Readers interested in the early development of the Christian
religion will enjoy Paul and Jesus: How the Apostle Transformed Christianity,
by biblical scholar James D. Tabor. The book focuses on the first 30 to 40
years of the Christian movement, a period that is poorly documented and poorly
understood.
Much of
Tabor’s assessment falls well within the mainstream of scholarly opinion. Jesus
of Nazareth was a real, historical person, although the romanticization of his
life story makes it difficult for us to know anything about him. He was an
observant Jew of the first century CE, who taught a particular interpretation
of Judaism that was somewhat unique, but nevertheless within the known range of
varied Jewish opinions of the time. He taught that an end of ordinary history
was near at hand. He claimed, or others claimed about him, that he was the
earthly Messiah, a political and military leader who would unify the Jewish
people and guide them to independence and godliness. After Jesus was executed,
his closest followers, including Peter and James, continued his teachings,
which became one of the varieties of Judaism that existed side-by-side with
others among the Jewish synagogues and communities already scattered throughout
the Roman Empire .
The apostle
Paul, too, was a real, historical figure. We know only a little more about him
than about Jesus, but it is clear that his letters, forming a significant
portion of the New Testament, have been hugely influential on the development
of Christian doctrine. Tabor, like many scholars, takes Paul at his word when he
tells us he never met the earthly Jesus. Paul also claims not to have learned
Christianity from Jesus’ human disciples, but from the risen, spiritual Jesus,
by means of divine visions. We know from his letters that Paul took Christian
teachings to "gentiles," meaning to non-Jewish Greeks and Romans, while Peter
and James focused more on people who already identified as Jewish. We also know
that Paul sometimes had disagreements with Peter and James. Paul asserted that
Greeks and Romans could become Christians without adhering to Jewish law, while
the followers of Peter and James were more likely to keep kosher and abide by
most or all of the other details of the Law of Moses. The exact degree of
difference between these early schools of Christian thought is uncertain,
though, because the more Jewish form of Christianity faded out over time and
left little documentary evidence. The many varieties of Christianity extant
today are all descendants of Paul’s more gentile Christianity.
Parts of
Tabor’s analysis emphasize a much greater difference between gentile
Christianity and Jewish Christianity than many biblical scholars would be
willing to support. Here one must acknowledge that the documentary evidence is
quite thin, and that some of Tabor’s positions, though feasible, may be based
more on reading between the lines of scripture than on what the documents
plainly say. In Tabor’s view, Paul actually saw his own understanding of
Christianity as superior to that of Peter and James because Paul had direct communication
with the heavenly Jesus. The writers of the four gospels of the New Testament
were influenced by Paul and Paul’s followers, and thus understated the
starkness of the difference between Paul’s gentile Christianity and the more
Jewish form of Christianity taught by Peter and James, and presumably by the
earthly Jesus. Paul saw in the death and resurrection of Jesus a pattern that
he felt was about to be applied to all humans who were worthy. The righteous
were soon to be converted from flesh and blood into beings of spirit, beings
who had bodies, but bodies that were
glorified and incorruptible. These would be part of the new Kingdom of
God. Paul expected the heavenly Jesus to return to earth at any moment to usher
in this next phase of history.
Barring the unexpected discovery of some unknown and
indisputable manuscripts from the first century, it is unlikely that Tabor’s
more unusual claims will ever be broadly accepted or firmly disproved. Rather,
they will remain one of the many and often conflicting interpretations that
well informed scholars can develop from the limited evidence that is available.
Paul and Jesus: How the Apostle Transformed Christianity, by
James D. Tabor. Simon & Schuster (2013). ISBN: 978-1439123324.
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