Paul of Tarsus - Final draft

September 24, 2008
Philosophy 1500

Paul of Tarsus
There’s a funny thing about humans. They only read what interests them. People wouldn’t keep reading books over and over through the years if they were bored to tears by them. The reason we still read about ever-questioning Socrates in the works of Plato is that it is interesting, and it still has something relevant to say to us 2300 years later. That being said, the greatness of books and their writers is determined by their influence over time and across the world.
The most widely distributed and read book in the world is the Bible. It is truly a great piece of literature. Its 66 books are split into two “halves”, the Old Testament, and the New Testament. Of the 27 books in the New Testament, Paul of Tarsus wrote 13, possibly 14 of them.
Paul was born in Tarsus, and became one of the Jewish Pharisee sect, and would have studied the Old Testament extensively. Paul was also a Roman citizen, and his knowledge of philosophy shows itself throughout his writing. “Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age?” (1Corinthians 1:20) He was a monotheist, and he interacted with various influential philosophies of his day, and was intellectually active with the culture. Paul was influential in starting churches all throughout Asia Minor, having traveled through the region three times. The cities he went through were major cosmopolitan areas, centers of travel, and all manner of philosophers and philosophies were present. “He reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him.” (Acts 17:17, 18) He left behind churches wherever he went, and he maintained contact with them, instructing them, correcting them, and answering letters they had sent him.
His structure and logic is brilliant. Most every paragraph starts with “but, now, so,” or “therefore,” so characteristic of philosophic language. He employed rhetoric in his writing, his epistolary style is rich with imagery, and he employed visuals as mnemonic systems to aid in memory like the ones Aristotle had defined 400 years before. In his letter to the Ephesians, after making six main points, he provides an image of the armor of a soldier so the readers can “see” the points. “Therefore put on the full armor of God… Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6, 13-17). “Memory,” says Cicero, “is the firm perception in the soul of things and words” (De invention, I, vii, 9) and Paul accomplishes that in his readers expertly.
His words are ageless, as can be seen by the observation that they are still looked at to gain wisdom after almost 2000 years, and are all relevant to us now, today. The topics he talks about range from the nature of God and human morality, to love and the definition of wisdom, and they fascinate us. We keep coming back to his writing time and time again, and it has truly stood the test of time. He is most certainly a great philosopher.

Works Cited
NIV Archeological Study Bible. Dr. Duane A. Garrett, gen. ed. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2005. 1 Corinthians 1:20, Acts 17:17, 18, Ephesians 6, 13-17

Cicero, Marcus Tullius. De Inventione. Trans H.M. Hubbell. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard Classical Library Loeb Edition, 1949