Paul and Scripture

Top Highlights

“This theme of ‘justification by faith alone’ or, more correctly, ‘justification by grace through faith’ has not only been used to explain Paul, it has also been a potent critique of ‘legalism’.” (Page 61)

“There does not appear to be any explicit quotation of these ‘deutero-canonical’ books in Paul’s undisputed letters, but he does appear to allude to some of them on occasion. One of the most difficult aspects of our study is to try to imagine what quoting or alluding to Scripture would have meant for someone like Paul.” (Page 10)

“But ‘zeal’ has a more specific meaning in a first-century Jewish context. People like Phinehas (Num. 25) and Elijah (2 Kings 10) were remembered for their ‘zeal’ for God, which not only involved strict adherence to God’s laws but violent opposition to those who broke them or caused others to break them. That Paul belonged to such a tradition is shown by his reaction to the early Church: ‘I was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it’” (Page 3)

“Stendahl suggested that Paul received a new vocation or calling but not a conversion. However, while most scholars acknowledge the point, most people would recognize the upheaval in his thinking and change of direction in his life as conversion.” (Page 6)

“It should also be noted that many scholars reject the expression ‘Old Testament’ since Paul would not have regarded the Scriptures as ‘old’ (there was no ‘New Testament’ at this point).” (Page 12)