Evidence and Faith
My aim in this essay is to reflect on Paul as the earliest evidence for the birth of the church. His encyclical to churches in Galatia (central Türkiye) is his earliest written text and the earliest historical reference to Christianity. With less probability some argue for a date a few years later, although this doesn’t affect the force of my argument.
In this letter we have detailed accounts from his persecution of the church in c. 34 to the writing of the letter in c. 48 in Antioch in Syria. In between those dates we learn of God’s call to the persecutor to become the proclaimer of the Son of God among the Gentiles.
The former Pharisee who had attempted to destroy the church in Jerusalem became the most famous proclaimer of the Christian message, establishing churches “in an arc from Jerusalem to Illyricum.” This persecutor-becomeproclaimer is a fact of history, scarcely able to be denied.
His surviving letters are testament to his radical volte-face.
POSTMODERNISM
For many years now western culture, our culture, has been deeply influenced by “Postmodernism.” Back in the early 1980s a Professor of English Literature told me that the postmodern way of looking at life was going to change our culture. It will be about subjectivity, she said, how I feel, how I see things. The notion of objectivity, of what is there, will give way to personal feelings as the dominant source of reality. Postmodernism reinforces the self, the “me first” mindset. It runs contrary to the idea of God-given love, a way of life that is unselfish, “otherscentred.” These were our culture’s (more or less) agreed values before the rise of Postmodernism and its child, Woke.
EVIDENCE
Evidence is fundamental to life — juries and judges determine guilt or innocence based on sworn evidence; doctors base diagnosis and prescription on blood tests and scans; engineers and architects construct buildings based on surveyors’ precise measurements; the list goes on. The objective realities of daily life challenge the core assertions of Postmodernism. It is right, however, that evidence is challenged, to bring us closer to the truth. Otherwise, politics and ideology get in the way. Freedom
of speech is important.
EVIDENCE IN GALATIANS
Dates are important for evidence. The Galatians letter is informative.
33 The year of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection.
34 Paul persecuted believers in Jerusalem.
Outside Damascus God “called” him to preach his Son among the Gentiles.
36/7 He returned to Jerusalem now as a believer, lodged with Cephas, “saw” James.
Assisted by dates from Luke 3:1-2, Acts 18:1, and Galatians 2:1 we calculate that Paul launched his persecutions in the year 34, that he was in Damascus-Arabia-Damascus 34-36, that he returned to Jerusalem in 36/7, and moved to Syria-Cilicia in 37.
His Letter to the Galatians is his defence against ultraconservatively Jewish Christians in Jerusalem who sought to discredit his message of “grace” to Gentiles and overturn his influence among the Galatians.
AD 34 PAUL ATTEMPTED TO DESTROY THE CHURCH Paul was a distinguished younger scholar in Jerusalem.
I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. Galatians 1:13–14
Paul’s parents brought him as a teenager from Tarsus to Jerusalem and enrolled him in the school of Rabbi Gamaliel, the greatest scholar of that generation.
Paul, the young rabbi, was distinguished in and “zealous” for “the traditions” of the great rabbis from earlier generations. He was also a “man of zeal,” a zealous persecutor of the church, which he attempted “violently” to “destroy.”
- He had participated in (possibly led?) the stoning of Stephen for blasphemy.
- He was the high priest’s “hatchet-man” in the flogging of Christians in the synagogues in Jerusalem to drive them from the city, which he did.
- Then he was sent by the high priest to round up and extradite believers from Damascus.
PAUL, CALLED BY GOD TO PROCLAIM HIS SON AMONG THE GENTILES
Paul reminds the Galatians of the astonishing fact of his “calling” from learned young scholar and violent persecutor to an apostle spreading the message about Jesus to the nations of the world:
But when he who had set me apart before I was born and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles… Galatians 1:15–16
He re-tells his story: the astonishing volte-face of the violent young man. Outside Damascus God intervened to reveal to Paul that Jesus was not a false Messiah but the Son of God, whom Paul was now to “proclaim among the Gentiles,” that is, throughout the Roman world.
AD 34-36/7 PAUL A WANDERING FUGITIVE
He adds
I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia and returned again to Damascus. Galatians 1:16–17
Note the sequence (covering 3 years):
Jerusalem
Damascus
Arabia (i.e., Nabatea, capital Petra)
Damascus
Jerusalem (where he met with those who were “apostles before [him])”
Evidently Paul began proclaiming this message and was constantly on the move to evade capture. By referring to “apostles before me” Paul understood himself also now to be an apostle, one “sent” by God, bearing the authority of God.
AD 36/7 PAUL IN JERUSALEM
Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas [i.e., Peter] and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother. (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!) Galatians 1:18–20
Chronology is critical regarding evidence. When he says, “after three years I went up to Jerusalem” we are now in the year 36/7 (counting part years as full years, as the Jews did).
So, in the year 36/7 (only 3 to 4 years after Jesus) we learn:
Cephas (Peter) was the head of the church in Jerusalem
James the Lord’s brother was there, now a believer, 2nd leader after Cephas
And that there were “other apostles”
Notice what was in place in the year 36/7, back-to-back with Jesus, 33:
The church of God (an institution) 1:11
Cephas the leader 1:18
James, brother of the Lord, 2nd in charge 1:19
Apostles (a group) 1:19
These are definable entities that were there in 36/7, but most likely going back to Jesus. The historical figure of Jesus was followed immediately by the birth of the church. Not years after, but immediately (50 days) after.
PAUL WITH CEPHAS AND JAMES IN JERUSALEM
Notice that Paul “stayed with” with Cephas in Jerusalem for 15 days. Paul had opportunity to learn extensively about Jesus: his disciples, his teachings, miracles, death, resurrection.
Notice, too, that in Jerusalem he “saw” James, brother of the Lord? From James, younger brother of Jesus, Paul had opportunity to know about the boyhood and early manhood of Jesus.
Thus, from James and Cephas Paul had opportunity the learn about Jesus in continuity, from boyhood, to adulthood, to his baptism, to his call of the twelve, to his miracles, teachings, his trials, the Last Supper, his crucifixion, and his resurrection.
Rudolph Bultmann, possibly the most famous New Testament scholar in the first half of last century, said that Paul only knew about Jesus as a mythical, heavenly ahistorical figure. Paul’s connections with James, brother of the Lord, and Cephas, leading disciple of the Lord tell a different story. Like many, Bultmann was controlled by his existential philosophy, not history-based evidence. It has taken decades to dislodge Bultmann’s influence, thanks mainly to his fellow-German, Martin Hengel.
We see how much “raw” history emerges from Paul’s defence to his critics? Furthermore, he must be careful since his critics will be quick to fault him.
It is likely that while in Jerusalem Paul “received” the Last Supper “tradition” that he was to “deliver” later to the churches he established.
THE CHURCHES IN JUDEA
There is more:
In 36/7, before Paul left Jerusalem for Tarsus in Syria and Cilicia he observes: Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” Galatians 1:21–26
By the year 36/7 there were now churches in the wider province of Judea. This diaspora of believers was the result of Paul’s earlier persecutions in Jerusalem. Not only were there disciples in the capital Jerusalem, but they were also scattered outside the capital. These churches had been formed by Christians in Jerusalem who had fled from Paul.
Note their words,
“He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”
In other words, in that year 34 the church’s “faith” was there as an entity to be destroyed. Paul had attempted to destroy both the church of God and its faith, its doctrine.
It so happens that Paul quotes some words that sound like a faith statement, one that Paul may have learned from Cephas, James, and other apostles in Jerusalem. This is not certain but is at least probable.
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons, and because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” Galatians 4:4–6
In these few words Paul makes a “faith” statement:
- That is Trinitarian: The “Abba Father,” his Son, and the Spirit of his Son
- That is fulfilment-focused: “when the fullness of time had come”
- That is “incarnational”: God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law
- That is redemptive: to redeem those who were under the law
- That is adoptive: that we might receive adoption as sons
- That is Holy Spirit-centric: God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
It is likely that Paul’s words resembled the “faith” of the church in Jerusalem that he had attempted to destroy.
From whom did he learn it? Most likely from Cephas.
EVIDENCE FROM GALATIANS
What we have here in Galatians, this earliest of letters, is evidence.
- Of an institution, the church of God, that Paul had attempted to destroy
- Of that church’s faith, likely trinitarian, that Paul had attempted to destroy
- Of believers also in Damascus to be arrested, as inferred
- Of its leaders Cephas with whom he stayed, and James, brother of the Lord
- Of the church’s office bearers, the apostles
- Of churches scattered from Jerusalem in Judea
This is evidence that isn’t set out to be evidence for us, but for Paul’s congregants in Galatia, but which, notwithstanding, proves to be evidence for us. It is not a “gospel,” a narrative to tell the Jesus story. That is another historical-literary genre.
PAUL HAD TO BE METICULOUS
Evidence emerges incidentally from Galatians, even accidentally. Therefore, it is almost certain factually. Paul is appealing to details that would not be open to question. All evidence is to be tested. Opposing lawyers test evidence before a judge and jury. Scientists publish papers critical of other evidence. Evidence testing is dynamic. Paul’s evidence had to be meticulous. He was painfully aware of having dedicated, informed opponents. His statements about the church of God in Jerusalem, Cephas as leader, James as 2nd leader, the fact of other apostles and, very importantly, his references to “after three years,” and later “after fourteen years.” His opponents must not be able to fault any detail, otherwise he would have been discredited.
So, those opponents are “out of screen” poised ready to point out any error. Although unseen they were “a testing” of the accuracy and integrity of his evidence. It is Paul’s carefully crafted defence of his own apostolic ministry. He dare not make a mistake or exaggerate or his opponents will discredit him.
So, this is evidence designed for another purpose: Paul’s own defence back then. For us it is “raw” evidence that has the effect of assuring us of the factual basis of the church in Jerusalem, and its Faith.
FINALLY
We need to be aware of the objective in this era of unbelieving Postmodernism. It doesn’t matter what various modern-day sceptics say, the evidence for Christian origins is there, evidence that is credible for a reasonable person to accept as the conscientious basis for Christian faith.
Bishop Paul Barnett is the former Bishop of North Sydney and has lectured at Moore College for many decades. He is the author of many books and is married to Anita.