.489 --> 49:53.449
See you after spring break.

49:53.449 --> 49:55.319
Have--you'll be talking about
Philemon,

49:55.320 --> 49:57.410
a lot of the stuff we talked
about today,

49:57.409 --> 50:00.559
house churches,
that sort of stuff may be

50:00.557 --> 50:04.097
important for your discussion
groups this--

50:04.099 --> 50:06.019
not this week right you're
doing that next time.

50:06.018 --> 50:07.738
Student:  We have class
next week.

50:07.739 --> 50:09.599
Prof: Oh we have
class--that's right,

50:09.601 --> 50:10.771
this is not spring break.

50:10.768 --> 50:12.868
Good, we can cover all this
next time.

50:12.869 --> 50:18.999