Pauls View On The Church

Paul the apostle is known for his letters in the Bible to the church in Philippi. Paul devotes his faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, to promote Christianity to the people of the Philippians. He is seen throughout the New Testament furthering God’s Word and projecting it in such a way to get fellow Jewish people to convert to Christianity. In the midst of this activity, Paul was travelling in between cities when a mob broke out against him. Israelites were furious with him spreading the Word of Jesus Christ throughout their land. The Israelites began to beat him repeatedly until the word reached the commander of the Roman soldiers. The roman soldiers immediately came to Paul and put him under arrest for a total of seven days before freeing him. Paul was charged with speaking out against the law of the land, promoting Jesus Christ among the Jewish people and disturbing the peace among the city.

What is the church? Many Christians today think of the church as the building where they go to worship and to only be thought about on Sundays; however, this is an all too common misperception. In actuality the church is the whole body of believers whose main purpose is to grow in their walk with Jesus Christ. The early church, the church of the first century, lived this out in the most literal sense. While both the early church and the modern American church share the same core beliefs, the way people lived, dealt with each other, and viewed the Holy Spirit then, was significantly different than the way many people do now.

Paul's letters to the church, also known as epistles, are considered some of the most important documents in the New Testament. Paul's writings continue to shape and forge church even today. His letters were written in some of the darkest, most intense moments of Paul's life, but they also celebrate the grace, love, and life changing power of Jesus. Paul's journey in faith is shown in raw, unapologetic honesty, and inspires Christians to maintain a forward momentum, and to run the race Paul speaks so passionately about in Hebrews 12:1. Paul is able to write with both confidence and humility as he writes about the Christian journey.

Paul is developing and spreading the doctrine of the Church in his letters. The body of Christ (the Church) is being revealed in his letters to the seven churches. Paul’s revelations about the Church concerned its heavenly calling, promise and destiny. The administration and organization of the Church was revealed to us through the apostle Paul.

The statement that “Jesus came preaching the Kingdom of God, but all Paul left us was the church” is very accurate. Through the letters of Paul, it is shown that he was a devout follower and disciple of Jesus, and he worked very enthusiastically to spread the word of Jesus. His letters are proof that he was showing the newly developing churches on how to correctly follow the teachings of Jesus. Paul has referred to himself as “the servant of Jesus” in a few of his letters. From my perspective I believe that the 3 most prominent teachings of Jesus were helping the poor, loving your neighbor, and loving of God. On the other hand, I believe the three most notable teachings of Paul are the household codes, justification by faith, and unity. Throughout Paul’s letter, it is seen that he preserves the message of Jesus and does his best to carry it out.

Christianity over the course of history has a vast influence on individuals, society and the way believers conduct themselves. It provides morals, practices and ethics that every Christian attempts to live by. Throughout the many denominations in the Christian church, Paul of Tarsus had a significant influence on the faith. His contribution to the development and expression of Christianity is immense and can be seen to stem from his writing and missionary journeys which have implemented his ideas and interpretations onto the development of Christianity. After Jesus, Paul was arguably the most significant figure in Christianity as his teachings form a significant part of the New Testament. Like may other Pharisees of that time in history, Paul sought to suppress the early Christian movement. He accused early Christians of blaspheming against God and breaking Mosaic Law. However, Paul had a life-changing experience when he had a vision of Jesus, and he spent the remainder of his life as a missionary for the early church. Centuries after his ministry, his teachings still influence Christian theology.

Jesus is the center of Christianity, but without Paul, Christianity would never exist. Paul organized Jesus’s disciples after Jesus’s death. Paul introduced Christianity to Non-Jewish people. He was extremely talented at converting others. The New Testament is largely based off Paul’s teachings. Paul also shaped the way Christianity thinks, he was the man who took a small cult and shaped it so that it would become a world religion; Paul was the most important figure to the growth of Christianity, even more than Jesus of Nazareth.

As long as Paul could remember he had his giant glasses on and was told he couldn’t see without them. But even though Paul can see fine without them. Paul, unfortunately, deals with this on a day to day basis. We discover who Paul is and how significant events changed him. Paul also experiences switching schools. We see how Paul sees the world and his perspective on certain events.

“IN CHRIST we are fellow heir, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ JESUS.” Gentiles are now partakers of the new covenant made possible by the cross of Jesus Christ). “That means you and I.” This mystery did not come to Paul from research or rationalization, but by revelation from the Holy Spirit. God Himself revealed this to him. This is one of the deep things of God that many Christian still struggled with today. The mystery revealed is this, that the church is one body with one head. In Christ there is perfect amalgamation of each and every member. Gentiles are fellow-partakers and equal sharers of the same

Paul’s experiences guarding over the Russian prisoners demonstrate the unwavering tendency of war to create suffering and sorrow. In the prison camp, the Russians are malnourished and starving. Paul sees their suffering, yet he is unable to truly understand them because he knows none of their history. As Paul describes, “their life is obscure and guiltless.” In this sense, Paul feels the pitilessness that is expressed to a greater degree in the other guards, whom Paul watches as they beat and mistreat the prisoners. The behavior of these soldiers highlights the tendency of war to dehumanize people - both prisoners, who are often horribly subjugated, and soldiers, who have their emotions completely destroyed, suffer the negative effects of wars.

The New Perspective on Paul is a view which reexamines the first century context in which Paul wrote and thus certain messages he conveys in his Epistles. It challenges the traditional views on various doctrines drawn from Paul’s writings during the Reformation, suggesting the Reformers were incorrect in their interpretations. While the New Perspective on Paul is certainly thought provoking and even brings up some good points regarding historical context, the Church should treat it with caution and not regard it as a replacement for the traditional views of justification, righteousness, or salvation.

Prior to this class I viewed Paul as the iconic missionary. He acted with bold faith and truly relied on the Holy Spirit to work on his behalf. This faith is a rarity in the world or it is faith that I do not see among my peers at least. He acted with fearlessness, boldness, and acted with selflessness to elevate the Gospel. He cared more for the cause than himself and his comfort.

People have thought wrongly about the Jewish religion back in Jesus’ time. We all thought Judaism was a legalistic religion. However, this is not the case. This is what started a new way of thinking about justification and Paul. This leads us to the New Perspective on Paul. In this paper, we will discuss where the New Perspective on Paul came from, what it is exactly as well as my personal thoughts on this subject. It all started in 1977 when E.P. Sanders wrote a book about this topic. Others come along and add their ideas to this new idea. Soon it became known to the world as NPP.

I agree that Paul had a very diverse beliefs. I think this helped him connect within the community and ​shared the Gospel easily to people like him (converts). I understand that it's hard to accept how he changed his belief quickly from wanting to destroy Christianity to giving his life to preserve it. He didn't tell the readers how it happened so it's very hard to perceive such thing could happen. But I believe that it's possible because Paul showed how much he loved his converts and even considered them his children. I think the reason why Paul didn't include his story was because he didn't want the readers to divert their attention and focus from Jesus. But don't you think that his actions and relationship towards the religion and the converts

It seems strange that so little is known biographically about one of the most important figures in Christian history, but this only serves to add to the mystery and grandeur surrounding the Apostle Paul of Tarsus. Much, however, is known of the time after his conversion to Christ and what he did to contribute to Christianity in this period, and it is this that leaves a greater legacy than the simple facts of his life. The contributions that he made towards the cause of Christ and the spreading and formation of Christianity are what he is perennially remembered for.