Stuhlmacher UCPS 1992

This is an essay which offers a perspective on Paul's theology of Jesus Christ as one just the opposite of what it was before his vision on the Damascus road. Saul of Tarsus, the persecuter of "the Way," becomes Paul the Apostle and primary missionary to the Gentiles. This author examines Paul as a Pharisaic teacher of the Torah in Jerusalem, who participated in the persecution of followers of Jesus, including Stephen and his cohorts before his dramatic conversion.

Peter Stuhlmacher's main purpose in this essay seems to be his claim that from the evidence of the traditions available in Paul's letters, he not only re-interpreted "Holy Scriptures," but also espoused doctrines of faith, especially christology. Stuhlmacher admits that there is debate of Paul's first-hand knowledge of Jesus' teaching and tradition, but he claims the "activity of this pre-Christian 'Saul' coincides temporally with the final activities of Jesus in Jerusalem, his condemnation and execution on the cross on Golgotha, and with the founding of the original Christian community in Jerusalem."

Therefore Stuhlmacher also reasons, as other scholars have, that Paul conducted organized missionary schooling concerning the wisdom and theology of Jesus (Acts 11:26, 18:1-11,and 19:8-10), and that this explains why he seems to take for granted the knowledge of Jesus traditions by the readers of his letters. Moreover, the relation of this to the question of a parting of the ways between Jews and Christians concerns this "Christologically grounded critique of the law presented by Paul and his school deepened and rendered completely irreversible the disputes between Jews and Christians which since the martyrdom of Stephen could not be overlooked."