Abstract
Abstract Paul’s version of Christianity faced opposition in the early church, and has done so sporadically ever since. There have always been those who see him as corrupting the simple message of Jesus and complicating it, by turning it into a religion of redemption or by subverting its Jewishness. We must now, therefore, look briefly at the relation of Paul’s gospel to the teaching of Jesus and to some other early versions of Christianity. For an account of the Variety and Unity in New Testament Thought readers should consult the volume in this series with that title and for the question of how Pauline Christianity can be interpreted in modern times, the volume on Biblical Interpretation. Pauline theology certainly has a different look and feel from the accounts of the life and teaching of Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels, both in overall impression and in detail. This is partly because letters tackling pastoral, theological, and ethical problems are bound to be more complex than works composed mostly of narrative and pithy sayings. The genre is different, but there is more to it than that. It would be as foolish to argue for no development from Jesus of Nazareth to Paul as to suppose that Paul betrays the simple gospel of Jesus.
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