Lecture 8 | Influences upon Pauling Theology

Paul was a Jew who lived most of his life in a Greek environment. He became a Christian on the Damascus Road. What can we say were the main influences on his theology? First there was his Greaco-Roman environment. We find in his writings examples of the Greek games, common adoptive procedures, the contemporary practice in releasing slaves – all used to illustrate spiritual truths. There are some forms of speech, concepts from Stoicism, the Mystery Religions, Gnosticism in the surface of Paul's thought but its "subsoil" was from his Jewish heritage. Yet there was only one key which lay at the foundation of all his writings i.e., Damascus. It was his conversion, his Damascus road experience which lies at the root of everything. Also his subsequent contacts with the churches in Jerusalem and Judaea, what he received from them, plus all the God revealed to him during those years in Arabia, (Gal. 1:15-17). These were all influences in his theological background.