The Religion of Paul the Apostle by John Ashton Essay Example for Free

The Religion of Paul the Apostle by John Ashton Essay This book is the outcome of the author’s conviction that an important way of understanding Saint Paul has been neglected. He mentions the idea expressed in 1888 by Hermann Gunkel, that Paul’s life experiences are the key to understanding his teaching about the spirit. On page 198 Ashton quotes Heinrich Weinel as saying :-   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Whenever the early church speaks of spirit and spirits it is always a matter of a perception based on frequent occurrences of real experiences. We see therefore that this book is much more an attempt to explain Paul’s experiences than yet another examination of his theology. The blurb on the back of this unusual book says in the author’s own words :- Paul did, I think, found a religion, and this book is largely concerned   with the question of how he came to do so. Besides being a study of comparative religion it is also proffered as a contribution towards the   history of early Christianity. Some would argue with that definition – it seems to remove Christ from the picture and also the work of other evangelists. Paul has such a prominent position in the New Testament not necessarily because he was more important than other evangelists, but because, in Luke, he had such an excellent biographer. A look at the Bible references in the back of the book reveals how many times Paul’s life or words are referenced in comparison to the relatively few references taken from the gospels and the Old Testament. The book is very concerned with definitions, in particular with the difference between   religion – defined as experience, and theology – defined as the thinking that comes as a result of that experience. This is a scholarly work as can be seen immediately from the background of the author and the number of works by other scholars that he has consulted .John Ashton was formerly a lecturer in New Testament Studies at Oxford University. He had previously taught at the universities of London, St Andrews and Edinburgh. At the time of writing this book ( 2000) he was Emeritus Fellow of Wolfson College, also in Oxford. He is best known for writing about John’s gospel – ‘Understanding the Fourth Gospel’, ‘Approaches to the Fourth Gospel’ etc ‘The religion of Saint Paul the Apostle’ was originally a series of 8 lectures which the author had been asked to give at Oxford University in 1998. These were the annual ‘Wilde Lectures in Natural and Comparative Religion’, founded under a trust deed in 1908. The nature of the lectures has changed over the years   as Ashton explains. Once upon a time they sought to distinguish the higher religions from the lower, but this second part of the description was dropped in 1969, probably in an attempt not to appear racist or judgmental. He uses material both from Paul himself, but also from contemporaries of his from both Jewish and Hellenistic, i.e. pagan, backgrounds. Ashton describes how from the 1880’s onwards there had been attempts to study the New Testament as objectively as one might study any other historical sources, but also goes on to say that the people were concerned were actually theologians rather than historians and were in the main Christians. It is however a subject t upon which it is very difficult to remain objective whatever one’s background as believer, atheist, agnostic or member of another religion.   Ashton’s main argument in this work is that Paul’s personal mystical experiences, especially the events on the Damascus road recorded by Luke in Acts 9, may be of more importance than the somewhat unsystematic theology of his letters. The book seeks to show how important aspects of Paul’s life and ministry should be seen in the light of his religious experience. He quotes Schweitzer who said of Paul’s mysticism that it ‘marks the last stage of the battle fought by the idea of resurrection to establish its place in eschatology’. He examines closely what he sees as shamanistic elements of Paul, both in his teaching and his letters and mentions how, from the1880’s onwards there have been those who have sought to prove that Paul was greatly influenced by pagan mystery religions which abounded at the time giving as an example his theology of baptism which it could be argued was very similar to that of the re-enactions of the death and rebirth of various gods such as Attis,   a Phrygian god of vegetation and Adonis,   a Greek deity. These ideas would be familiar to Paul, bought up as he was in a world where Greek influence was important, but his main influence   must have been his Jewish background, although Ashton believes that Paul’s religion was rather more than a mere modification of Judaism. On page 135 Ashton describes baptism as practised in the churches that Paul founded as being no more than a token when compared to the rites of passage practised in other religions of the time. Some would disagree with this minimalisation of what they see as an important part of Christian ritual, and in many churches it is only undertaken after a period of instruction which may be quite prolonged. Ashton says that the starting point for Paul’s thinking on the subject comes not from his knowledge of baptismal practices in Judaism, but was a result of his dramatic death life experience on the Damascus road and the subsequent resurrection to a new life in Damascus.   In chapter 7 he explains the part that the spirit world played in ancient times – anything that could not be explained was deemed to be the work of spirits and gods – for good or ill. Mention is made of how demons were believed to be behind and to explain all sorts of happenings that deviated from the norm such as storms, plagues, riots, unhappy love affairs and much more. Paul does not mention demons much, though he does refer to what he sees as his one great adversary – Satan. Ashton explains the role of the spirit both in Paul’s life and in that of his converts. He also examines the role of Christ himself in a passage which he realises may cause offence as it is entitled ‘Jesus the Shaman’.   In order to mitigate any offence he states that shamanism was not the most important aspect of Jesus’ ministry, but says that Jesus’ life as a wandering healer fits in with shamanistic practices even more than does the work of Paul. He claims that Jesus was not unique in this quoting several sources. There is detailed reference to the various words used to describe Jesus’ actions in ‘muzzling’ evil spirits. This, Ashton says, merely places Christ alongside other exorcists of the time. The difference was how he did it according to Mark chapter 3 v 11 and 12 where we are told that â€Å" Whenever the evil spirits saw him they fell down before him and cried out ‘You are the Son of God’.† On page 69, still discussing the shamanism of Christ, Ashton reminds us that in all three synoptic gospels the two incidents of the baptism of Christ and the temptation in the wilderness are recorded in that order and   he admits that for the purposes of his argument it would be better if they had been   recorded in the reverse order which would have fitted in better with the usual shamanistic experience of struggle followed by call or empowerment but a t least the two are associated.   Although in chapter 2, entitled ‘Paul the Enigma’ the question is asked ‘Was Paul a shaman?’ the answer is quickly given ‘Not really’. A shaman is a member of a tribal society who acts as a medium between the natural world and the spiritual one. A shaman is limited in his influence and also his periods of spirit filled ecstasy are limited and transitory. He uses magic to control events in the natural world, whether for good as in healing, or for bad as in curses. Paul did use his powers to control nature as when on the isle of Malta ( Acts 27) to cure many people, but it was available widely and not used in a negative way. Yet the author insists that some of Paul’s practices were shamanistic in nature and quotes the example of a picture of Paul struck blind from ‘Trà ¨s Riches Heures du Duc de Berry.’ Under the picture are the words ‘The inspired priest or shaman is usually called to his vocation   by a traumatic experience.’ Ashton sees the role of the shaman in two parts – the shaman’s personal experience and his ability to persuade other people of his exceptional gifts. This latter aspect is described as the social aspect. Ashton quotes at length from a Japanese work on the subject which states that a shaman is one who receives a gift from the spirit world. Usually this is from one spirit who becomes a companion or guide and after receiving the gift the shaman may experience a period of hysteria afterwards which results in illness. The process involves a complete change of character, perhaps like that described at the time of Paul’s meeting with the risen Christ. Whatever happened to Paul he himself saw it as a vision and a call – see Galatians 1. On page 243 Ashton mentions the finding of the documents now known as the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947. One of these ‘Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice’ was finally published only in 1985. He states that as early as 1971 John Bowker had put forward the proposition that Paul’s vision took place while he was engaged in a period of merkabah mysticism as mentioned in the scroll. He then mentions the doctoral thesis published in 1980 by Seyoon Kim ‘The Origin’s of Paul’s Gospel† which seems able to prove a link between Ezekiel 1, a key passage in the study of such mystic practises, and the verse in the Second letter to the Corinthians   ( 4 v 6) where it says ‘For God who said â€Å"Let light shine out of darkness† made his light shine in our hearts’. Ashton further argues that Paul’s ability to discuss spiritual matters is important in understanding the continuing popularity of his writings. The aim is to define Paul – a convert, a prophet, a mystic, an apostle, a charismatic, a shaman. Whichever definition one prefers Ashton argues that Paul acted as he did because of the set of circumstances in which he found himself. In chapter 4, entitled ‘Paul the Mystic’ Ashton is concerned with Paul’s mystical experiences, especially the rapture which he described in 2 Corinthian 12 as being carried up to the third heaven. The trances in which visions like these occur were well known in Judaism, but as Ashton points out, are a feature of shamanistic activities throughout the world. Despite this Ashton admits on his final page that any observable resemblances between Paul’s life and features of shamanism are coincidence only. Another aspect of the book is the examination of why, according to Ashton, Paul generally seemed to prefer to speak to Gentile audiences rather than the Jews of whom he was one, and, alongside this, there is an examination of Paul’s attitude to traditional Judaism, which it is possible he never officially renounced. See 2nd Corinthians 11 v 22 ‘Are they Hebrew? So am I’   Ã‚  Ashton seems fascinated with the idea of the symbiosis of Judaism and its younger offspring Christianity as when Paul spent three weeks at Thessalonica explaining how Jesus had to die and rise again, using the Jewish scriptures to do so.( Acts 17 v 1-4). Christians today read Paul’s words after 2000 years of the church developing his ideas into what we call Christian theology, something that was not in place before Paul – says Ashton, but he pays little attention to the theology of Christ found in the gospels. Ashton believed that Paul was a religious thinker in the sense that his thoughts were reflection upon his experiences rather than a pure theologian. In his introduction Ashton discusses various previous ways of looking at Paul and his influence i.e. a studies of his conversion and subsequent work in founding and building Christian communities; those who aim to present a systematic account of his thinking; Paul’s psychology and finally those who seek to put his work in a historical or/and sociological perspective. He concludes that none of these approaches quite fits his purpose, without stating precisely what his purpose is at this point. Chapter 2 describes Paul as an enigma – a puzzle. He questions how much shamanistic practices, already present in Judaism back until the time of the Judges, affected Paul. Ashton quotes passages from I Samuel describing prophets and seers, a translation which Ashton believes to be wrong. and quotes much later passages, in Isaiah and Jeremiah where the practices of mediums and so on were condemned e.g. Isaiah 8 v 19. Like many others of Christ’s followers Paul was an exorcist and a prophet. On page 36 Ashton concludes that there is no evidence that Paul picked up shamanistic practices from another   shaman, unless, as some such as Andrew Wilson believe, he did meet Christ in life and copied his practices. Among the many works quoted is Karl Barth’s commentary on Romans in which Ashton says that Barth deplores any attempt to describe Paul as a religious figure. Also mentioned is   J. Louis Martyn who aims in his commentary to dispel the idea that Paul was in any way anti-Jewish. Barth in particular splits religion absolutely from theology, but although it is possible to study the subject in a totally objective way, just as one might study chemistry, I do not feel that this is true of Paul. His theology sprang very definitely from his personal experience of the Saviour and the Holy Spirit working within him. Ashton also tries to explain the huge success of Paul’s message in bringing about change in the lives of both individual’s and communities. On page 234, in a chapter entitled ‘Paul the Possessed’ Ashton quotes Paul’s words in his letter to the Galatian church , Galatians 4   v14, where he describes how, despite his physical difficulties, he was welcomed ‘as if I were an angel of God’ i.e. as a messenger directly from God.   George Bertram is quoted as saying that this passage is the key to Paul’s own understanding of his role.    ‘He is entitled   to speak in this way’ says Bertram , ‘because Christ is manifested in him, in his body, in his missionary work’. On page 236 Evans-Pritchard’s statement about how, when a man is seized by a spirit, the event may be a temporary one, is quoted. Evans-Pritchard went on to say that if it is a permanent possession, the person becomes a prophet capable of healing, of exorcism and having foresight into events. The presence of the Holy Spirit was the ruling factor in Paul’s life. Consider for instance his words in Romans 8 v 14 -16:-‘Those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God ‘ and ‘the Spirit itself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children’. Yet this is the same Paul who described himself in 1st Timothy as ‘the worst of sinners.’ (I Tim. 1 v 16). How great the change must have been. If we take Luke’s word in Acts 28 where he describes how Paul, right up until what may have been the end of his life, continued to teach and preach and quoted Isaiah who spoke about how the Holy Spirit spoke the truth, then in Paul’s case the change that occurred on the Damascus road was very permanent and influenced all that he both did and said.   Professor Ashton claims on page 162, in a chapter concerned with the apostleship of Paul, that Luke, as biographer, has no interest in the question that intrigues him. The story Luke is telling is that of how Christ, rejected by the Jews, was proclaimed to the Gentiles. Luke was eager to show how Paul used scripture to make his point. Ashton describes Paul, on page 162, as the chief witness and as such he was not reluctant to use spiritual power to do so.( I Corinthians 2 v 5) Just as Luke uses the phrase ‘in the power of the spirit’ to describe how Jesus returned to Galilee, Paul uses the same phrase to describe his own activity. Luke also tells us that Christ gave the apostles power and how Paul manifested similar power. Ashton mentions the passage in 2nd Corinthians 12 v 12 that he feels is the key to Paul’s ability to gain a hearing and also to convince –‘The things that mark an apostle – signs, wonders and miracles – were done among you with great perseverance.’ The people were convinced because his words had authority behind them – an authority he claimed came from the Messiah himself. Ashton mentions the work of Ramsey MacMullen in describing how religious fairs would convince people to join pagan religions. Their senses would be assaulted by all kinds of wonders. Ashton claims that Paul’s career begun in a similar way as a wonder worker and, although Luke tells us that Paul preached the word it seems likely that it was his spiritual acts that were the first attraction and only later did promises of salvation and forgiveness take root. Ashton concludes his unusual book by saying that he is a historian, and having looked at Paul using history and comparative anthropology as an alternative to the work of theologians, he hopes that if the book is noticed at all it will show that the way of the theologian is not the only way to come to an understanding of Paul the Apostle. This is not an easy book to either read or review. Not because it is difficult to follow the arguments, whether or not one agrees with them, but because it is so easy to get sidetracked along paths that one has not perhaps explored before such as the influence of Jewish mysticism on the early church or what other commentators say about a passage  Ã‚   such as that in Ezekiel chapter 1. Bu t if it rouses interest in this subject it has done its job even if the author is rather divident to whether or not or not he has proved his point.       Bibliography and Works Cited Ashton, John, Approaches to the Fourth Gospel ( Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994) Ashton, John, The Religion of Paul the Apostle ( Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2000) Ashton, John, Understanding the Fourth Gospel (Clarendon Paperbacks, Oxford, 1994) Bertram,G. ,Paulus Christophoys:Ein anthropologisches Problem des Neuen Testaments in Stromata: Festgabe des akademischen Verreins zu Giessen im Schmalkaldener Kartell anlà ¤ÃƒÅ¸lich seines 50. Stiftungstages ( Leipzig 1930) Bible, New International Version ( Hodder and Stoughton, London 1998) Bowker,J. ‘Merkabah’ Visions and Visions of Paul, ( JSS 16 1971) Evans-Pritchard, E.E. Nuer Religion,( Oxford 1956). Gunkel, H. Die Wirkungen des heiligen Geistes nach der populà ¤ren Anschuung der apostolischen Zeit und der Lehre des apostels Paulus ( Gà ¶ttingen 1888) Kim,S., The Origin of Paul’s Gospel, ( Berlin 1984). Ramsey,W.M., The Bearing of Recent discoveries on the Trustworthiness of the New Testament,( London 1915) Schweitzer,A.   Geschichte der paulinnischen Forschung von der Reformation bis auf die Gergenwart.( Tà ¼bingen 191) Trà ¨s Riches Heures du Duc de Berry http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/rh/1.html ( accessed 12th January 2008). Weinel,H., Die Wirkungen des Geistes und der Geister im nachapostolischen Zeitaler bis zum Irenà ¤us ( Friburg i.B/Liepzig/Tà ¼bingen 1899) Wilson,A.N. Paul  :the Mind of the Apostle, ( London 1997).