The Beliefs of St Paul the Apostle

Paul's conversion on the Road to Damascus seems pretty certain to have happened. We have an account in Acts probably written by a companion of Paul's, and we have the obvious fact that Paul was a Christian later in life. Both Acts and Paul's letters indicate Paul was originally involved in persecuting Christians.

So what did Paul believe before and after that event?

The Pharisees

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/pharisees-sadducees-and-essenes
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12087-pharisees
http://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/jewish-resurrection-of-the-dead/

Paul was a Pharisee originally, charged with rooting out Christians. Curiously the best source of information about the Pharisees is the Christian New Testament, with Josephus (who was probably a Pharisee himself) being the second of two. Neither are exactly objective!

The defining feature of the Pharisees was the belief in a set of spoken laws, supposedly given to Moses, to accompany the written laws of scripture (this Oral Law was eventually written down in the Talmud). They believed Israel had been conquered because it had failed to keep God's laws, and so were extremely careful to keep his laws in every particular. In Jesus' time, of the many religious divisions within Judaism, the Pharisees were the most popular with the common people, and modern Judaism has its roots in Pharisaic Judaism.

The Pharisees believed that once the Jews were sufficiently observant of the laws, God would send a messiah, a man, a new King of the Jews and therefore a descendant of David, who would overthrow the Romans and usher in a new age of peace. This was the coming Kingdom of God, and is what Christian's anticipate (perhaps without realising it), in the Lord's Prayer, when they say "Your kingdom come on Earth as it is in heaven". This coming of the Kingdom of God would be accompanied by the resurrection of the dead.

Here is Josephus on the Pharisees:

14. But then as to the two other orders at first mentioned, the Pharisees are those who are esteemed most skillful in the exact explication of their laws, and introduce the first sect. These ascribe all to fate [or providence], and to God, and yet allow, that to act what is right, or the contrary, is principally in the power of men, although fate does co-operate in every action. They say that all souls are incorruptible, but that the souls of good men only are removed into other bodies, - but that the souls of bad men are subject to eternal punishment.
- Jewish War 2.8.14

The bit "removed into other bodies" I take to mean that the good are given new bodies, rather than to suggest reincarnation (see also here). It was the practice at the time to bury the dead in a tomb until the body had rotted away, and then to put the bones in an ossuary, so clearly the resurrected would need new bodies.

The Pharisees got their beliefs from the Old Testament of course, and we can see what it has to say about the resurrection. The dead would exists as shades in Sheol:

Psalm 16:10 For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Until the resurrection, when they would come back to life in new bodies shining brightly:

Daniel 2:2 Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting [a]contempt. 3 [b]Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the [c]expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.

Note that even Jesus confirms this view of the resurrected being like angels:

Mat 22:30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.

Jesus and the Pharisees

Jesus rejected the Pharisees' strict observance of the law (for example, Mark 2:27), and this meant that Jesus could not possibly be the messiah in the eyes of the Pharisees, and we read of numerous clashes in the gospel accounts.

Paul was one of those assigned to sort out the Christians. The motivation was clear: these Jews were failing to be properly observant (for example, with regards to the Sabbath), which meant that God was delaying sending the messiah, which in turn meant more years under the rule of the Romans. It was up to Paul, and others like him, to stop Christianity, and so hasten the arrival of the messiah.

Paul's Conversion

Paul went from persecuting Christians to becoming one himself, which is quite a change, but just how much did his beliefs change?

He already believed in a messiah, he already believed in the resurrection of the dead. What changed was the identity of the messiah. And given what he experienced, he had good reason to do so! He was expected a man who would usher in a new age, who would start the resurrection of the dead. Here was a man, resurrected!

This should not be trivialised; Paul originally thought a strict observance of the rules was vital, was required by God, and undoubtedly this was a deeply held belief. He dropped that (and we know he did, given much of his argument with the disciples was about not observing the law), when he saw the vision, so clearly it was a powerful vision.

The strict observance of the laws was a means to an end, and Paul became convinced that that end had been achieved. It logically followed that the strict observance of the laws could be abandoned, and this became Paul's new position, a position that put his at odd with the disciples on more than one occasion.

Paul in Acts

Paul still believed in a messiah, a man, a new King of the Jews and therefore a descendant of David, who would usher in the Kingdom of God, and begin the resurrection of the dead.

Like other Pharisees, Paul envisaged the resurrected to be angel-like... and this is what he saw:

Acts 9:3 As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.

This was not Jesus in his original body, broken by the crucifixion, this was Jesus in a new, heavenly body! Christians might at this point object, saying this was Jesus after the Ascension, but that is beside the point. This is what Paul saw and this is what he based his beliefs on. Note also that Paul never mentioned the Ascension - probably because it was made up decades later.

Thus, straight after his conversion:

Acts 9:20-22 And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?” But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.

Here is Paul preaching:

Acts 17:30 Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, 31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge [u]the world in righteousness [v]through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men [w]by raising Him from the dead.”

It is important to realise that Paul was not starting a new religion; he was Jewish, and he was promoting Judaism. Acts 13:16 onwards describes him preaching in a synagogue to Jews, explaining how Jesus fitted the existing religion. This is just some highlights:

Acts 13:16 Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said,
“Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen: 17 The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and [b]made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He led them out from it. .... 21 Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 After He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My [c]will.’ 23 From the descendants of this man, according to promise, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, ...
... 33 that God has fulfilled this promise [h]to our children in that He raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘You are My Son; today i have begotten You.’ 34 As for the fact that He raised Him up from the dead, no longer to return to decay, He has spoken in this way: ‘I will give you the holy and [i]sure blessings of David.’ 35 Therefore He also says in another Psalm, ‘You will not [j]allow Your [k]Holy One to [l]undergo decay.’ 36 For David, after he had [m]served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers and [n]underwent decay; 37 but He whom God raised did not [o]undergo decay. ...

Paul's Epistles

Romans 1:3 concerning His Son, who was born of a [b]descendant of David according to the flesh, 4 who was declared the Son of God with power [c]by the resurrection from the dead, according to the [d]Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,

Jesus being a descendant of David was vital to Paul, because he saw Jesus as the messiah, the earthly king of the Jews, and so Jesus had to be a male-line descendant of David. The virgin birth had yet to be invented! Paul frequently called Jesus "Lord"; Jesus was not a god or a part of the godhead, Jesus was the king!

Also, note that God declared Jesus as his son at the resurrection. Paul believed Jesus was the Son of God by adoption, following the tradition of the Jewish Kings (2 Samuel 7:12-16, Psalm 2:2,7), just as Mark did, but while Mark had Jesus adopted as his baptism, Paul believed he was adopted at his resurrection.

That did mean Jesus was divine, but divine in the way the earlier kings of the Jews had been divine; as God's adopted son. He certainly did not think of Jesus as God; Jews were vehemently montheistic.

1 Corinthians 15:20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.

Prototype for the general resurrection

Jesus was the first fruits, the prototype of the coming resurrection of the dead. It is interesting to compare this to Matthew (Mat 27:52 The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the [aa]saints who had fallen asleep were raised; ); was this thought to be the second wave of resurrections?

1 Corinthians 15:35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?” ...

42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown [l]a perishable body, it is raised [m]an imperishable body;

Paul expected the resurrection of the dead soon, because Jesus was the prototype, the first fruits. He believed the resurrection of Jesus was the first step of the coming of the Kingdom of God, and so the last trumpet would sound within his lifetime (and of course Jesus also predicted it within the lifetime of some of his disciples).

New bodies for the resurrected

Just like Josephus, Paul believed the resurrected would be given new bodies. He goes into detail in 1 Corinthians 15:

35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” 36 How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else.

In this analogy, the flesh and blood body is the seed, the heavenly body is the plant it produces. The seed being sown is very much like the body being buried in a tomb. And note that the seed is left underground, just as Jesus' body was left buried - no empty tomb here!

38 But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39 Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40 There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. 41 The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.

Paul is making it abundantly clear that there are two types of bodies; the original flesh and blood, and the new heavenly body.

42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

Back to the seed analogy, with the original body - weak, perishable - buried, and the individual raised in a new heavenly body (spiritual in the sense of being close to God, rather than ghost-like).

45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”[f]; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we[g] bear the image of the heavenly man.

Again Paul is comparing the natural body, made of physical matter (dust as he says), and then the heavenly body.

50 I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

You cannot enter the Kingdom of God if your body is flesh and blood!

51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.

But what of those who are still alive? Paul declares that their bodies will be changed too. They have to be, because you cannot enter the Kingdom of God if your body is flesh and blood. Thus, in that moment, the righteous who are still alive will be changed, and they will lose their flesh and blood bodies and will get new heavenly bodies.

Paul says more in his sequel, 2 Corinthians 5:

1 For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands.

The earthly tent is the flesh and blood body, and Paul explicitly states it will be taken down, and the righteous get a new dwelling - and not a tent, but a house!

2 We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. 3 For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies.[a] 4 While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. 5 God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.

Not spirits without bodies, but instead wearing new heavenly bodies.

All sons of God

Romans 8:23 And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.

Paul believed Jesus was adopted as the Son of God, but Jesus was the prototype, and Paul was looking forward to everyone (who was worthy) getting the same. Everyone would be adopted as the Son of God when they got resurrected (at least in some sense).

Galatians 4:5 so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

Ephesians 1:5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,

The adoption idea is seen here too.

Gal 4:1 Now I say, as long as the heir is a [a]child, he does not differ at all from a slave although he is [b]owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and [c]managers until the date set by the father. 3 So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the [d]elemental things of the world. 4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under [e]the Law, 5 so that He might redeem those who were under [f]the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. 6 Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir [g]through God.

The passage is a little contradictory, as it suggests God sent Jesus into the world, but at the same time has this idea of adoption as the son of God. Romans 8:3 also has this idea of God sending Jesus.

Jesus is Lord

Christians (eg here) make a big deal about Paul called Jesus Lord, and point out that in the Old Testament, this was how God was referred. But the truth is that Paul clearly distinguished between Jesus a Lord and God, as this text illustrates:

Romans 1:7 to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

It must be acknowledged that there are parts of Paul's epistles that suggest he believed otherwise, but we have to remember that all his writing comes to us via the Christian church, and every epistle exists today only because Christians made careful copies of them, and so it is entirely plausible that each has been massaged to reflect mainstream Christianity. It is important to note that the opposite is not true; it is not plausible that later Christians would have a tendency to introduce adoptionist material into the texts.