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According to Paul
Joe McMichael
Professor Becker
CC 215: The Christian Tradition
September 13, 2006
Honor Code:
I. Introduction
a. Jewish Education
b. Life as a Pharisee
I. Introduction
In this essay I will explore the Christian’s relation to Mosaic Law according
to the Apostle Paul. In particular, I will examine Paul’s teachings about the
early church, helping to propel a break with Judaism and create a separate
Christian faith.
commandments that God gave to the Israelites. This Law was a gift aimed at
guiding Israelites to live a pure and unblemished life. The Mosaic Law begins
with the Ten Commandments and includes the laws of observance found
include: sexuality, idolatry, and relations with Gentiles.1 This tradition was not
all drawn together in a single document until around second century A.D.2
Christians. It did not outright reject the Law, but rather emphasized that one
cannot be saved solely through observance of it. Paul explains that human beings
inherited sinful behavior as a result of the Fall, and are unable to totally observe
the Law. Therefore, Paul stresses that due to our sinful state we must receive the
1
Peter Tomson, Paul and the Jewish Law. (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1990), 97.
2
Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2005 – Jewish Law.
Joe McMichael
CC 215: The Christian Tradition
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However, many Christians still consider the Mosaic Law important for the
following reasons:
(2) The Mosaic Law contains moral content such as the Ten
Commandments which is still applicable to Christians today.
The influential Italian theologian Thomas Aquinas argued that the concepts of
grace, forgiveness, and love found in the Gospels were the completion of the
Mosaic Law. Aquinas likened the Mosaic Law to the “seed [that] contains the
One cannot fully understand the nature of obedience to God without the
message of salvation found in Paul’s letters. Paul substitutes faith for obedience
to account for the problem created by the Mosaic Law.4 According to theologian
needs to hear first (see 3:6), and in the light of that message the message of
Acts chapter 22, verses 26-28, his father was a Roman citizen and his family
3
Stephen J. Casselli, “The Threefold Division Of The Law In The Thought Of Aquinas.” Westminster
Theological Journal (Fall 1999): 186.
4
Joseph Fitzmyer, Romans: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. (New York: Double
Day, 1993), 134.
5
Fitzmyer, Romans, 307.
6
Catholic Encyclopedia – Saint Paul. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11567b.htm (accessed September
16, 2006).
Joe McMichael
CC 215: The Christian Tradition
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young child, and studied under the influential Rabbi Gamaliel in Jerusalem
Encyclopedia, “Paul excelled in the study of the Law.… and his zeal for it led him
to persecute the nascent Christian church, holding it to be a Jewish sect that was
Following his conversion Paul is lost from sight for between five and
Christians he had fought for so long.8 The next years are commonly considered
the most productive of Paul’s career. Paul had a leading role in the Council of
Jerusalem, during which the Church decided that Gentile Christians need not be
circumcised.
7
Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2005 – Saint Paul.
8
Catholic Encyclopedia – Saint Paul.
Joe McMichael
CC 215: The Christian Tradition
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Christ. Over the next few years Paul traveled extensively and founded Christian
from moral law. On his journey to trial in Rome, Paul gave a stinging rebuke of
complacent Jews:
Hearing you will hear, and shall not understand; And seeing you
will see, and not perceive; For the hearts of this people have grown
dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest
they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should
heal them. Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of
God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it! (Acts
28:26–28)
In this statement, Paul both proclaims God’s care and love for Gentiles and
criticizes Israel’s blindness to the ways of God. Paul advises the audience to
accept the salvation of Jesus’ crucifixion for our sins. It is commonly accepted
Acts 15, verse 9, emphasizes that “[God] put no difference between us and [the
Gentiles], purifying their hearts by faith." Paul is known as the “Apostle to the
Gentiles,” for his fierce dedication to the message of Jesus for all humanity.
Joe McMichael
CC 215: The Christian Tradition
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Most theologians would assert that Paul valued belief in Jesus as superior
Romans 14:7-12, which states that “those who observe the law will be justified
before him,” and Romans 3:24, “all are justified by faith apart from deeds
Fitzmyer:
Paul taught that Scripture transformed Christians through the Holy Spirit,
helping one to receive forgiveness and live a more godly life. In Romans chapter
13, verse 10, Paul writes that "love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is
“Incident of Antioch,” Peter and Paul had an open disagreement at the Council of
regarding Mosaic Law. Peter and Barnabas were also present to discuss whether
Gentile Christians should be circumcised. Acts chapter 15, verse 2, tells us that
“Paul spoke maintaining firmly that [the Gentile Christians] should stay as they
were when converted; but those who had come from Jerusalem ordered them,
9
Rebecca Moore, Voices of Christianity: A Global Intr0duction. (Boston: McGraw Hill, 2006), 25.
10
Fitzmyer, Romans, 307.
Joe McMichael
CC 215: The Christian Tradition
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Paul and Barnabas and certain others, to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and
elders that they might be judged before them about this question.”
Paul later confronted Peter publicly about his reluctance to share a meal
to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong" and telling him "You are a Jew,
yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force
Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?” Finally, Paul convinced Peter that this
importance of faith and love over Mosaic Law. Theologian Martin Luther
identified the book of Romans as “the chief book of the New Testament . . . it
If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your
heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you shall be saved; for
with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with
the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
(Romans 10:9-10)
This passage stresses faith from the heart as the way to salvation. Romans
11
Catholic Encyclopedia – Saint Paul.
12
Luther's Preface to the Epistle to the Romans
Joe McMichael
CC 215: The Christian Tradition
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The Book of Romans was a central text in the development of Luther’s 95 Theses
criticizing the medieval Roman Catholic Church. Romans also played a major
Confession, only the moral laws such as the Ten Commandments apply to
Calvinists today.
Catholics accept the necessity of faith for salvation, but also assert the necessity
[God] will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who
by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honour and
immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious, and
do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and
wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth
evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honour, and
peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to
the Gentile: For there is no respect of persons with God.
13
Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2005 – Calvinism.
14
Catholic Encyclopedia – Saint Paul.
Joe McMichael
CC 215: The Christian Tradition
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Roman Catholic theologians point out that it is easy to twist the meaning
of Paul’s letters. They assert that Paul is not advocating lawlessness. This danger
Catholics understand Paul to say that we are justified by grace, but that
this faith is inseparable from the life we live. Even today there is an
The “color” in the Gospel adds the promise of salvation for believers, but in
some sense makes it even harder to live a pious life. Now Christians are
15
“Pope Benedict on James Less.” Catholic Online (June 29, 2006).
http://www.catholic.org/featured/headline.php?ID=3436 (accessed September 16, 2006).
16
Calvin College Christian Classics Ethereal Library – Homilies of the Gospels.
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf106.v.ii.viii.html (accessed September 16, 2006).
Joe McMichael
CC 215: The Christian Tradition
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judged by their thoughts, words, and deeds, rather than just their actions.
Ultimately, Paul calls Christians to live a pure life from the inside out with
Bibliography
Tomson, Peter. Paul and the Jewish Law. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press,
1990.