Paul's Message Minus His Divine Vision on the Road to Damascus

It is not possible to understand the Apostle Paul without taking into consideration what he heard and saw on the Road to Damascus. The descriptions of this vision come from Paul himself and Luke in his account of the Acts of the Apostles. The only description of the pre-vision Saul comes from "Saul's" own account of his views and actions. After the vision comes the introduction of "Paul" and his divinely inspired message of salvation, grace, and resurrection; both of Christ and his faithful followers.

A biography of Paul is very difficult to develop because one must rest so much on the word of Paul himself. Essentially, all other external evidence comes from just one other source, Luke. With just these two sources Paul can either be believed as a divinely inspired messenger or humanized into a traveling preacher with a rationally developed theology that grew over time as Paul reasoned it out.

This roadblock is best overcome by looking at Paul's audience, what they heard and believed. As scholarship turned in this direction an immediate bone of contention arose over the characterization of the early Christians.

Modern Christian scholars spend significant effort trying to shake the impression that the earliest Christians were the dregs of society. In response they list a fair number of Christians mentioned by Paul or Luke that paint the picture of a socially diverse and multi-cultural group representing all parts of society except the aristocracy. Among this impressive list is Erastus of Corinth, the city treasurer, Gaius, a wealthy Corinthian property owner, Stephenus, Lydia, Priscilla, Aquila, and others. We also know these early churches were able raise money both to fund the Apostle's missions and to forward money down to the Church in Jerusalem. All this would indicate a much more diverse and cosmopolitan group than what is often portrayed.

There are; however, a number of reasons why this portrayal is not accurate. First the list of prominent early Christians rings out like the Mesopotamian King's list, highlighting only the kings without mention of vast Sumerian populace. A list of ten middle class individuals does not a community make. It is an account of a Christian meal looking only at the host without considering anyone bringing their pot to the potluck dinner.

It isn't until many decades later, around AD 115-120, that there is any indication of the kind of diversity that apologists attribute to the earliest church. This evidence comes from letters from Pliny the Younger to Emperor Trajan, and Pliny explains that he interrogated two slave women who were deaconesses in the Christian Church. He also identifies some Roman citizens as Christians while asking Trajan what to do about them. By the time Pliny is writing all the earliest Christians are dead. Christians are learning about Christ, not from apostolic preachers but from the Gospels and the interpreters of early message.

The real answer to who made up the vast body of the early Christian churches can be explained by the message they were hearing and accepting. It was an apocalyptic message of revolution and coming social turmoil. As studies of revolutions throughout history have shown, revolutions are not born out of prosperity. The foot soldiers of all revolutions are the outsiders, peasants, and impoverished. Only the leaders of a revolution come from educated, usually middle class backgrounds. People of privilege are rarely members of apocalyptic sects as they will become the losers. The egalitarianism preached by Paul would be welcome among those with little but hardly popular among those with a great deal to lose. It would be akin to preaching socialism on Wall Street. It can be done but it won't win many converts.
One of the characteristics of Paul's message was the focus on Heaven. One of the characteristics of the later Christian church was the focus on Hell. This distinction is crucial to understanding what Paul was preaching and who he was preaching it to. For Paul the importance of the end days is Christ's return to Earth, opening the gates of Heaven behind him. Accompanying Christ back to Heaven are all those who faithfully believed in him while on Earth. This is an embracing theology. Believers in Christ will be rewarded for their fidelity. This is the type of message that won him so many converts among the Gentiles.

Paul has no need to talk about punishments and, in fact, does not. Discussion of punishments is not need among people without prosperity. If life on Earth provides little tangible rewards, fear of punishment is not particularly motivating. Future reward, on the other hand, make a great incentive.

It is only when the message of Christianity reaches all stations in life that punishment has to be considered. People enjoying all the fruits that Roman citizenship offered them would not find additional benefits nearly as attractive. They were comfortable with life. God (whatever God) was obviously blessing them with the riches he was providing. Now, the concept of punishment becomes a useful. The message is clear. One cannot simply sit back and enjoy life without consideration of Christ or there will be "Hell to pay."
When Paul was preaching this message was unnecessary. It is also why the diversity of first century Christ groups was a diversity far closer to the bottom of Roman society than to the middle.

While the portrayal of the early Christians as the dregs of society may be overdone, it is quite obvious that the vast majority were from the lower strata of society. A large number of Christians, even through the second and third centuries were women. Paradoxically, Paul is often portrayed as a misogynist by detractors yet it was Paul who argued for the inclusion of women and a great number of Paul's closest associates were women. Most significantly, it was Paul's argument opposing circumcision that made his message to women so appealing. Since they could not participate in this ritual, Paul argued that it would only serve to segregate the communities unfairly placing men above women.

Paul's message was ideally suited for the those not enjoying the fruits of Roman life. The imminent return of Christ would change the social order and it would be these Christians raised up, looking down on all the poor slobs who chose not to believe.