Paul: Early-Day Saint | Richard Lloyd Anderson, Understanding Paul

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As  a protestant minister who has taught a college course on the letters of Paul, I admittedly approached this book with some skepticism. Having read it, I found the book to be unquestionably thorough. Following presentations of the ancient world and the person and work of Paul, Ander son probes each of the letters in meticulous detail — as much as is possible in a single volume. Appendices deal with chronology, descriptions of Paul, baptism for the dead, and a glossary of ancient sources. But the author, a professor of religion at Brigham Young University, confirmed my skepticism—his is a comprehensive study of Paul and the epistles from a strictly Mormon point of view, one which uncritically perceives Paul as the forerunner of Joseph Smith (p. 67). 

In the preface the author states his thesis, noting that “modern revelation adds critical insight to Paul and . . . how well Paul supports modern revelation” (p. ix). Implementing this contention the author discerns in the letters of Paul and the Acts report of Paul’s missionary activities, strong, if not always conclusive, evidence of distinctively LDS doctrines: testimony to a new revelation (p. 5); the truth of the restored church (p. 7); premortal life (p. 19); emphasis on marriage — that Paul was married (pp. 24, 25); salvation not by faith alone (p. 51); apostasy at the end of the early Christian period (p. 65); centralized church leadership and authority (p. 112f); family relationships sealed for eternity (pp. 124-25); and baptism for the dead (p. 126). 

This contrasts sharply with what other scholars say about Paul and his message. For example, Gunther Bornkamm, professor of New Testament exegesis at Heidel berg University, points to Paul as a highly controversial figure in the primitive church—revered and loved, feared and hated. He considers the difference, the contradictions between reports in the Acts and the letters. Further, contends Bornkamm, “his theology is as little a system of universal timeless truths and religious experiences as his life was simply a series of favorable or adverse events” (1971, xxvii). In a similar vein, Leander E. Keck, professor of New Testament at Candler School of Theology speaks of “Paul the Problem”: “To understand better Paul’s place in early Christianity it is necessary to see that the NT itself incorporates alternative interpretations of the gospel. Paul does not speak for everyone” (1979, 5). So “understanding Paul” is neither a simple exercise nor does it lead to definitive answers. As Paul was a problem to the early church, highly controversial in both person and precept, so his thought has remained throughout subsequent centuries. 

The diversity of interpretations need not lead, however, to complete skepticism. Though Paul was a complex figure and his writing betrays a strong occasionalistic factor, nonetheless certain motifs, like facets of a gem, do emerge. Scholars usually probe for the coherent theme in Paul’s the ology, but I failed to find the same search in Anderson. J. Christaan Beker, professor of biblical theology at Princeton Theological Seminary, discerns it in the apocalyptic setting for the ultimate triumph of God (1980, ix). Markus Barth, professor of New Testament, University of Basel, Switzerland, contends that “justification of the godless by Jesus Christ, by grace, by faith alone, is among the central topics” of the letters (1974, 34). William D. Davies, George Washington Ivey, professor of Christian Origins, Duke University, con siders that “being in Christ” was the central concept (1980, 86-110). In an earlier day, Albert Schweitzer located the center of Paul’s thought in his eschatological mysticism (1931, 205-26). So there are foci to Paul’s thought; but unless Paul is strait jacketed, we cannot discern a clear, final comprehensive pattern for either the Chris tian community or the believer’s life. 

This brings us to the fundamental issue of hermeneutics, or the interpretation of scripture. Anderson assumes that because the letters are scriptural, then each verse—whether at the core of Paul’s message or a contingent comment—has final authority. Again, and contrary to most contemporary scholarship, Anderson assumes the Pauline authorship of all the letters traditionally attributed to the apostle. This leads to con fusion, for passages in the pastoral epistles and Hebrews contrast sharply with the messages of, say, Romans and the Corinthian correspondence. The authorship of Ephesians has been warmly debated but the notable commentator, Markus Barth, does come down on the side of Paul. With most of the corpus of New Testament letters attributed to Paul, Anderson has such a variety of material at hand that by selecting isolated texts he can substantiate any desired tenet as authentically Pauline. 

This methodology leads to the supporting of significant doctrinal statements or significant practices on slim evidence, several of which have already been noted above: the existence of premortal life, a new revelation, that Paul was married, that Paul was a member of the Twelve, and that Paul presents a final and authoritative pattern for the organization of the church. At one point, Anderson simply asserts that Arabia, to which Paul purportedly went (Gal. 1:17), need only mean the environs of Damascus (p. 29). 

On the matter of sources, I missed references to most of the contemporary Pauline studies—works by Bornkamm, Beker, Deissman (one reference), Davies, Keck, Kasemann, Schweitzer, and Barth, among others. The commentaries of F. F. Bruce received some attention. The ancients, the Church Fathers of the second and third centuries, and the historians are frequently noted. A bibliography would have been a helpful addition. 

The work is unquestionably the fruit of thorough study of the New Testament letters and the book of Acts, informed by an earnest and devout spirit. As such it will speak meaningfully to members of the LDS community. Paul was an early-day saint but he eludes co-option as the first Latter-day Saint. For that matter, no church can lay exclusive claim to him or his thoughts. 

Understanding Paul by Richard Lloyd Anderson (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company, 1983), 448 pp. $8.95.