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necessary to release his devotees for immortal life. This view of Jesus' death seems to have come to Paul in his
Damascus vision. Its roots lie not in Judaism, but in mystery-religion, with which Paul was acquainted in Tarsus. The
violent deaths of Osiris, Attis, Adonis, and Dionysus brought divinization to their initiates. Paul, as founder of the new
Christian mystery, initiated the Eucharist, echoing the communion meal of the mystery religions. The awkward
insertion of eucharistic material based on I Corinthians 11:2326 into the Last Supper accounts in the Gospels cannot
disguise this, especially as the evidence is that the Jerusalem Church did not practice the Eucharist. Paul's missionary
campaign began c.44 in Antioch. He journeyed to Cyprus, where he converted Sergius Paulus, the governor of the
island. It was probably at this point that he changed his name from Saul to Paul, in honor of his distinguished convert.
After journeys in Asia Minor where he made many converts, Paul returned to Antioch. His second missionary tour
(51-53) took him as far as Corinth; and his third (54-58) led to a three-year stay in Ephesus. It was during these
missionary periods that he wrote his Epistles. Paul's new religion had the advantage over other salvation-cults of being
attached to the Hebrew Scriptures, which Paul now reinterpreted as forecasting the salvation-death of Jesus. This gave
Pauline Christianity an awesome authority that proved attractive to Gentiles thirsting for salvation. Paul's new
doctrine, however, met with disapproval from the Jewish-Christians of the Jerusalem Church, who regarded the
substitution of Jesus' atoning death for the observance of the Torah as a lapse into paganism. Paul was summoned to
Jerusalem by the leaders James (Jesus' brother), Peter, and John to explain his doctrine (c.50). At the ensuing
conference, agreement was reached that Paul's Gentile converts did not need to observe the Torah. This was not a
revolutionary decision, since Judaism had never insisted on full conversion to Judaism for Gentiles. But Paul on this
occasion concealed his belief that the Torah was no longer valid for Jews either. He was thus confirmed in the role of
"apostle to the Gentiles," with full permission to enroll Gentiles in the messianic movement without requiring full
conversion to Judaism. It was when Peter visited him in Antioch and became aware of the full extent of Paul's views
that a serious rift began between Pauline and Jewish Christianity. At a second conference in Jerusalem (c.55), Paul was
accused by James of teaching Jews "to turn their backs on Moses" (Acts 21:21). Again, however, Paul evaded the
charge by concealing his views, and he agreed to undergo a test of his own observance of the Torah. His deception,
however, was detected by a group of "Asian Jews" (probably Jewish Christians) who were aware of his real teaching.
A stormy protest ensued in which Paul feared for his life and was rescued by the Roman police, to whom he declared
for his protection that he was a Roman citizen. This surprising announcement was the end of Paul's association with
the Jerusalem Church, to whom the Romans were the chief enemy. The Roman commandant, Claudius Lysias, decided
to bring Paul before the Sanhedrin in order to discover the cause of the disturbance. With great presence of mind, Paul
appealed to the Pharisee majority to acquit him, claiming to be a Pharisee like James. Paul was rescued by the
Pharisees from the high priest, like Peter before him. However, the high priest, resenting this escape, appointed a body
of men to assassinate Paul. Learning of the plot, Paul again placed himself under the protection of the Romans, who
transported him by armed guard from Jerusalem to Caesarea. The High Priest Ananias was implacable, no doubt
because of Paul's defection from his police task in Damascus, and laid a charge of anti-Roman activity against him.
Paul appealed for a trial in Rome before Caesar, his right as a Roman citizen. The assertion of Acts that the Jewish
"elders" were also implicated in the charges against Paul is unhistorical, since these same elders had just acquitted him
in his Sanhedrin trial. Paul was sent to Rome, and here our information ends. Legends speak of his eventual
martyrdom in Rome. Paul's authentic voice is found in his Epistles. Here he appears as an eloquent writer, skilled in
asserting his authority over his converts as their inspired teacher. The view often asserted, however, that Paul writes in
the style of a rabbi is incorrect. His occasional attempts to argue in rabbinical style (e.g., Romans 7:1-6) reveal his lack
of knowledge of rabbinic logic. Paul's letters belong to Greek literature and have affinity to Stoic and Cynic literature.
His knowledge of the Scriptures is confined to their Greek translation, the Septuagint. Paul was a religious genius,
who invested Greek mystery-religion with the historical sweep and authority of the Jewish Bible.