Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free by
F.F. Bruce
A Book Review
By Massimo
Lorenzini
Bruce,
Frederick Fyvie. Paul:
Apostle of the Heart Set Free. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans
Publishing Co., 1996. 510 pp.
BIOGRAPHICAL
SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR
F.F.
Bruce was Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism and
Exegesis at the University of Manchester England. He wrote more than forty
commentaries and other books. He served as general editor of The New International Commentary on the New
Testament from 1962 to 1990. He lived from 1910-1990.
STATEMENT OF
THE AUTHOR’S PURPOSE
In
the introduction of the book, the author states his purpose in writing this
book as, “to share with others something of the rich reward which I myself have
reaped from the study of Paul” (p.15).
SUMMARY OF THE
BOOK’S CONTENTS
In
the first chapter of the book, the author gives us an overview of the Roman Empire. Here he uses a section
from 1 Maccabees 8:1-16, in which Judas Maccabaeus seeks support from Rome in his struggle against the
Seleucids, to give us an accurate picture of Rome through eastern eyes. In the second section of this chapter we see
a picture of the Roman Empire growing from “a group of pastoral and agricultural
hill-settlements in the Latin plain,” (p. 24) to a “world super-power,” (p.
22).
Chapter
two discusses how Judaea came under foreign control
and how that affected their religious practices. Under the Persian Empire (559-529 B.C.) the Jews had
freedom to practice their religion and even received financial support to this
end. Attempts to abolish or modify this policy were made as the Jewish nation
went from the Persian hand into the Greeks and Macedonians, than to the Ptolemies’ dynasty, and on to that of the Seleucids. When Rome came into power over Judaea, the sanctity of the
religion was preserved. In A.D. 6 Judaea became a Roman province and
was subject to pay tribute to the emperor. This was, however, considered high
treason to the Jews, and thus, an up- rising against Rome developed. The Jewish commonwealth
lost the revolt, and the temple was burned, and the city left in ruins. The
religious law flourished after permission was attained for the institution of a
new Sanhedrin or scholars. By this time there were many more Jews living
outside of Judaea. These Jews that were part
of the dispersion did not suffer any disabilities as a result of the revolts in
Judaea. It is
estimated that 40,000 and 60,000 Jews lived in Rome by the beginning of the
first century.
In
chapter three, the author goes from a bigger picture of Rome to a smaller picture of Cilicia and then even smaller to Tarsus. Paul describes himself as
a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia. Bruce tracks the movement
of this territory through the hands of the Hittite Empire to the control of the
Assyrians, on to the dynasty of the Synnesis. They
then became a part of the empire of Alexander and after his death were
controlled by the Seleucids. By 67 B.C. the territory became a province
under Roman control. As for the city of Tarsus, it was a principal city on
the east coast of Cilicia. The people of Tarsus were fervent in the study
of philosophy and liberal arts. The prosperity of Tarsus was based on linen woven
from flax which grew in the area. A local material was made there from goat’s
hair which made coverings that gave protection from cold and rain. Luke
described Paul as a tent-maker in which this material was used.
Paul
also called himself a Roman citizen from birth. This would mean that his father
was a Roman citizen also. We do not know how he obtained this citizenship. It
is suggested that Paul’s family obtained their citizenship because tent-makers
were valuable to the Roman government in their pursuit for power. As a Roman
citizen, Paul was entitled to all the rights and liable to all the duties that
this citizenship imposed. The question arises on how the officials would have
known if the claim was true or not. Paul would have probably produced a
diptych, a pair of folding tablets, containing a certified copy of his birth
registration.
More
important in Paul’s eyes was his Jewish heritage, and this is the discussion of
chapter five. First, he belonged to the tribe of Benjamin. Paul’s family can be
traced to the group of people who continued their heritage even after they
re-settled in the Judaean territory. As a “Hebrew of
the Hebrews,” Paul draws a contradistinction between the Hebrews and the
Hellenists. Although both were Jews, the Hebrews attended synagogues and
conducted the service in a more formal speech of Aramaic, while the Hellenists
spoke Greek in and out of the synagogues. Paul’s third description of himself
is that he is “as to the law a Pharisee.” Paul was educated at the feet of Gamaliel who was the leading Pharisee of that day. The
author goes on to discuss what a Pharisee was. There is
seven distinguishing types of Pharisees. They had a meticulous concern for the
written and oral law. The author goes on to answer the question of, “what kind
of Pharisee was Paul?” Although Paul was educated at the school a Gamaliel, he did not share all of his teacher’s ideas. One
view that they did share was the Shammaite view,
which states that the law should be kept totally.
In
the sixth chapter of the book, Bruce discusses the expected deliverance in the
eyes of the Jewish people as the Romans came to power, and the expected
deliver. Many people supported John Hyrcanus (134-104
B.C.) as the prophet, priest and king, but as this dynasty saw its downfall the
Jews had to re-think there interpretation of the deliverer. The Jews felt that
the fall of the Hasmonaean dynasty, by the Romans,
was the divine judgment against them by God, and thus at some point the Romans
would face this judgment too. At the end of Herod’s reign Jesus was born and
his followers claimed him as the expected redeemer of Israel; although, he did not make
this claim for himself. Throughout this section the author discusses, “In what
sense was Jesus recognized as the redeemer of Israel?”
In
chapter seven, we see that Jesus had died, risen, and is at the right hand of
God. The immediate effect of this understanding was that many had the urge to
bear witness to this fact and to yield their allegiance to Jesus. This movement
grew and became know as “the way.” Although some Pharisees joined the
disciples, many saw the Jesus movement reaching alarming heights and thought
that there should be drastic measures to stop it. The disciples of Jesus found themselves
evaluating all that took place in the divine purpose of God; And in doing so
they came up with a number of christologies such as
the Davidic christology, servant christology,
prophet christology, and a “stone” christology. These christologies
did not stand side by side, but intertwined with each other to acknowledge that
Jesus was Lord. This movement was strong among the Hellenists. The author
mentions a Hellenist by the name of Stephen who attracted attention by his
critical attitude of the temple. He was then charged with blasphemy against the
temple and put to death. Those Christians that where not considered Helleists still found freedom, but those who did,
especially those who associated with Stephen, were forced to leave Jerusalem.
The two benefits of this dispersion was that gospel was carried to those
outside Palestine, and the church of Jerusalem became more uniformly
Hebrew.
In
chapter eight, the author discusses Paul as a persecutor of the church. Paul
was a “zealot for the law”. He viewed this new teaching as a threat to all that
he believed in. Bruce states of Paul’s
thoughts to this new teaching as, “if Stephen argued, ‘the new has come;
therefore, the old must go,’ Paul argued ‘The old must stay; the new must go.’”
And thus, Paul became a leader in persecuting those that followed this new
belief that Jesus was the Messiah. As far as Paul was concerned, this argument
was conclusive when Jesus was crucified. A crucified messiah was a
contradiction of terms. Paul’s opinion of this new teaching was drastically
changed as he traveled to Damascus. Even to the last moment of
Paul’s “pre-Christian career,” he showed fervor to destroy this new movement.
Paul was on his way to Damascus to exercise his right to
bring any man or woman who was found to belong to “the way” back to Jerusalem- Until the unexpected
happened.
Chapter
nine tells the, now distinguished, story of Paul’s conversion on the way to Damascus. Here Paul saw Jesus and
heard him ask that question. “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Paul
instantaneously acknowledged who Jesus is and was chosen into the service of
the kingdom of God. The author then goes into
some detail of the Damascus territory and how it fell
into Roman rule. Damascus is seen by many traditions
as the place where God will destroy the Antichrist. Two manuscripts that date
back to early mediaeval times came from the same covenant community in which
the Qumran text was discovered. These
two works are, The Covenant of Damascus,
and The Zadokite Work. This group of covenanters is believed to
have come to Damascus in anticipation of the
appearance of the Messiah. This group is said to be brothers and family of
Jesus. Paul’s thinking was indeed indebted to these Christians, as they were
his first fellowship encounter. Paul, however, states in Galatians that he did
not receive it (theology) from man nor was he taught it, but it came through
revelation of Jesus Christ. In this chapter, the author answers the question of
“Why Paul went to Arabia?” A common answer is that he went to reflect on his new situation. The
author’s conclusion is that he left Damascus to avoid the ethnarch of King Aretas, who
guarded the city to capture Paul because he was now viewed as a trator of the law.
We
now come to Paul’s first visit, after his conversion, to Jerusalem, in which chapter ten gives
its attention. According to Luke, Barnabas brought Paul and the apostles
together. Bruce gives us the insight that there must have been a question as to
who Paul came into contact with, as his statements in Galatians attest to this:
“I went to Jerusalem to get to know Cephas and remained with him fifteen days; but saw none of
the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother. In what I am writing to
you, before God, I do not lie!“ Paul went to the two
apostles to gather information of Jesus’ ministry. The author then goes into a lengthy
discussion of the “tradition” teaching of Paul and the “revelation” teaching of
Paul. It can be concluded that the revelation of Christ was what caused his
conversion, (the meeting on the road to Damascus) and the tradition of
Christ is that which he shared with other Christians (the ministry of Jesus).
In conclusion of this chapter, we see Paul leaving Jerusalem for Syria and Cilicia as the Hellenists threaten
his life because of his traitorist status.
Because
Paul was not a believer during Jesus’ ministry and crucifixion, he has an
inevitable different perspective than the original disciples. Paul speaks of Jesus’ ministry in
very general terms; Jesus was born, lived, and died. Paul, however, shows
himself to be well acquainted with the actual sayings of Jesus. He also understood
the character of Jesus just as well as explained in the Gospels. Paul also adds
to this a new perspective. Paul speaks of the divine power which raised Jesus
from the dead, and is now at work in his followers. Paul incorporated the historical Jesus with
the personal Jesus each believer encounters as they trust in Him. Bruce, then takes us back to the discussion of “tradition”
and “revelation” in Paul’s ministry. Bruce then moves on to Paul’s dependence
on the teachings of Jesus as well as incidental passages in which Paul’s
writings are linked to the sayings of Jesus.
The
subject matter of chapter twelve relates to the present period of hope. Bruce
states that that this hope is the interval between the past event of Christ’s
death and resurrection and the future event in parousia. Here, Paul discusses his thoughts on the
gospel. Paul describes his meeting with Christ as a radiant light. Paul had no
doubt that this heavenly existence of Christ was different from that of the
earthly Christ Jesus. The author then goes into a discussion of Paul’s thoughts
on Jesus as the exalted Lord. He focuses on Paul’s statement of Jesus being at
the right hand of God. In dealing with the future event of the exalted Christ,
Bruce discusses the thoughts of Paul on the subject of the Lord and the Spirit.
Paul describes the Spirit as an indwelling power that transforms the people of
Christ into the image of God, until there is nothing left of the image of the
man. The author states that for Paul this Spirit is a sign of the new age,
coming into purview in relation to Christ being the Son of God, and in power
accordance to the Spirit by his resurrection from the dead. Paul felt that the
Power of the Spirit that indwelled Christ’s believers is identical to the one
that was with Him, who lived among them and was crucified.
The
author, in chapter thirteen, discusses Paul’s desire to reach out to the
Gentiles. Paul returns to the Greek
world to live, for the most part, as a Gentile in order to reach them with the
Gospel. Although we do not know a whole lot about Paul’s activity during these
ten years, we
can be sure that he was evangelizing this group of people. Here the author
gives us insight to the missionary endeavors of the Jews to proselytize the
Gentiles. Many Gentiles were converted to God-fearers, which meant that these
Gentiles considered themselves Jews but did not become full proselytes. As we
read on, we move into the Christian movement among these Gentiles in Antioch. There were many cults and
mystery religions in this area, but when the Gentiles heard the news of the
Gospel they sensed the difference from the others. The author notes something
of interest here: The term “Christian” was first given to believers here at Antioch. As the Church in Antioch grew, it was becoming
apparent that there were more Gentile converts than Jewish converts. At this
Barnabas began to think of Paul to come and give guidance to these Christians.
So, after Paul finishes his visit in Tarsus, he headed for Antioch.
Chapter
fourteen takes us to a discussion of Paul’s vision which he had on the way to Antioch. Paul gives an account of
this vision in 2 Corinthians 12:2-10, where he states that he found himself
rapt to the extraterrestrial realm, “paradise” or “the third heaven,” and there
he heard things impermissible to put into words. The author then discusses how
this vision affected Paul. For one, he states that it became a blessing rather
than a curse. Some might say that this vision describes Paul as a “mystic,” however, he describes this vision as a development of his
thoughts on being “in Christ.” Paul comes to the conclusion that he would
gladly share in the suffering of Christ. He states that he would to this so
that he would personally absorb the suffering so that there would be less for
his fellow-Christians to endure. The author goes on to talk about the life in
the Spirit, and what it meant for Paul. For him, the Spirit had come to each
individual believer, as well as the church.
The author states that the “mysteries” that were given to Paul were
through the Spirit, and given to him for the growth of his development in
Christ, as well as for the growth of the whole Christian church. These visions
in Paul’s career can be seen in Luke’s account in Acts. These visions that Paul
had, can lay the basis to his claim of apostleship. To Paul there was no
difference of time from when he saw the risen Christ, then when the original
apostles saw Him. In conclusion, this chapter discusses the idea of Paul being
a mystic. The author states through the things stated above that Paul’s
theology is not based on Mysticism but it is based on Jesus, and the fuse
between the prophetic scriptures, and the traditional Christian thought.
The
church in Antioch grew in number and became the mother-church to the
Gentiles. In the beginning of chapter
fifteen, Bruce goes into some detail about the leaders of this church.
Specifically, Symeon, Lucius
of Cyrene and Manaen.
Because there was a famine in Jerusalem, the Antioch church sent some relief
money to them, which they had been collecting since they heard a prophecy on
the matter some time before. Thus, (it is speculated) this brought Paul to make a visit to
meet with the leaders of the
mother-church. At this meeting the Jerusalem leaders who turned out to
be James, the brother of Jesus with Peter and John, recognized not only that
Paul’s gospel was the authentic gospel, but that also his vocation was to
preach it to the Gentiles. What was settled at the conference was the
separation of the two mission fields. Paul was also asked to remember the poor
in Jerusalem, which Paul did willingly, as he saw this a tribute to the mother-church from her
daughter-church. The author goes on to discuss if the issue of circumcision was
discussed at this conference. His conclusion
is negative due to the evidence shown in Acts.
In
Chapter sixteen, we see Paul and Barnabas’ ministry moving out into Cyprus, and then to Asia Minor. In Cyprus they preached the gospel in
the synagogues with unrecorded results. After they were finished in Cyprus, they went on to Phrygia, the chief city of Pamphylia. Paul again preached the
message here and many God-fearers believed and a church was formed in Galatia. The missionaries then
moved on to Iconium, where they were able to stay
longer than any other city. Here they also established a church. In this
section, we find Paul struggling with the separation of Jews and Gentiles. Although Paul was reaching more Gentiles than Jews his heart ached
for the salvation of the Jews. The author also brings up the issue of
the mission field that was established at the Jerusalem conference. Was Paul
violating that agreement, which was made at the conference by preaching in the
synagogues? According to Paul, he
preached in the synagogues to reach the God-fearers and once a group of
Christians were established they split off into another group. One interesting
account of Paul’s ministry is in the city of Lycaonia. As Paul preached the
gospel to the Gentiles, they wanted to offer a sacrifice to him, but when the
gift was refused a riot broke out and Paul was stoned.
Chapter
seventeen deals with the problem of Jews’ and Gentiles’ disciplines as
Christians. As the expansion of Gentile converts flourished, the Church in Jerusalem became concerned that
Gentile converts would soon outnumber the Jewish converts. If this would happen
how would the church’s ethical standards be safeguarded? The Jews were taught
to practice “a righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees,”
and the Gentiles seemed to be entering the fellowship on very easy terms. Some
members of the Jerusalem church had an easy
solution: Gentile converts should comply with all Jewish regulations. Those
Jews that visited Antioch tried to impose this belief
on the Christians there. Paul believed that “in Christ” there is neither Jew
nor Greek, and whatever distinctions appeared in the world did not appear in
God’s eyes. To this issue the letter to the Galatians was written. Paul states
in this letter that a man might be circumcised or uncircumcised; it made no
difference to God. Paul did not want this submitting to the law as a religious
obligation. This debate caused the church of Antioch to send a deputation to Jerusalem to have the issue settled.
The outcome was the apostolic decree. This decree stated that circumcision was
not to be required by Gentile converts. This decree, however, did lay down some
guidelines that the Gentiles needed to observe. Three of the requirements had
to do with restrictions of food; the fourth was abstaining from fornication. In
the conclusion of this chapter, Paul states that the Spirit is a more powerful
incentive to the good of life than all the ordinances or decrees in the world
(p. 187)
The
author goes on to discuss Pauline thought on the law in chapter eighteen.
Justification by faith became one of Paul’s main themes. At one time he thought
it privileged to be born under the law, because keeping the law was to do God’s
will. But now, allegiance to a person has displaced a
devotion to a code. There were many in the church that felt it was possible to
combine faith in Christ and pursuit of righteousness through the law. Paul
explains that “Christ is the end of the law.” Some of these Christians would
say that Christ is the end of the ceremonial law, but not the moral law. Paul
again speaks of the law as being under sin, and the grace of Christ as being
freed from the law and sin. Man has liberation from the law because he now
knows the difference between knowing the external code and knowing the inward principle.
The inward power now comes form the Holy Spirit and
enables man to live according to God’s will.
Paul states that the law of the Spirit is the Law of love and this
should be the guidance of the church.
In
Chapter nineteen, Bruce discusses Paul’s theology on flesh and the Spirit. The
author discusses three ways Paul uses flesh: In the ordinary sense of “body
flesh;” in the sense of natural human descent or relationship; and in the sense
of “mankind.” In the final point mentioned, Paul uses this term in distinct
ways: 1) as it relates to weak human nature; 2) the human nature of Christ; 3) the
unregenerate humanity. The Spirit enables the disciples to bear witness and
proclaim the gospel with convincing affect and to perform signs and wonders in
the name of Jesus. This picture is assumed throughout Paul’s writings, but a
further emphasis needs to be added. For Paul the Spirit is also to recall to
the believers’ mind the teaching of Jesus and make it meaningful to them, as
well as to lead them into the truth and show them things to come. To be in the
Spirit, for Paul, is the opposite of being in the flesh. There is no difference
between the Spirit that lives in the believer and the indwelling of the risen
Christ. Paul believes that not only does
the Spirit make the benefits of Christ’s saving work in them effective, but
also enables them to appropriate and enjoy the advance benefits of the age to
come.
Chapter
twenty gives us the details of Paul’s and Barnabas’ split in the ministry and
Paul’s choosing Silas to travel with him. Timothy also joined Paul’s ministry
as he went to Lystra. In this account we see the
issue of circumcision come up again as Timothy was a Jew, but not circumcised.
Paul’s final decision was that Timothy should be circumcised. The author goes
on to discuss Paul’s actions and motives to this discussion. Paul’s plan was to
go with his companions to Ephesus, but the Holy Spirit
forbade them to speak the word to Aria. They then went to Philomelium.
As they left this territory, and went to cross into Bithynia, “the Spirit of Jesus did
not allow them to go”. This led them to Troas. Two things happened there.
They where joined by the author of Luke and they were given positive guidance,
through a night vision Paul had, to go to Macedonia. As these missionaries went
into Phillipi to preach the gospel, they meet a
slave-girl who told fortunes and was exorcised by Paul. The owners of this girl
were upset and accused Paul for violating their property rights. The praotors ordered Paul and Silas to be beaten for this
offense. The missionaries were told to move on, but before doing so a promising
church was started. Luke then was left
behind in Philippi to encourage the new believers.
From
Philippi the missionaries moved on
to Thessalonica. As Paul preached the
gospel some of the woman of the city believed. These women were married to
prominent men in the city who did not agree with their practices. They then
accused Paul of wanting the woman’s money. The authorities in the synagogues
did not like the withdrawal of such prominent individuals, so they gained some
suspicion of the travelers to the magistrates. They also formed a riot in hopes
to lay hands on the travelers. Unable to find them, they grabbed Jason, whom
the travelers were staying with. The authorities decided that the situation
could be resolved if the travelers left and Jason could be set free. Because of
Paul’s quick departure he became worried for the new believers. Upon sending
Timothy back to check on them, Paul received some of the new believers’
unanswered questions. Thus, the Thessalonian
correspondence was written. This letter dealt with the issue that some of their
members recently died and they wondered if those that died would still enjoy
the blessings at the parousia.
Paul tackles this question by dealing with the day of the Lord, the man of
Lawlessness, and the restraining power of the Antichrist.
In
chapter twenty-two, we see Paul being taken to Berea to get away from the
trouble in Thessalonica. The missionaries tried to evangelize this town, but
those who stirred up trouble in Thessalonica gave them similar trouble there.
The missionaries then moved on to Athens, were Luke gives a very
vivid account of the witness. The agora was where the citizens of Athens met to exchange
information. Before this court, Paul was invited to speak about the nature of
his divine King. The speech begins with God the creator of all, continues with
God the sustainer of all, and concludes with God the Judge of all. The reaction
to the people in Athens was outright ridicule and a
polite dismissal.
Paul’s
travel to Corinth was one of rejection. Once there Paul spent
eighteen months preaching the word. Paul maintained himself in Corinth by manual labor as a tent
maker. It is here that we meet Priscilla and Aquila. They are said to have been
great friends to Paul and his companions, helping them in their days at Corinth. Here, as in other places,
Paul finds that the Jewish authorities have had enough of his preaching and
disallowed him to use the synagogues. When Gallio, a
local and municipal authority, came to the city the Jewish official charged
Paul of propagating an illegal religion. In A.D. 52, he left Corinth, with his friends Prascilla and Aquila, for Ephesus. In this city they became
acquainted with Apollos, a Jew from Egypt. The author goes on to
discuss the deficiencies in Apollos teachings. Many
Christians were impressed with his teachings and regarded themselves as his
disciples. In the conclusion of this chapter, the author discusses three groups
identified as “Chloe’s people,” “men of
knowledge,” and “weaker brethren” that gave Paul information on the Christians
groups that formed distinctive beliefs.
In
chapter twenty-four, we see that Paul deals with these groups in the letter
labeled 1 Corinthians. We also know that Paul received many letters from the
Corinthians which deals with many issues such as observing the traditions,
questions about marriage, questions about food, questions about spiritual
gifts, and questions about the Jerusalem relief fund. Paul learned,
from Timothy’s visit, that the Corinthian church was having further trouble.
Thus, he decided to make a visit of his own. During this visit Paul came into
opposition with one of the church members. Paul was deeply humiliated when the
church did not come to his defense. After he left Corinth, he sent a letter to the
church labeled, “Corinthians C.” We do not have any remains of this letter, but
we do know that Paul began to feel sorry that he sent it because of its harsh
tones. As Paul traveled to the province in Asia, he was overcome with
extreme depression over the situation, but upon Titus’ return with good news of
Corinth’s positive response of the letter, Paul sent a
letter of reconciliation to Corinth. This letter is what we
consider to be 2 Corinthians, which was delivered by Titus. At this second
visit, Titus learned that there was another issue that had to be dealt with at Corinth. There seemed to be
Christians from Jerusalem who thought it their
mission to impose the authority of the mother-church over the Christian world.
Baptism
and the Lord’s supper were two Christian beliefs that
Paul received from the original apostles. Paul added to the belief of baptism a
more integrated thinking on the issue of baptism in the Spirit and baptism of
water. The baptism of water is tied to the remission of sins, but the baptism
of the Spirit is the believer receiving the Holy Spirit. In speaking of the Lord’s supper, Paul incorporates the concept of the
believing community, as the body of Christ, with the thoughts of the original
disciples. The Eucharist involves not only sharing the communion with Christ,
but also sharing the common life with other believers.
In
chapter twenty-six, we come to Paul in Ephesus. Ephesus was the greatest and
largest city in Asia at the time. Luke gives us several pictures to illustrate Paul’s
ministry. The first of these pictures has to do with some men that Luke
describes as “disciples,” whom the missionaries discover, that know nothing
about the Holy Spirit. The second picture is one of Paul’s expulsion
from the synagogue after enjoying its hospitality for three months. The last
picture given here is a narrative of Paul being thought of as a magician. Paul
again was under persecution on charges of temple-robbery. This seems to be
based on the organization of the Jerusalem relief fund that was
thought by Jewish communities an encroachment on the
collection of the annual temple-tax. But the temple-tax was collected from
Jews, and the fund that Paul organized was from the Gentile churches. The
discussion in this chapter goes on to the idea that Paul was imprisoned one or
more times in Ephesus.
The
next chapter moves on to talk about Paul’s thoughts on the life to come. These
thoughts seem to come about from Paul’s continual threat of death through out
the Asia
Minor
area. The author begins this chapter by going into some detail on the thought
of the after life in the Old Testament. He then moves on to Paul’s new
perspective of the after life. Paul came to believe that all of Christ’s
believers would share in Christ’s manifested glory by being raised from the
dead as he once was. In the letter sent to the Thessalonians, Paul deals with
two questions of this issue: (1) What will happen to the believers who die
before Christ comes; and (2) when is Christ expected to come. There seems to be
some people in the church of Corinth, who held that there was no
resurrection of the dead. Paul answers the issue of what happens at death in
his second letter to the Corinthians.
As
Paul felt that there was no more work to be done in Achaia and Macedonia, for his call was to preach
the gospel and plant churches where none had been before, he gains a desire to
go to Rome and declare the good news there. Paul first turns
his attention to his long ago promise to the Jerusalem church to remember the poor
there. Paul felt that a relief fund would strengthen the relationship between
the Gentile church and the Jewish church. Paul writes about this collection in
the letter to the Romans as well as presents the gospel, which is the focus of
chapter twenty-nine.
Paul
writes to the Christians in Rome to prepare them for his
visit. In this letter he systematically gives on exposition of the gospel as he
understood it. In this proclamation Paul discusses, righteousness by faith
(that man is justified in God’s sight by faith) the universal need of the
message (in respect to Gentiles and Jews), the way of salvation (through Christ
blotting out their sins), freedom from sin (believers being emancipated from
sin) freedom from the law (the power to keep the law), and the freedom from
death (being manifested in the likeness of Christ and living in eternity with
Him.) Paul expressed in this letter the importance he placed on his ministry,
not only to reach to Gentiles with the gospel, but to impact the Jews
indirectly. Paul thought that if the Jews saw the blessings the Gentiles had in
God than they would become jealous and want those blessings for themselves.
Paul follows up this idea with an exhortation that with all that God has done
for his people in Christ, they should devote their lives to Him. Paul raps up the letter by telling the Romans
of his impending visit to Jerusalem and his wish to visit them.
In
Chapter thirty, which I believe to be the climax of the book, the author gives us some insight on
who Paul took with him on his voyage to Jerusalem, and which churches he
visited on the way. During these visits
many Christians shared their premonitions with Paul that his visit to Jerusalem would end in tragedy. They
urged him not to go. Paul however, felt the divine calling to go to Jerusalem and present his offering to
God. James and the elders, at the mother-church, also felt that Paul’s visit
would bring trouble, as many members of the church disapproved of his
missionary policy and of the freedom with which he treated the law and the
traditions of Israel. The author states,
however, that Paul would have lived as a practicing Jew during his time in Jerusalem. Paul’s comments in 1
Corinthians states that he would try to please all men in everything he does,
so that many would be saved. When Paul arrived in Jerusalem he met four members of the
church that had taken a Nazarite vow and invited Paul
to join in with them. As Paul took part in the ceremony, Jews from Ephesis charged him with taking a Gentile into the temple.
The immediate result of this was Paul being dragged out into the court and
beaten. As military tribune got wind of the incident, they went down to the
court and arrested Paul. Paul was
granted permission to speak to the crowd. Paul explained to the crowd that he
was a Jew with
great zeal for God and explained his thorough education in the subject, he went
on to proclaim his conversion to” the way” and his call to preach it to the
Gentiles. At this point the riot returned and Paul was ordered to be scourged.
Upon Paul’s identification as a Roman citizen, the punishment was suspended and
Paul was sent to the Sanhedrin. Because there were plots to assassinate Paul,
the soldiers felt it necessary to send Paul to Caesarea.
The
procurator that took Paul into custody at Caesarea was Marcus Antonius Felix. It was his responsibility of investigating
the complaints against him. Paul, in his defense drew attention to the absence
of the potential witnesses for the prosecution. The procurator decided that
another witness, that might give a more impartial witness, would need to be
present before he could make a decision. Thus, the hearing was postponed until Lysias the tribune came down. Felix did another hearing
where Lysias gave his account. Felix again postponed
his discussion on hopes that he could win a bribe from Paul and his friends.
Felix had earned the disapproval of the Jews in other matters and could not
afford to let Paul go, so Paul spent two years in Caesarea. Felix was then succeeded
by Porcius Festus. Because Festus had good relations
with the High priest and Sanhedrin, he agreed to transfer the case to Jerusalem. This gave Paul no other
choice than to appeal to Caesar, and thus, he made his long awaited trip to Rome.
On
the way to Rome, the ship that Paul was
sailing in came upon a great storm. But after ten or twelve day adrift at sea,
Paul had a vision that all on board would be safe. The ship wrecked on the Island of Malta, were they stayed for the
winter. During Paul’s visit on the Island he made many friends and as
he departed to Italy he was given many gifts. As
Paul arrived in Italy and made his way to Rome, he was met by thirty Christians who had heard he was
coming and came out to meet him. At Rome he remained under house
arrest and was able to see many visitors. At this point Luke’s account of
Paul’s ministry comes to an end and so we have to look at other evidence to
reach some conclusions of Paul’s arrest.
In
this next chapter, the author gives us information on the development of
Christianity in Rome. The tradition in Rome is that Peter and Paul were
founders of the church there, but the evidence shows that Christianity came to Rome before the apostles were
present. In the remaining sections of the chapter the author goes on to discuss
the activity of the Christians in Rome, and the conflicts between
them and the Jews.
In
chapters thirty-five and thirty-six, Bruce looks into Paul’s prison letters to
find some evidence to the theory that Paul wrote these prison letters during
his stay at Rome. The author’s arguments are
very convincing of this fact in which I believe to be true.
Chapter thirty-seven deals with the last days of Paul’s life, and how
it plays in to tradition and history. If we can prove that the prison
epistles were written in Rome than we
can suggest that Paul was about to be released, as he declares to his friends
in Colossians and Ephesians. Tradition associates Paul’s death with his
execution under the persecution of Nero. C.F.D. Moule
published a reappraisal that assumes that Paul was released at the end of his
two years in Rome and returned to the Mediterranean. Some other researchers suggest that he was
arrested for the second time in Rome. On this hypothesis, Paul
was brought before a hearing and was found guilty of being the leader of the
Christians. The sentence was death by sword. The author goes on to discuss the
evidence of this theory through Clement of Rome’s writings, as well as the Muratorian canon. Tradition suggests that Paul was buried
on the Ostian way. There is a rival burial site on
the Appian Way. The author concludes this chapter by giving us
information on the reaction of the church in Rome. The church in Rome claims that both Paul and
Peter founded the church. However, Paul made it clear that Christianity was
already present at his arrival in Rome. The Corinthian church also
claimed that Paul and Peter were both founders of the church, whereas Paul’s
letters suggest that only he evangelized the church.
In
the concluding chapter, the author reflects on the personality of Paul. He also
discusses an early work, put together with the traditions and legends of Paul
called, The Acts of Paul. Bruce
concludes this book by discussing the influence the apostle Paul has had on
various people such as Augustine, Luther, The Wesley’s, and even democratic
liberty.
CONCLUSION
In
conclusion, I felt that the author did a tremendous job in fulfilling his
purpose for this book. His in-depth insight into the setting of Paul’s ministry
gave me clear understanding of the difficulties Paul faced. I also enjoyed the
many commentaries that the author added to his study of the life of Paul.
Throughout the reading, the author clearly developed the change in Paul’s
personality as his ministry grew. From the time of his split with Barnabas, to
his imprisonment in Rome his patience grew in the
Lord. I also, received a refreshing look
at the life of a Christian who really understands what it means to suffer for
Christ.
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