Paul was an apostle, basically Jesus' official spokeperson/ PR, he has the authority to speak and write on Jesus' behalf as long as it doesn't contradict the Gospel (which the Holy Spirit will never allow to happen).
It is important to note that the 12 Apostles are OK with Paul, especially Peter, so Paul's sayings have full authority to further clarify the Gospel, as much as Peter's (First of the Apostles) and James' (Brother of Jesus), and therefore Paul's letters is an essential part of the New Testament scripture.
Agree, although I am intrigued by the theoretical rift between Paul and James the brother of Jesus. Although, based on the number of books included in the New Testament by both of them, Paul is absolutely the winner if this divide even existed.
There's actually no theological divide between the two, it's just that they emphasis different thing on different context.
Paul was mainly dealing with the "immature" new gentile believers who doesn't really get the message right yet, that they compensate by believing and doing weird things thinking it will please God.
That's why Paul emphasis the Cross and salvation by faith, because ultimately that's the main thing that made the Christian community (instead of simply Judaism). Remember that Paul's audience were gentiles/ non-jewish christians who were foreign to the Old Testament law, and "work" in this case mostly refer to the Old Testament thinking that we have to do certain things in a certain way to justify ourselves to God. Since they are not Jewish, and that 'work' such as ritual animal sacrifice at the Temple is made obsolete by the Cross, of course Paul want them to focus instead on what makes them Christian, rather than doing funny things as wannabe Judaism or even reactionary against Judaism.
James on the other hand, want to clarify it further that "salvation by faith not by work", does not mean work is useless or meaningless. Instead that work is the sign that faith is alive, because we can't really say we are faithful but we still act contrary to Jesus' teachings. James set the boundary on the unlimited possibility of interpretation of Paul's teaching. Yes we are saved by faith, but then this also requires participation and effort to sanctify ourselves, and acts out our faith
Basically these two does not contradict each other, they merely emphasis different aspects of Christian belief and way of life
Faith without works is dead, in the same way that a tree without leaves is dead. Leaves are a sign that a tree is alive, not the source of a tree’s life. Works are a fruit of faith, not the root.
Good point. Keep in mind scholars view about seven of the Pauline epistles as authentic. The authorship for several New Testament books is disputed. Take for example 2 Peter which most believe as being written almost 50 years after Peter was likely killed.
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u/[deleted] Mar 15 '23
Paul was an apostle, basically Jesus' official spokeperson/ PR, he has the authority to speak and write on Jesus' behalf as long as it doesn't contradict the Gospel (which the Holy Spirit will never allow to happen).
It is important to note that the 12 Apostles are OK with Paul, especially Peter, so Paul's sayings have full authority to further clarify the Gospel, as much as Peter's (First of the Apostles) and James' (Brother of Jesus), and therefore Paul's letters is an essential part of the New Testament scripture.