One of the few areas of agreement between the many amateur historians (and the precious few experts) who argue that Jesus was not a historical person and the actual biblical scholars and ancient historians concerns Paul. Plenty of experts from relevant fields have argued that Paul knew next to nothing, or nothing at all, about the historical Jesus. It is easy to see why, given how little Paul talks about the earthly figure of Jesus. However, plenty of others have argued, and I agree (for reasons I have detailed elsewhere), that this lack of discussion is not indicative of a lack of knowledge, and that there is plenty of evidence that Paul knew a great deal about the historical Jesus. I bring this up because I was delighted to find while reading a book on Paul by a professor of History whose concentration is far wider than Biblical Studies (he has written on many topics, e.g. Irish Immigrants) I found the same arguments and conclusions that I have made/come to:
These are two separate assertions: (a) that Saul did not know much and (b) that he did not care much and they are independent of each other. I wish to concentrate here on a, the view that Saul had an empty head as far as the historical Yeshua was concerned. It is preposterous.
Recall what we already know from the chronology of Sauls religious career. He was a persecutor of the Yeshua-faith. Whatever else that may have entailed, he certainly was in position to learn a lot about Yeshua. How he assimilated that information is another matter, but recall that three years after his conversion he secretly went up to Jerusalem and spent fifteen days living with Peter (Cephas) and, also, he met Yacov (Galatians 1:18 19). Now, in more than a fortnight of intensive discussion with Peter he must have been tutored in all the basic actions and sayings of Yeshua as Peter knew them. Further, Saul obviously was being examined not only on his own character, but on his knowledge and ideology. The one-time audience with Yacov, direct heir to the headship of the Yeshua-faith, has the appearance of a viva voce examination of a doctoral candidate by a stern External Examiner. Saul passes, manifestly: he knows his Yeshua and his interpretations are within the acceptable boundaries of the plasticities of the time.
And recall that fourteen years later, Saul went up again to Jerusalem and this time went through a complex negotiation with the Jerusalem believers, headed by Yacov, Peter and John, the son of Zebedee. Whatever else occurred there, each side clearly expressed its knowledge and interpretation of the life of Yeshua of Nazareth and, again, Sauls work received the imprimatur (Gal 2:1 9). Saul may not have enjoyed his relations with Jerusalem, but he certainly was informed about the life of Yeshua.
Further, he continued to have interactions sometimes unpleasant ones with representatives of the Jerusalem church and probably with other Yeshua groups from outside of Jerusalem (Philippians, Galatians, Second Corinthians, all stem from such occurrences). He knew not just the life story of Yeshua, but was directly acquainted with at least one, and probably all, of the brothers of Yeshua. His third visit to Jerusalem, which resulted in his imprisonment, certainly gave him a chance to become closely reacquainted with the Jerusalem church. And Saul was knowledgeable about (and mostly horrified by) other traditions of the Yeshua-faith, especially those that were strongly spiritualist (see Second Corinthians). Each version of the faith of course implied not only a different complex of immediate religious experiences on the part of the specific community of believers, but also variant traditions of what characterized Yeshua while still on earth. Thus, Saul, being as knowledgeable as anyone among the Yeshua-followers about the varieties of the faith, was inevitably highly knowledgeable of the traditions concerning the historical Yeshua.
These inferences derive from direct evidence in the epistles of Saul. They should not even slightly surprise us, given our background knowledge of late Second Temple Judaism. For the religiously alert and the Yeshua followers were nothing if not hyperattentive the world was one great spider web, the hub of which was Jerusalem, and any motion any place on the web was transmitted through the entire reactive lattice. Even if we had not the compelling evidence of Sauls ties to the centre, we still would assume he was picking up, almost tactilely, every variant of Yeshuas life story and the vibratory signals of each significant variation of interpretation. Saul himself was constantly sending and receiving letters, detailing messengers and instructing emissaries; communication was his business. So, Saul knew his Yeshua.
Akenson, Donald Harman. Saint Saul : A Skeleton Key to the Historical Jesus.
Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2000. pp. 171-173.
As I mentioned, plenty of scholars have come to the above conclusion, or similar to it, but J. D. G. Dunn stated not long ago that the consensus seems to favor the view that Paul didnt know anything about Jesus. I dont think this is true anymore.
These are two separate assertions: (a) that Saul did not know much and (b) that he did not care much and they are independent of each other. I wish to concentrate here on a, the view that Saul had an empty head as far as the historical Yeshua was concerned. It is preposterous.
Recall what we already know from the chronology of Sauls religious career. He was a persecutor of the Yeshua-faith. Whatever else that may have entailed, he certainly was in position to learn a lot about Yeshua. How he assimilated that information is another matter, but recall that three years after his conversion he secretly went up to Jerusalem and spent fifteen days living with Peter (Cephas) and, also, he met Yacov (Galatians 1:18 19). Now, in more than a fortnight of intensive discussion with Peter he must have been tutored in all the basic actions and sayings of Yeshua as Peter knew them. Further, Saul obviously was being examined not only on his own character, but on his knowledge and ideology. The one-time audience with Yacov, direct heir to the headship of the Yeshua-faith, has the appearance of a viva voce examination of a doctoral candidate by a stern External Examiner. Saul passes, manifestly: he knows his Yeshua and his interpretations are within the acceptable boundaries of the plasticities of the time.
And recall that fourteen years later, Saul went up again to Jerusalem and this time went through a complex negotiation with the Jerusalem believers, headed by Yacov, Peter and John, the son of Zebedee. Whatever else occurred there, each side clearly expressed its knowledge and interpretation of the life of Yeshua of Nazareth and, again, Sauls work received the imprimatur (Gal 2:1 9). Saul may not have enjoyed his relations with Jerusalem, but he certainly was informed about the life of Yeshua.
Further, he continued to have interactions sometimes unpleasant ones with representatives of the Jerusalem church and probably with other Yeshua groups from outside of Jerusalem (Philippians, Galatians, Second Corinthians, all stem from such occurrences). He knew not just the life story of Yeshua, but was directly acquainted with at least one, and probably all, of the brothers of Yeshua. His third visit to Jerusalem, which resulted in his imprisonment, certainly gave him a chance to become closely reacquainted with the Jerusalem church. And Saul was knowledgeable about (and mostly horrified by) other traditions of the Yeshua-faith, especially those that were strongly spiritualist (see Second Corinthians). Each version of the faith of course implied not only a different complex of immediate religious experiences on the part of the specific community of believers, but also variant traditions of what characterized Yeshua while still on earth. Thus, Saul, being as knowledgeable as anyone among the Yeshua-followers about the varieties of the faith, was inevitably highly knowledgeable of the traditions concerning the historical Yeshua.
These inferences derive from direct evidence in the epistles of Saul. They should not even slightly surprise us, given our background knowledge of late Second Temple Judaism. For the religiously alert and the Yeshua followers were nothing if not hyperattentive the world was one great spider web, the hub of which was Jerusalem, and any motion any place on the web was transmitted through the entire reactive lattice. Even if we had not the compelling evidence of Sauls ties to the centre, we still would assume he was picking up, almost tactilely, every variant of Yeshuas life story and the vibratory signals of each significant variation of interpretation. Saul himself was constantly sending and receiving letters, detailing messengers and instructing emissaries; communication was his business. So, Saul knew his Yeshua.
Akenson, Donald Harman. Saint Saul : A Skeleton Key to the Historical Jesus.
Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2000. pp. 171-173.
As I mentioned, plenty of scholars have come to the above conclusion, or similar to it, but J. D. G. Dunn stated not long ago that the consensus seems to favor the view that Paul didnt know anything about Jesus. I dont think this is true anymore.
