Paul of Tarsus was an interesting fellow. He is responsible for writing over half of the New Testament (14 of 27 books) Paul was one of the most influential figures in the New Testament after Christ Himself.
Who was Paul? Paul never met Christ prior to the Resurrection. He was not one of the Twelve Disciples, yet his thinking literally defined much of Christianity.
Paul's writing was what was called 'occasional,' meaning his letters were primarily written in response to something.
Paul traveled far and wide on missionary journies starting new Churches. After he would set up a Church and move on to the next town, the people he left behind always seem to get caught up in squabbles.
Most of Paul's letters in the New Testament are responses back to the Churches who were having these pesky troubles. Paul revealed Theology through his replies to settle a matter on behalf of the Church.
Paul did not sit down and map out a full exposition of Theology like "I will explain all there is to know about Christianity in 14 books." Nothing of the sort happened.
Paul's Theology is selectively revealed in as far as it supported an explanation to a problem someone was having.
The down side, we don't know what all of Paul's thoughts and ideas were.
The plus side is that we are blessed with a lot of great scripture as a result of Paul's inspired efforts.
Peace be with you.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment