The Sources of Paul’s Teaching
The Sources of Paul’s Teaching
Revelation Versus Tradition
Any discussion of the sources to which Paul is indebted for his teaching must reckon with Paul’s claim that his gospel came "by revelation from Jesus Christ” (δΐ αποκαλυψεως ’ Ιησου Χριστου [di’ apokalypseos Iesou Christou, from αποκαλψξις + ’ Ιησους + Χρίστος, G637 + G2652 + G5986], Gal. 1:12). This "revelation” refers to the appearance of Christ to Paul on the Damascus road (see 1:16). Paul makes clear that the gospel he had taught the Galatians came through this means, not through any human being. Paul’s was a supernatural gospel, and we must never forget this claim. Without taking anything away from this point, however, we must recognize that Paul on other occasions indicates his indebtedness to Christians before him for his teaching. In 1 Corinthians 15:1-3, for instance, Paul asserts of the gospel that he preached to the Corinthians, "what I received [παρέλαθον (parelabon, from παραλαμβανω, G4161)] I passed on [παρέδωκα (paredoka, from παραδίδωμι, G4140)] to you. ” The word Paul uses here, παραλαμβανω (paralambano, "receive”, G4161), corresponds to language that the rabbis used to describe their transmission of traditions. What Paul seems to be asserting is that elements of his gospel teaching, such as the truth of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection (1 Cor. 15:3-5), were handed down to him by other people.
Some have found a contradiction in these claims of Paul, but a resolution is not hard to find. We need to distinguish between essence and form. The essence of the gospel, that Jesus of Nazareth was truly the Son of God, was revealed to Paul in one life-changing moment on the Damascus road. And this truth carried far-reaching implications. For one thing, those Christians whom Paul had been persecuting must be right after all. For another, now that Messiah had come, the law could no longer be at the center of God’s purposes. Especially was this true because the law itself pronounced a curse upon Jesus, since he had been "hung on a tree” (see Gal. 3:13 and Deut. 21:23). So Paul was led to conclude that the law could no longer be imposed as a condition of membership upon the people of God (see Galatians). 20 The form of the gospel, however, including the historical undergirding of the gospel events, certain phraseology used to express the new truth, and doubtless many other things, were passed on to Paul by those before him. 21