This may seem like an obvious question. Many would answer that Christianity began with Christ. Others, thinking a bit deeper, might assert that the apostle Paul really began Christianity. But, historically speaking, both answers would be wrong. It is commonplace to assume that the religion called Christianity is as old as its namesake. Unfortunately, there …
Category: Paul
How did Paul Understand the Fate of His Unbelieving Fellow Jews?
Unfortunately, there are too many interpreters who read the New Testament as supporting the notion that Christianity (never mentioned in the NT) was intended to replace Judaism as God’s saving religion and Christians were intended to displace Jews as God’s favored people. After all, as some still claim, “the Jews killed Christ.” Doesn’t that warrant …
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Is Christianity Apostolic?
It may come as a surprise to many, but Christianity, if we define it as a religious movement intentionally separate and distinct from Judaism, is not apostolic. Let me state my thesis a bit more fully and then provide the evidence. First, to remind readers of the obvious, all of the apostles were Jews. Historically, …
Check out my article in this summer’s edition of Biblical Archaeology Review!
This summer's issue of Biblical Archaeology Review features my article "Five Myths About the Apostle Paul"! These myths are ones that most people accept without perhaps giving them much thought. But debunking them helps us understand the Jewish apostle in the context of the first-century, Roman world. His letters may not be saying what you …
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Just Published! Meet Paul Again for the First Time: Jewish Apostle of Pagan Redemption
I am happy to announce the publication of my latest book, Meet Paul Again for the First Time: Jewish Apostle of Pagan Redemption (Wipf and Stock, 2021). This book offers a new way to read and understand the self-styled “apostle to the Gentiles,” not as a hopeless sinner, not as an apostate Jew, not as …
What is the New Covenant and Who is it with?
There is a presumption among many Christians today that the “new covenant,” one that supposedly came with the arrival of Jesus, was established between God and Christians. Is that what history tells us? If it does, then what does the new covenant entail? If it does not, then what is the new covenant and how …
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Jesus and Paul Mention Them – But Who are the “Sinners”?
You might be asking why such an obvious question is being addressed in this post. Aren’t sinners just anybody since everybody sins? Well, not so fast. It turns out the Greek word for “sinner,” hamartōlos, had some specific meanings in the New Testament depending on how it was used. After we look at some examples …
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Did Paul Think Jesus was Pre-existent?
This may seem like a question with an obvious answer to many Christians who have grown up believing in the Trinity. Trinitarian doctrine was developed after decades of debates over the nature of Christ and the Godhead in the early church beginning in the second century. But Paul lived in the first century and wrote …
Baptism: From John to Jesus to Paul
Baptism comes from the Greek word baptizo which means “to immerse” in the sense of making clean with water. Ritual washings were commonplace in the first-century, Greco-Roman world. The purpose was not hygienic but sacred: such washings symbolized purification in anticipation of performing some holy ritual or entering sacred space. From archaeological discoveries, it appears …
Did the Apostle Paul Really Tell Women to “Sit Down and Be Quiet in Church”?
The apostle Paul is blamed for many of the controversies affecting modern Christian belief and practice. Did he, for example, support the institution of slavery as some have insisted? Did he condemn homosexuality? Did he reject Judaism as a failed religion? Was he a misogynist who looked upon women as second-class human beings? Centuries of …
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David Christian Clausen 