Introduction to the Greek Churches
The message of Christianity is very countercultural to the Greek way of life. Christianity preaches the idea of denying oneself for the sake of perfect obedience to a perfect God. The culture of Greece often celebrated the human goodness, achievement, and beauty, whereas Christianity portrays humans as evil, capable of nothing without God, and a reflection of God’s beauty rather than beautiful in themselves. For these reasons, the message that was preached to the Greeks would not have been popular to many. So why believe? I believe it is because those who became true believers saw past the façade that the Greeks put upon their culture, that there really was something bigger than themselves to offer them the satisfaction that sex, glory, and success could not provide them, and that was found upon the acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Biography of the Apostle Paul
The apostle Paul himself had a story of miraculous transformation. Born Saul, he was of the Jewish ruling class of the Pharisees. He spent his early life devoted to following the Jewish law, and was an expert in it. When Jesus came preaching His message, Saul did not believe, and as many of the Pharisees, rejected Jesus’s teaching. In fact, he was responsible for the persecution and even death of Christians. However, as is chronicled in the Book of Acts, Saul on a journey to Damascus, encountered who he believed to be a resurrected Jesus of Nazareth, and began to believe in Jesus and His message. This changed his entire way of. Changing his name to Paul, he went from persecuting Christians to joining them, devoting the rest of his life to the cause of spreading the message of Christianity to all nations, and ensuring that converts were following the doctrines he taught, which he believed to be the only way of life.
The Problem of the Sources
This paper draws heavily on Biblical sources, and secondary sources which use Scripture in order to draw its conclusions, whether these be religious conclusions or purely commentary conclusions. Because of the controversy about the validity of claims made in scripture, and the difficulty to reconcile natural and supernatural goals of the apostle Paul and his fellow evangelists, we as historians are left to draw our conclusions based on the material we have. This paper is written with the conclusion that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed a real person who ministered a new message throughout Israel and amassed thousands of followers, that one of these followers was Paul, also a real person who indeed traveled across the middle eastern and Greek worlds to spread Jesus’s message. To the places Paul visited, many rejected the message, and many also believed it. The Bible’s recording of supernatural occurrences is a challenge for the reader, thus the reader does not have to accept that these supernatural events occurred, simply that the believers of the time believe they did. In the same way, the reader does not have to accept the message that Paul was spreading, simply that he did travel and spread it.
Why Use Scriptures Then?
Though the use of Scripture is a challenge, and much of its content is faith based rather than tangible evidence based, the Scriptures are able to reveal the historical context of the time. Paul personally wrote each letter to the churches he planted, and in them he addresses the cultures of the city through addressing their struggles. The Book of Acts also chronicles several events and perceptions of the people who were coming to faith, and those who rejected it.
Where Would Christianity Be Without Paul?
Would Christianity be where it is today without Paul? While Paul was not the only evangelist of his time, he became an enormous figure in the movement. He lead groups and raised up leaders to take his place, he planted churches across the middle eastern and Greek world, and was able to lead them from afar through his letters. Anyone could have done the things that he did, but as far as we know, there was no other evangelist at the time who did as much for Christianity as Paul did. And without his letters, modern Christians would not have Scriptures to follow. With the conditions of the time, the new religion could have been suppressed enough that it was eliminated entirely. Perhaps it could have spread and thrived, but without the documents added to the Bible, it may have been lost to the ages. All of this is pure speculation, because history has happened as it has, but I do believe that for these reasons, I believe it is safe to say that Christianity could not be where it is today without Paul.