The Earthly Jesus
The Earthly Jesus
Behind the early Christian tradition lay the teaching of Jesus himself. To what extent did the earthly Jesus constitute a source for Paul’s teaching? Some have suggested that he contributed nothing at all. The most famous advocate of this view is Rudolf Bultmann, who interprets 2 Corinthians 5:16 to mean that Paul had no interest in the "Jesus of history.” 24 Clearly this is not what the verse means. Rather, Paul is asserting that he no longer views Christ "from a worldly point of view.” Still, the fact remains that Paul only rarely mentions an event (other than Jesus’ death and resurrection) from Jesus’ ministry and equally rarely quotes from Jesus’ teaching. This does not always mean, however, that Paul’s teaching is not influenced by Jesus’ teaching. A good case can be made, for instance, for thinking that Paul’s eschatological teaching in 1 Thessalonians 4-5 and 2 Thessalonians 2 depends to some extent on the Olivet discourse (Mark 13 par.). 25 It has long been recognized that the ethical teaching of Romans 12 has many similarities to the Sermon on the Mount. Paul, then, certainly knew and used more of the teaching of Jesus than a mere count of his quotations suggests. 26 More important, essential aspects of Paul’s theology can be shown to be compatible with, and perhaps dependent on, Jesus’ teaching. 27