| Index |
Commentary |
Discussion |
References |
| Commentary - Wayne |
As I reflect on the way Barrie Wilson presents his arguments, I am reminded of a philosophical construct that helps me to understand and respond to his method.
 It is known as the Hegelian Dialectic.
This way of presenting and developing arguments has three points: Thesis, Antithesis and Synthesis.
An original proposition is countered by a counter-argument. Out of the exchange that follows, a new proposition can emerge. As we read Wilson, I see him presenting a counter-argument to many commonly accepted positions we may have about Jesus and Paul - and of how Paul interpreted Jesus' message.
This can be a good thing so long as those of us in the discussion with Wilson - as well as the author himself - do not became stuck in any three points of the dialectic.
Rigid adherence to traditional or counter-arguments; and even the synthesis can inhibit learning from the dialectical process.
Hopefully, that awareness may guide our learning in this session and through
this course. (image from www.theologician.net)
The Trouble With Paul (p. 109 ff)
I see three authentic positions in the dynamic between Paul, the Jewish Jesus-followers, and Paul's non-Jewish Christian believers.
Paul considered himself a Jew, but many Jewish Jesus-followers seriously
questioned that Pauline assumption. There were big differences between
Paul and members of the Jewish Jesus movement. For Paul's non-Jewish Christian
believers, it made little difference if he were a Jew at all.
1. PAUL
Paul had come out of a Hebrew background and grew up in Tarsus, a city
of Asia Minor. He had Roman citizenship and Jewish faith through his parental
ancestry. He lived in an environment quite different from Jews living in
Palestine. He practiced his faith in a highly cosmopolitan environment
and learned how to live as a Jew in a minority situation.
Paul evolved from having a "belief-centered Jewish faith" to an "experience-focused Jesus faith"
I can appreciate this about Paul because I have spent much of my life trying to live my faith in a minority environment where most people did not practice my form of religious adherence. While I sought to follow the particular teachings of my faith, I learned to live with others in ways that aligned me with the best values I saw in other people's faith traditions.
I would argue that those who live in an environment where their faith tradition is dominantly exclusive in relationship to other's faith traditions - exist at a distinct disadvantage!
Paul tried to distinguish between what he considered "essential" and what was "non-essential" Judaism. He did not practice his faith wrapped in a religiously supportive "cultural package" as did fellow-Jews living in Palestine. He would separate the "essence" of his faith from the "context" within which that faith can function. In a way, he was an early example of what we would call today a secular Christian.
Unlike many Jewish Christians, he did not believe that non-Jews needed to buy the "Jewish package" in order to become a "Jesus-follower."
Because of his background and experience, Paul would naturally differ from
members of the Jesus Movement. After his conversion to the "Way of
Jesus" he became very interested in bringing Jesus to non-Jews with
whom he shared a spiritual affinity.
2. JEWISH JESUS FOLLOWERS
Many early followers of Jesus would not have thought that the message of Jesus was for people other than Jews. Jesus lived his entire life and ministry within a Jewish environment and followed a rabbinical pattern that saw him as most concerned for "the lost sheep of the House of Israel." It was their desire to embrace as many fellow-Jews as possible, but to remain, essentially, within a Jewish religious context. Certainly, they had no initial desire to form a new religion. Their understanding of Jesus would have prevented them from doing so.
Paul seemed less worried about that. He took his message to everyone - Jews and Gentiles - but had little hesitance to focus on the latter if the former rejected him.
It was quite natural, therefore, for Jewish Christians to reject the Pauline approach as most Jewish religionists of all kinds would reject him.
3. PAUL'S NON-JEWISH CHRISTIANS
These were the most open to his interpretation of the "Jesus message"
- without its Jewish package. Paul identified very well with them. They
were more at home in the cosmopolitan world they shared with Paul. They
did not see adapting to Jewish culture and religion as a pre-requisite
to become followers of Paul's Jesus.
I do not agree with Wilson when he says that Paul's Jesus was actually "Jesus lite." Paul separated the message from the culture and sought to make of it a universal Gospel, applicable to everyone. He was primarily concerned about sharing Jesus - as he knew him - with Gentiles, because he had accepted Jesus essentially as a Gentile could.
Depending then on where you stood - in Paul's place, in the place of Jewish Jesus-followers or of non-Jewish Christians - your approach to the Jesus Way would differ.
Paul shifted the emphasis from a focus on religious belief in Jesus to
faith in a mystical experience of Jesus. The latter was similar to what
he had had.
Depending on your stance, Paul could be viewed as either a religious reformer
or an anarchist. Members of the Jesus Movement (the James party) were either
Jewish traditionalists or new Jewish believers. Members of the Christ Movement
were either pseudo-Jews or new Christian religionists.
The Book of Acts: The Big Switch - Christ for Jesus (p. 131)
In this chapter, Wilson declares that we have inherited "Paulinity"
not an authentic Jesus-based Christianity. As such, have lost much of what
Jesus originally taught and practiced. We have exchanged something authentic
of Jesus to Paul's interpretation of Jesus (p. 149).
Wilson holds a particular animus for the Book of the Acts of the Apostles (written by the same author as the Gospel of Luke) because this book attempts to whitewash major differences existing at the time and blends the "Jesus" and "Christ" factions of early Christianity by creating a document of historical revisionism of what actually took place in the primitive church.
In taking this approach, Wilson draws a line between our "conventional" understanding and an authentically "critical" understanding of early Christianity (p. 137).
The upshot of all this was that Acts reigns in Paul's independence. The writer of Acts invented what is described in chapter 15 as the "Jerusalem Conference" where members of the James and Pauline factions work out a mutual understanding and an amicable resolution. All this is done to legitimate Paul's Christ Movement. (p. 144) Paul's Jewishness is exagerated and the Jerusalem church compromises itself beyond realism. Wilson describes this as the "Jesus coverup thesis." (pp. 147-49)
After 70CE the Romans destroy the temple and the nation of Israel. With
it, priestly Judaism and the Jesus Movement are forever destroyed. What
survived this disaster?
Rabbinic Judaism and the Christ Movement.
|
| Summary of Discussion Notes |
Question for Small Group Discussion
Paul - was he ally or adversary - friend of foe - of Jesus?
Feedback from Small Groups:
Would Christianity have survived without Paul? We would not be here had it not been for Paul.
Paul turned Jesus into God (not part of his origins) and in a true sense, the resulting Christianity which we follow has made us "the losers" because we have become disconnected from the human Jesus and our Jewish roots.
Paul is a very controversial figure; but in spite of his many flaws, he did much good and offered great gifts to the Christ Movement he founded |
| References Related to Chapters |
compassion
atespirit
.com |
In this article The Jesus Seminar Meets the Ebionites - Were the Ebionites a Legalistic
Group?, Keith Akers picks up a 2005 discussion on the Ebionites that both complements
and challenges Wilson.
"Once Acts is kept out of the picture, though, the evidence indicates
that the Jewish Christianity was not "legalistic" at all, and
in fact rejected both the Old Testament texts and the Jewish traditions
in favor of the true prophet who revealed the true law — the law given
by God at the creation (Homilies 8.10) — a law which declared an end to animal sacrifice and violence."
|
new
advent
,org |
Here's a Catholic perspective on the Ebionites - a short article with much
historical summary and cross reference.
"The word Ebionites, or rather, more correctly, Ebionæans
(Ebionaioi), is a transliteration of an Aramean word meaning "poor
men"....
|
jewish
encyclopedia
.com |
Here's a Jewish perspective on the Ebionites - also a short article.
"Sect of Judæo-Christians of the second to the fourth century. They
believed in the Messianic character of Jesus, but denied his divinity and
supernatural origin; observed all the Jewish rites, such as circumcision
and the seventh-day Sabbath; and used a gospel according to Matthew written
in Hebrew or Aramaic, while rejecting the writings of Paul as those of
an apostate"
|
ebionite
.org |
In 1985 a new Jewish group began identifying themselves as Ebionites. Interesting. Wilson reminds us of the incipient anti-semetic sentiments in Christianity. These folks are also sensitive to it.
"Too much has been made of purported similarities and
common origins between Christianity and biblical faith as Jews and Christians
entertain high-minded dialogue. The Christian mobs of the past that burned our
synagogues to the ground with our people inside have their counterparts today in
the churches, and few of them will heed any rabbi or professor's observations. A
few decades later, we are expected to forgive and forget whatever insanity
Christians perpetrate against us and act surprised when they decide to do it all
again as soon as we convince ourselves they are decent folk. ... As Jews we cannot allow ourselves to be deceived by Christians who lie
ready to be our inquisitors and executioners. "
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