How Jewish Was Paul?– Hurtado’s Answer

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 10:53 pm by Ben Witherington

How Jewish Was Paul?– Hurtado’s Answer 2015-03-13T22:53:24-04:00 Ben Witherington

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The below is a helpful little post by Larry Hurtado about the Jewishness of Paul. I have a couple of caveats with it, namely Paul says he as a Jew has a choice about being the Jew to the Jew (1 Cor. 9). He no longer sees Torah observation as an obligation even for Jewish Christian like himself. He can either do it, or not do. He is no longer under the yoke of Torah, and what Paul does say is that the Mosaic covenant was temporary, and was eclipsed by the new covenant which is viewed as a fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant (Gal. 4). So, keeping Torah was an option but not an obligation in Paul’s view, even for Jewish Christians. In this he undoubtedly would have disagreed with some Jerusalem Christians, perhaps even with James. In Paul’s view, a requirement for Jews like Peter or himself to continue to keep kosher would divide the Christian community, and in Galatians he makes clear he sees that as unacceptable. Thus on the question of circumcision, he doesn’t think it much matters in Christ, but as a witness to Jews, he may have agreed to have his son (if he ever had one) circumcised. In short, I think Larry in what follows underestimates the radicality of Paul.
——

Would Paul Have Circumcised His Son?
by larryhurtado

In the course of explaining in his prologue why he bracketed Paul out of the discussion in his book, The Birth of Christianity (HarperCollins, 1998), John Dominic Crossan makes one of his characteristically punchy statements: “But, to put it bluntly and practically, if Paul had had a son, he would not have circumcised him” (xxv). In reading this years ago, my own immediate response was the opposite. Moreover, over the last fifteen years I’ve often asked colleagues in NT/Christian Origins how they would respond to the question: Would Paul have circumcised his son? And the response overwhelmingly has been “Yes, of course!” (So, as I often said to students, I may be wrong, but I’m not idiosyncratic!)

The larger issue pithily put in Crossan’s memorable statement is what continuing place Torah may have had in Paul’s view as “apostle to the gentiles.” As I read Paul, his critical comments about Torah are typically in the context of refuting those fellow Jewish believers who thought that gentile believers should take up Torah-observance fully (i.e., effectively, become Jewish proselytes) as a requisite part of their conversion, in addition to faith in Jesus. So, e.g., his discussion of Torah in Galatians seems to me clearly in this context.

Paul does also bemoan the many fellow Jews who rejected Jesus in the name of Torah, and acted (ignorantly in his view) as if Torah-observance continued to be the sufficient basis of a relationship with God (esp. Romans 10:1-4). Certainly (Paul held), now that Jesus the Messiah has come, it is not possible to be “justified in God’s sight by deeds of the Law” (Rom. 3:20). For now, “apart from the Law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed” in Jesus (Rom. 3:21ff.), and he is now the revelation that must be acknowledged in trust/faith.

But in other statements the same Paul affirms Torah as a genuine revelation of God. For example, he asks (rhetorically) does this new development (Jesus) “overthrow the law”? And his immediate response is “Absolutely not!” (Rom. 3:31).

So, Paul vigorously opposed the demand that gentile believes must adopt Jewish Torah-observance as a condition for their salvation. But what did he likely hold with regard to Jewish believers? So far as I can tell, Paul had no problem with fellow Jewish believers remaining Jews, and that includes remaining Jewish in observing Torah as a marker of their Jewish identity. So long as they didn’t treat Torah-observance as a universal requisite of believers, it was OK for Jewish believers. So far as being part of God’s redeemed people is concerned, especially so far as gentile believers are concerned, “neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything” (Gal. 6:15).

But does this mean that Paul was guilty of the charge ascribed to some zealous Jewish believers in Jerusalem that Paul taught “Jews living among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, and that you tell them not to circumcise their children or observe the customs” (Acts 21:21)? I doubt it. I can’t find any Pauline text in which Paul addresses fellow Jews and tells them to “forsake Moses” and the Torah.

Instead, in passages such as Romans 14 Paul seems to treat with equanimity fellow believers who do or do not observe customs that appear to be expressions of Torah. (And, as commentators typically note, Paul’s use of “weak” and “strong” in this chapter is likely ironic, reflecting the outlook of some in Rome who thought of themselves as “strong”.) And, it’s interesting that Acts claims that Paul did have Timothy circumcised (Acts 16:1-3; because his mother was Jewish, an early witness to the view expressed later in rabbinic texts that Jewish descent is traced through the mother).

So, in my view (and contra Dom’s), if Paul, the apostle to the gentiles, had married (a nice Jewish woman) and had a son, I am pretty sure that he would have had him circumcised. As I’ve noted before, Paul’s readiness to undergo repeated synagogue floggings is a strong indication that he continued to feel strongly his Jewishness, and was willing to pay with his own flesh to remain a member of his ancestral people.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

June 4, 2014

Johnson and Hurtado on the Codex and Papyrus Roll

Next Post

June 6, 2014 Jesus and the Scribal Elites...A New Treatment

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz