No Jewish law for Christians, but what then?
Why Christian law is not in the Bible. About Paulos's selective application of Jesus' instructions, and his remarkable views on sex, women, and men with long hair.
The previous episode dealt with the confluence of circumstances under which the epistles of Paulos of Tarsos became the core of the teachings of the official Roman Christian church.
In this episode, we're going to look at Paulos' moral views. Jewish law was out of the question: it only applied to Jews. What applied to rest of the Christian followers?
In the newsletter about Jesus' understanding of toleration, we read that Jesus never doubted the applicability of Jewish law. Within it he set the following accents:
Clean or unclean: true purity is within.
God's kingdom, a kingdom for the poor, in which there is no place for the rich.
A simple lifestyle, in collectivist communities.
Jewish law is, at its core, about love for God and for those around you. Jewish law is in full force, but quibbling over rules distracts from the core. Treat other people just the way you want to be treated, that's the core.
We are morally bound to forgive those who repent. Only those who are forgiving are eligible for divine forgiveness.
In case of ascendancy, excessive surrender is the best option. That's the way to shame the bully.
His audience was bound by Jewish law, but nobody will be forced into it. We have the choice to follow the law or not. Others have nothing to do with that; God will deal with you later. You have a free will.
Jesus thought egalitarian, in line with Jewish tradition. Everyone is thus at an equal distance from God. Just don't imagine you’re more than others. And anyone can contact God directly. You don't need anyone's intervention.
But Paulos also had a lot of other things on his mind.
He constantly had to substantiate why Jewish law does not apply to non-Jews in the New Israel.
Paulos was particularly interested in the construction of a theological system, which Jesus had hardly concerned himself with. How to relate to God, what place does Jesus take in this? How to become a Christian, and what place do rituals such as baptism and the sacraments have in that?
Because in his communities Jews and Greco-Roman gentiles had to get along, the ethical differences between these groups had to be treated in a disciplined but also tolerant way. With community building, practical, pastoral matters demanded his attention. The ideal he had in mind was the organisation of the community as a Greco-Roman family.
Moral statements were therefore incidental, but not insignificant. First, to bridge the cultural differences between the Jewish and Hellenic members. Secondly, to fill the gap left by Jewish law.
The Seven Laws of Noah
Jewish law no longer mattered in the New Israel, according to Paulos. Love for God and for those around you, that was the real law. But that didn't mean the new Israel was completely lawless. According to Paulos, which laws still applied? First, the Noahide covenant. These were the rules that God had imposed on the world before she dictated Jewish law to Moses.
Why appeal to Noah's laws? These were the minimum conditions under which Jewish members wanted to interact with Gentiles. Without the applicability of those rules, Jerusalem would have decidedly ostracised Christian communities. For Paulos, they were also elementary rules of decency, which were not in question.
In the Law there are many commands, such as, “Be faithful in marriage. Do not murder. Do not steal. Do not want what belongs to others.”
But all of these are summed up in the command that says,
“Love others as much as you love yourself.”— Paulos of Tarsos, Epistle to the Romans 13:9 (c. 57 CE)
More precisely, Noah's rules were:
Not to worship idols
Not to curse God, or use his name or to curse (any of) the creation
Not to commit murder
Not to commit adultery or sexual immorality
Not to steal
Not to eat flesh torn from a living animal
To practice justice, and to establish courts of justice, in order to enforce the above prohibitions
Even if you weren't raised Christian, you probably know the Ten Commandments, but not Noah's laws. Presumably that's because you don't find Noah's laws in the Bible. They are rules derived from biblical texts by Jewish scribes, and written down in the Babylonian Talmud. But that didn't happen until hundreds of years after Paulos. Before that, they were part of an oral tradition.
It is rather embarrassing not to find the only valid Christian commandments in the Bible. If you wanted to know, you would have to ask an old rabbi. That is why the custom has arisen among Christians to refer only to the Ten Commandments. However, according to Paulos' theology, these Ten Commandments cannot be binding on Christians: they were part of the Law of Moses, which did not apply to Christians. In fact, according to some Jewish theologians, non-Jews are not even allowed to observe the rest of Jewish law!
Strictly speaking, according to Paulian theology, Christians are not required to keep the Sabbath, treat their parents with respect, and there is no religious prohibition on coveting other people's things, or perjury. Those rules are in the Ten Commandments, but not in Noah's laws.
Selective application of Jesus' instructions
What did Paulos do with the instructions Jesus had left behind?
Cleanliness laws
The Jewish purity laws had expired, Paulos no longer cared about them. At least, that's what you'd think. But apparently Paulos forgot that from time to time, and his Jewish upbringing involuntarily played up.
Don't touch anything that isn't clean.
— Paulos of Tarsos, Second Epistle to the Corinthians 6:17 (c. 56 CE)
God's kingdom is for the losers
Paulos explains Jesus' idea of a kingdom for the poor:
The people of this world didn't think that many of you were wise. Only a few of you were in places of power, and not many of you came from important families. But God chose the foolish things of this world to put the wise to shame. He chose the weak things of this world to put the powerful to shame.
— Paulos of Tarsos, First Epistle to the Corinthians 1:26-29 (55 CE)
Aversion to money and wealth
Under Paulos, Jesus' aversion to money and wealth waned. His congregations in Ephesus and Corinth had rich and poor members. There must have been quite a bit of charity, but the rich remained rich, and the poor remained poor. There are even indications that in some house churches the poor were not even welcome. As long as the better-off were generous and benevolent, Paulos had no apparent problem with that. There was no significant collectivism either. Members formed their own household, as a rule, they did not live together.
Take care of God's needy people and welcome strangers into your home.
— Paulos of Tarsos, Epistle to the Romans 12:13 (c. 57 CE)
That was about it. The first letter to Timothy does discuss in detail the disadvantages of greed for money. But the problem is: that letter probably wasn't written by Paulos. It is probably a forgery, written a hundred years after Paulos. Paulos only wrote passingly about the disadvantages of greed for money.
Love
The commandment of love for God and for those around you remained in full force, as did the golden rule.
Love each other as brothers and sisters and honour others more than you do yourself.
— Paulos of Tarsos, Epistle to the Romans 12:10 (c. 57 CE)
Love is patient and kind, never jealous, boastful, proud, or rude.
Love isn't selfish or quick tempered. It doesn't keep a record of wrongs that others do.
Love rejoices in the truth, but not in evil. Love is always supportive, loyal, hopeful, and trusting.
Love never fails!— Paulos of Tarsos, First Epistle to the Corinthians 13:4-7 (55 CE)
The other cheek
On turning the other cheek:
Don't mistreat someone who has mistreated you. But try to earn the respect of others, and do your best to live at peace with everyone.
— Paulos of Tarsos, Epistle to the Romans 12:17 (c. 57 CE)
Freedom and equality
Jesus' conceptions of free will, equality, and equidistant distance from God also remained unchanged.
Of course, I have the freedom to do what I want.
— Paulos of Tarsos, First Epistle to the Corinthians 9:1 (55 CE)
Don't be proud and feel that you know more than others.
— Paulos of Tarsos, Epistle to the Romans 12:16 (c. 57 CE)
Paulos and forgiveness
Paulos only talks about the victim’s forgiveness on one occasion. The context is somewhat mysterious.
In his second letter to the Corinthian congregation, he refers to a man who is said to have grieved him on his earlier visit. What had happened he left unmentioned; this was probably addressed in an earlier letter, which has been lost. Historians suspect that it was a certain Gaius, host of the church in Corinth. He is said to have accused Paulos of pocketing the "royalties" "for the poor" in Jerusalem. Paulos writes:
Most of you have already pointed out the wrong that person did, and this is punishment enough for what was done.
When people sin, you should forgive and comfort them, so they won't give up in despair. You should make them sure of your love for them.
I also wrote because I wanted to test you and find out if you would follow my instructions. I will forgive anyone you forgive. Yes, for your sake and with Christ as my witness, I have forgiven whatever needed to be forgiven.
— Paulos of Tarsos, Second Epistle to the Corinthians 2:6-10 (c. 56 CE)
Several things stand out. First, unlike Jesus, Paulos makes no mention of a Christian duty to forgive. Rather, he seems to do it out of magnanimity and charity. Secondly, there is no mention of remorse on the part of the perpetrator. It doesn't seem to play a role. And third, it clearly states that Paulos had ordered the congregation to punish the perpetrator. That, too, seems contrary to Jesus' command to leave the judgment to God. In fact, Paulos himself gave this command to the Christians in Rome (Romans 12).
It is unclear what the community’s punishment consisted of. Paulos also sometimes threatened a congregation with punishment. And he mentions one crass case: a man who slept with his father's wife. According to Paulos, the appropriate punishment, is that the man must be expelled from the church. Excommunication. And:
You must then hand that man over to Satan. His body will be destroyed.
— Paulos of Tarsos, First Epistle to the Corinthians 5:1-5 (55 CE)
Forgiveness from God is another thing. Paulos is very adamant about that. God forgives everyone who believes in Jesus. That forgiveness doesn't seem to depend on your own forgiveness:
All of us have sinned and fallen short of God's glory.
But God treats us much better than we deserve, and because of Christ Jesus, he freely accepts us and sets us free from our sins.
God sent Christ to be our sacrifice. Christ offered his life's blood, so by faith in him we could come to God. And God did this to show that in the past he was right to be patient and forgive sinners. This also shows that God is right when he accepts people who have faith in Jesus.
— Paulos of Tarsos, Epistle to the Romans 3:23-26 (c. 57 CE)
So: everyone who believes in Jesus is forgiven by God. Hurray. The fine print came later.
Paulos' own input
If you read Paulos' letters, you get a bit of a picture of his personality. The man had a big ego. Not one who modestly set himself up as a conduit for Jesus' instructions. Unsurprisingly, he added new instructions.
Isolation
It's a reflex you see more often, especially in religions: people with deviant behaviour should be shunned. It is a fairly primary form of tolerance, a peaceful choice if the alternative is to go wild on it. In the classification of the German philosopher Rainer Forst, it is the second step on the ladder of tolerance: coexistence. But there is also an element of aggression in it: the villain ends up in social isolation, rejected by the community and perhaps even by his family. "Deliver that man to Satan!"
I was talking about your own people who are immoral or greedy or worship idols or curse others or get drunk or cheat. Don't even eat with them!
— Paulos of Tarsos, First Epistle to the Corinthians 5:11 (c. 57 CE)
In any case, Paulos thinks that his Christian congregations should keep some distance from the unbelievers:
Stay away from people who are not followers of the Lord!
— Paulos of Tarsos, Second Epistle to the Corinthians 6:14 (c. 56 CE)
Sex
Paulos often wrote about sex, much more often than Jesus spoke about it. That's what you get when you practice sexual abstinence: you become obsessed.
Behave properly, as people do in the day. Don't go to wild parties or get drunk or be vulgar or indecent.
— Paulos of Tarsos, Epistle to the Romans 13:13 (c. 57 CE)
(I'm adding another lecture by Prof. Dale Martin (Yale). This episode is about Paulos' views on women, sex, and the family. The entire series of 26 lectures on the New Testament is easily accessible and very enlightening. At the bottom of this newsletter, you will find the link to the series.)
Greeks and Romans had few sexual barriers. Well, the woman was the property of the man, so she had little to say. But men could do whatever they wanted, whether they were married or not.
For the prudish Jew Paulos, this was unacceptable. All sex outside of marriage was wrong. And there were also restrictions within marriage. In fact, a celibate life is preferable, like Paulos himself. But not everyone has that self-control, he admitted, so get married and have sex. He wasn't talking about procreation, by the way. That didn't matter much when the end is near.
Women
Women were welcome in the church. But they had to cover their heads during prayer. Why? It's an insult to the man if she doesn't, and the angels watched, he wrote. Right. According to Jewish halacha, women must cover their hair after marriage. It seems that this particular Jewish rule was important to Paulos. But why? He is not clear about that.
Another thing: it's a shame when a woman just says something in church. By the way: wherever groups of people are together, women should remain silent. Why?
… as the Law of Moses teaches.
— Paulos of Tarsos, First Epistle to the Corinthians 14:35 (c. 57 AD)
But wait a minute Paulos, those laws didn't apply anymore, did they?
Nor does he explain why he opposes divorce, unless an unbeliever and a believer no longer want to stay together.
There are more rules that make you wonder where he got them from:
Isn't it unnatural and disgraceful for men to have long hair?
But long hair is a beautiful way for a woman to cover her head.This is how things are done in all of God's churches, and this is why none of you should argue about what I have said.
— Paulos of Tarsos, First Epistle to the Corinthians 11:14 (c. 57 AD)
Sure, dude.
Fairness and tolerance within the community
Not only pagan sexuality had to be curbed, but also the Greco-Roman cult of gods. That Paulos' Christians did not visit pagan temples or worship idols was not in dispute. You just didn't. But there was debate about eating sacrificial meat. You have to remember that in an average Greek city there was a whole sacrificial industry. Unless you kept your own cattle, you depended on that sacrificial industry for your portion of meat: virtually every animal slaughtered was sacrificed to the gods. A saucer of meat was then offered to the acting god on duty, and the rest could be taken by those present. Or it was sold by the temple priest to the local butcher. Even if you didn't go to the temple for your meat, but to the butcher, you were never sure if it was sacrificial meat.
Paulos takes a clearly tolerant position here. He himself had no problem with sacrificial meat as long as you did not interfere with the temple rituals. But he could also imagine that others would have trouble with that. His instruction was: do what you think is best, but do not judge your brothers and sisters if they think otherwise.
Some think it is all right to eat anything, while those whose faith is weak will eat only vegetables. But you should not criticise others for eating or for not eating. After all, God welcomes everyone.
— Paulos of Tarsos, Epistle to the Romans 14:2 (c. 57 CE)
Within the community you have to meet each other fraternally and reasonably, that's what it comes down to. The church is not a place for hair-splitting. Outside of that, you just have to keep a little aloof.
In summary
If you read Paulos' letters, not only his big ego lingers, but also his emphasis on love. He thought that was really important: that Christians just keep it pleasant among themselves. Don't start eating when the rest has yet to come home, that sort of thing.
On a number of issues, he clearly deviated from Jesus' instructions. First, of course, with regard to Jewish law, which he did not consider applicable. But he also clearly deviated in other matters.
Jesus' collectivism was watered down. His Greek converts probably wouldn't have taken it if he had told them to sell all their possessions. That Jesus had called for this, Paulos must have known very well. After all, he was one of the family in Jerusalem, where the old Jesus community still practiced collective property. I suspect an opportunistic Paulos here: he just didn't get the idea of collective property sold to well-off Greeks.
Paulos also shifted on forgiveness. Jesus emphasised mutual forgiveness. Forgive your neighbour, and God's forgiveness comes naturally. But Paulos clearly wrote about punishing believers. And he shifted the focus—in line with Jewish tradition—from mutual forgiveness to forgiveness by God.
Furthermore, it can be seen that he was also just a child of his time and of his environment. Women had to keep their mouths shut, and had better be contained.
Not to mention his dislike of women with peppy short haircuts.
For further reading
If you want to go directly to the source, you can. If you read Paulos' letter to the Romans and his two letters to the church in Corinth, you pretty much get the picture. I would start with the letter to the Romans, because there he introduces himself to a community that does not yet know him. The church in Corinth had already met him, so there he plunges in.
Paulos of Tarsos, Second Epistle to the Corinthians (56/57 CE)
Paulos of Tarsos, Epistle to the Romans (c. 57 CE)
Wayne Meeks, The origins of Christian morality (1993)
Ian McDonald, The crucible of Christian morality (1998)
Henry Chadwick, The church in ancient society from Galilee to Gregory the Great (2001)
Rainer Forst, Toleranz im Konflikt. Geschichte, Gehalt und Gegenwart eines umstrittenen Begriffs (2003)
Bruce Chilton, Rabbi Paul (2004)
Dale Martin, New Testament history and literature, 26 videocolleges, Open Yale Courses (2009)
Larry Wellborn, An end to enmity. Paul and the "wrongdoer" of Second Corinthians (2011)
Anthony Bash, Did Jesus discover forgiveness?, Journal of Religious Ethics (2013)
This was the fourth newsletter in the series on toleration and Christianity. So far, the other episodes are:
Before Christ
Jesus of Nazareth had some exceptionally tolerant ideas. In order to understand them, we need to know more about Jesus's Jewish background: the history of the Jewish people, their god and their law.Where Jesus' tolerant ideas came from
In some ways, Jesus was a tolerant thinker. But he didn't have all his views of his own. About Jesus' simple origins, the halakhic tradition and Hellenic influences.How this contrarian apostle accidentally founded a world religion
About the tragic life and the miraculous survival of Paulos of Tarsos, the orphaned Jesus community in Jerusalem, the mission in the pagan West and the irrelevance of the Jewish Law.No Jewish law for Christians, but what then?
Why Christian law is not in the Bible. About Paulos's selective application of Jesus' instructions, and his remarkable views on sex, women, and men with long hair.With blood on their hands and tears in their eyes
In the 4th century, the Church of Rome gained power and lost its innocence. The unity of the church became the main thing, and heresy a sin. After Augustinus’ struggle, the church got a killer instinct.Christianity, slavery and the conversion of pagans
On conversion of pagans without compulsion. And Christian approval of slavery. About sex slaves, the conversion of a tourist paradise, and exploitation by the village priest.The clean hands of the Church, the dirty hands of the State
How the popes let the Christian monarchs do the dirty work. But separation of church and state later came to mean something else: a secular government.The just war against Islam
A clash between Christianity and Islam was inevitable. Not only because they got into each other's way, but also because they used different justifications for warfare.