Where to start:
Below are (two, presently) longer posts for those with the time and interest. But one may find here brief bullet point summaries of the details (abstracts - if you will).
Intro to a very important question:
Paul is a missionary spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. He plants many communities who believe his message about Jesus Christ. Later he writes letters to these (and other) communities. When doing so, does he introduce them to his gospel - so that if we read his letters we can learn what the gospel is? Or, does he write to them with their acceptance of his gospel as already the shared starting point for their communication / relationship? If the later, he might write to clarify the meaning and implications of his gospel. If so, his letters are a great place to have one's understanding of the Gospel matured, clarified, transformed... redeemed!
In other words, if we want to know what the gospel is, should we be looking at Paul's letters for a "definition" or looking elsewhere to see what Paul and his audiences shared as common ground which both would recognize as "the gospel"?
posted by robby @ 11:00 AM
10 comments
10 Comments:
Robby,
I have been thinking this very thing for a few years. I had a discussion group at ERPC that wrestled with the question "What is the gospel?" for a month. We did not get close to settling the issue.
I think of the epistles as appendixes to the gospel message. The churches had already received the gospel.
I look forward to reading your reflections on this issue.
JR Caines
Thanks, JR
I agree "the Churches had already received the gospel."
The question is what gospel the churches received - or to turn that around, what gospel formed the Churches? (So glad to hear that you opened this question in your Church / for your people!)
Part of the goal of this blog is to suggest that the "gospel" early Christians believed and then the narratives about Jesus they called "gospels" are not so far apart.
And I also want to see what might happen if we mull this point over with those who read Paul, as I was subtlely taught to read him, as the sole figure who has bequethed to us the true gospel - thus relegating the fourfold Gospel to the status of "material."
Sounds like we're tracking together.
Please pipe in as often as you wish!
Shalom,
robby
Robby, I just happened to run into your site when doing a search for my name. Ha. Anyways, good comments. I'm heading to bed, so didn't bother with your longer posts (sorry). But my initial thoughts without taking the time to investigate is that you must be correct that the gospel message in the churches being addressed must predate Pauline correspondance if we take any of his letters seriously. So you are right in this and I think in your connection with the Gospels themselves. Further, though, I would say that even though the Gospel message to Paul's audience has previously been delivered in some form, the references within his letters clarify rather well the gospel he is presenting. Thus, I'd say it has to be a both/and kind of thing. Background material must be there "a priori" to his writings, but clearly the content of that common understand is elucidated rather well in the letters themselves.
Anyways, that's just a thought off the top of my head. Really I just found your article interesting and wanted to make a short comment. Oops. ;-)
Rob,
You should read over John Dickson's article on euangelion in NTS and also the article about the transition from euangelion as proclamation to a book in the 2004 edition of ZNW.
Thanks John Mark and Mike,
John Mark - I do not want to seperate - create a wedge between - the good news from its effects in the life of the believer.
It is interesting that Paul begins so many letters giving thanks to God the Father because there are outposts of communities faithful to Jesus (sometimes in these "thanksgiving sections" Paul commends the churches for their faith, hope and love, or their partnership or persecution with him in the Gospel).
So, given that the gospel seems to be THE CORE, shared starting point of engagement between Paul and the believers he writes, I'm just wondering if noticing this helps us answer questions about the content of Paul's gospel. What "message of good news" did Paul bring that created these communities in the first place - that brought about - for them - not only justification, but also such things as love for one another and hope for an eternal inheritance? (See 1 Thess 1:2-10; Philippians 1:3-8; Col 1:3-8 for some good examples of opening "thanksgiving sections.")
Mike,
Thanks for reminding me of the article about euangelion in NTS - brief but v. helpful! I'd forgotten it! I'll follow up on the other when time permits.
Shalom,
robby
Robby,
We don't believe in "justification by faith." We believe Jesus is Lord and Savior and we are justified by that faith in him.
If the gospel is the "message they believed" then isn't the gospel "Jesus is Lord and Savior"?
JR
JR,
Yes, I think that is a very reasonable take on the content of the gospel. This is why i'm bringing up the point about Paul with Mark and Luke on mission. I'm suggesting a very "visible" coherence between these three co-laborers in the gospel - Paul, Mark and Luke.
Secondly, whatever the core content of the gospel might have been, telling it would have required a "telling" broader than ideas to believe. Who - is this Jesus who is Lord and Saviour? What has he done that brings about the transformation / reconciliation of all things and so that faith in him results in the justification of those who entrust themselves to him. I think it would have required something like a narrative - not something to fit into one's life - but a new starting point from which to begin re-understanding everything.
So once again, i think we're tracking together nicely - but if I'm misunderstanding you please point it out!
Thanks,
robby
Robby
When doing so, does he introduce them to his gospel - so that if we read his letters we can learn what the gospel is?
What do you mean by his gospel?
Olympiada -
Great question for clarification - thanks!
By "his gospel" I simply mean the gospel he preached. This is the primary question I'm wrestling with - when Paul used this term in correspondance with communities who exist as communities because they have put their faith in Jesus - what resonances did they hear? Did gospel = 1) the system of salvation Paul taught us; 2) the story of Jesus and his kingdom; or 3) the story of Jesus and his kingdom that brings salvation to everyone who beleives? What hints are present in his letters?
Paul can refer to the gospel he preached as:
"the gospel of God" (Rom 1:1; 15:16; 1 Cor 7:1; 2 cor 11:7; 1 Thes 2:2, 8, 9) -
"the gospel of his Son" (Rom 1:9) -
"my gospel" = the gospel i/we preach (Rom 2:16; 16:25; 2 Tim 2:8; cf. 1 Cor 15:1; Gal 1:8; and "our gospel" 2 Cor 4:3; 1 Thes 1:5; 2 Thes 2:14) -
"the Gospel of Christ" = the good news concerning Messiah (Davidic King) Jesus (Rom 15:19; 1 Cor 9:12; 2 Cor 2:12; 9:13; 10:14; Gal 1:7; Phil 1:27; 1 Thes 3:2; and cf. 2 Cor 4:4) -
"the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thes 1:8) -
"the gospel of your salvation" (Eph 1:13) -
"the gospel of peace" (Eph 6:15)
It is interesting that the good news has reference to God himself and to his Christ (his Son who is enthroned as King on David's throne) so frequently.
Shalom,
Robby
Robby, I appreciated John Mark's comment about "both/and." I also keep thinking about how very much Paul assumes that his readers already know. It is a cause of much frustration for us at times! But his point of contact, his fellowship (cf. I John) with these people is the kernel of the good news about Jesus, which he reiterates and celebrates in his epistles. So do the other writers.
I think it is very important that we see our message as a narrative. Consider Tolkien's idea of Christianity being the true Myth. The gospel is a story about Jesus. Our message is a confrontation with competing stories. The truth of our story is borne out by our transformed lives. The story is still going on and the world is to see it in us. Paul was proclaiming and living the story, along with his companions. That is why it is so important that we understand the gospel as being about Jesus and not being some other way of satisfying our private angst about life. It does do that, but only as it is accepted on its own terms; not as an individual consumer's option.
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