Paul: Follower of Jesus or Founder of Christianity? [Paperback]

David Wenham (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1995

This book provides a broad, popular look at the relationship between Paul and Jesus. Wenham studies the Gospels and Paul's letters, systematically compares the teachings of Jesus and Paul, and reveals the intriguing connections and differences between the two. His conclusions make this volume a ground-breaking work with exciting implications.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Oxford New Testament lecturer Wenham revisits an often debated question (his nonexhaustive bibliography exceeds 16 pages): Was Paul thoroughly aware of Jesus' life and teaching, or did he largely create Christianity himself? Most of the discussion utilizes close comparison of brief passages from the Epistles to the final written Gospels, which they predate. Wenham points out both parallels and divergences, considering how Paul's writings and teachings may have influenced the oral traditions and early written texts that coalesced into the Gospels, and vice versa. He makes a strong case that most, but not all, of Paul's beliefs conform to the received Jesus tradition. This work is accessible to persistent, knowledgeable lay readers.?Richard S. Watts, San Bernardino Cty. Lib., Cal.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

This compendium of scholarly research on the relationship between Jesus and Paul is intended for a general audience. Wenham takes sides clearly and early against scholars (including Karen Armstrong) who see Paul primarily as the founder of Christianity, depicting him instead as a follower of Jesus. He goes to great pains to assemble evidence of Paul's familiarity with the Jesus tradition, including similarity of theological outlook and vocabulary. One effect of Wenham's thesis is reconsideration of the dating and interrelationship of gospel material; he sides with those who favor an early date for Matthew and with those who are skeptical of the traditional two-source hypothesis. Even readers who are not convinced by Wenham's argument will be impressed by the breadth of material assembled here. The book will prove particularly useful to serious students seeking an overview of the scholarly debate regarding Paul's place in early Christianity and some suggestions regarding points of entry. Steve Schroeder

Product Details

• Paperback: 468 pages
• Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (April 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802801242
• ISBN-13: 978-0802801241
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #631,784 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A compelling case for Paul as a follower of Jesus, February 21, 2001

By 

Timotheus Josephus - See all my reviews

This review is from: Paul: Follower of Jesus or Founder of Christianity? (Paperback)

David Wenham answers the question posed in the title of his book by affirming that Paul was a follower of Jesus and not some sort of founder of a new religion. The opening chapter, entitled "Introducing the Question", was helpful in that the author was forthcoming about his methodologies and biases. No scholar is "completely un-biased", and Wenham deserves credit for sharing the path his argument will follow before blindly leading his reader down it.

A convincing argument is made that Paul was aware of far more details of Jesus' life than for which he is often credited. Wenham tries to avoid what he calls "parallelomania" which is the overzealousness of some scholars to find connections between Paul and Jesus in places where they don't actually exist. Some skeptics may find Wenham guilty of what he claims to avoid, but I believe the vast majority of his arguments are highly probable.

Wenham groups the connections between Paul and Jesus in degrees of probability. For example, the "highly probable" category includes Paul's knowledge of the Last Supper, resurrection appearances, Jesus' teaching on divorce and others. His next category is simply labelled "probable" and contains such things as Paul's awareness of the baptism of Jesus, the commissioning of Peter, and many more things. He then moves to connections which he considers to be merely "plausible", and believes Paul's awareness of the Sermon on the Mount, parables of the prodigal son and vineyard tenants, among several other items, fall into this category.

By using degrees of probability, I think Wenham safely avoids the charge of "parallelomania". He doesn't use statements such as "Paul must have known X". Instead, he uses terminology like "Paul probably knew X" or "It is very likely that Paul was aware of X". Taken as a cumulative argument, Wenham's case is highly persuasive. The one shortcoming I found with this book was that Wenham fails to adequately interact with those who would say that Paul was the founder of Christianity. Its apparent that Wenham is more than able to meet the task, so my assumption is that he wanted to focus on developing his case without constantly being sidetracked by the need to refute his opponents. If the book is ever revised, it would be great to see him address this issue. Doing so would make this an absolutely perfect book.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Sober Inquiry Into a Nagging Question, August 19, 2004

By 

C. Price "Layman, Lawyer, Blogger" (Southern California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Paul: Follower of Jesus or Founder of Christianity? (Paperback)

This is the most thorough discussion of Paul's relationship with the teachings and life of Jesus available for the layperson. Wenham has struck a masterful balance between scholarly discussion and accessibility. No one should be intimidated by this book, but they also need not fear that they are missing out on relevant issues.

A real strength of this book is the seriousness with which Wenham approaches the issues. Discovering what, if anything, Paul knew and carried on from Jesus is not a simple matter. One cannot just throw scriptures at a wall and hope that as much sticks as possible (he even includes a section on avoiding what he calls "parrallelomania").

To his credit, Wenham spends the first 30 pages + framing the issue. He candidly admits that Paul rarely refers explicitly to Jesus's teachings or ministry. He notes that the two usual explanations for this, that Paul either did not know much about Jesus or assumed that his audience knew much about Jesus, fail -- standing on their own -- to explain the situation satisfactorily. But as Wenham points out, there is an even larger issue. To what extent is Paul's message consistent with or the same as Jesus'? Given Paul's influence on Christianity and these questions, Wenham takes no offense about the question that entitled the book: Was Paul a Follower of Jesus or Founder of Christianity?

To make his comparison, Wenham does not simply take Gospel verses and compare them to Pauline verses. Instead, he probes underneath to determine what Jesus' message, for example, regarding the Kingdom really was. Then he does the same with the Pauline letters. Only then does he make his comparison. Wenham finds many points of contacts, such as Jesus' use of Abba, the Last Supper narrative (notably determining that the Lukan version was most likely used in the Pauline churches), Jesus' teachings on divorce and paying ministers, and others. He concludes the book with a very helpful summary. Because he covers so much ground, the summary neatly provides the answer to the question raised by the title of the book: "Paul saw himself as the slave of Jesus Christ, not the founder of Christianity. He was right to see himself in that way."

This book is an excellent resource for anyone interested in the relationship between Paul and Jesus. If you want answers instead of polemics or simplistic reassurances, then you will benefit from this book.

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding presentation of Jesus and Paul, May 19, 2002

By 

Michael Erisman (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Paul: Follower of Jesus or Founder of Christianity? (Paperback)

This book is a comprehensive presentation of the teachings of Paul and Jesus from the New Testament. I liked the way the various concepts were presented and analyzed. For a scholarly book, it is written in an easy to read fashion that contains enough detailed information for the theological scholar and is easily followed by the layperson. The book basically blows the doors off the theological theory that Paul was unaware of Jesus and created his own version of Christianity.

The book is outlined in such a way that many concepts which are presented by both Jesus and Paul such as the Kingdom of God, the Christian Community, and the essentials elements of who Jesus was and claimed to be, are compared, contrasted and dissected against each other. The result is that the author demonstrates that the absurd theories about Paul being unaware of Jesus life and teachings are unfounded.

It is clear after examining the evidence that Paul was presenting the message of the Gospel, and was in fact a follower of Jesus Christ and not the founder of a new Gnostic religion. If you have heard these theories and are curious, please read this book.