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  • From: Loren Rosson <rossoiii AT yahoo.com>
  • To: Corpus-paul <corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Symbolism of 14 years
  • Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2001 04:08:59 -0700 (PDT)


Jim Miller wrote:

> Of course, there is no true conflict
> between symbolic and historical.
> Exceptional and coincidental things
> happen all the time -- and tend to
> be remembered because they are
> exceptional or coincidental.

Symbolism and history can indeed go hand-in-hand, but
not necessarily. In the case of Gal. 2:1 and II Cor.
12:2, I see a red flag. If the figure were other than
one which could be readily construed as symbolic (like
15 or 16), then I’d write it off as a coincidence. But
that Paul ties the number “14” to two different
revelations should be enough to make even a
fundamentalist pause.

> If Paul indeed did spend something
> like 14 years in Syria coming to terms
> with his new faith,

It’s been suggested in this thread that Paul needed
the 14 years to reflect, ponder, pray -- to assimilate
his “radically new faith”. I’ve already addressed the
so-called “radical” nature of his gospel, but with
regards to the large amount of time supposedly
required, we should respect Paul’s educational
background. He was well-versed in the scriptures, one
of Judea’s best, and it probably would not have taken
him too long to derive the details of his gospel after
the first revelation. Accepting the crucified messiah
was the real hurtle. After that, Jewish logic
followed: If Christ’s death and resurrection were
Yahweh’s means of liberating Israel and the world,
then the kingdom had already (partly) arrived,
proceeding apace with the present age; if the eschaton
were already here, then the Gentile nations need to be
brought into the covenant community, for (as foretold
by the prophets), the Torah was now being written on
the hearts of all God’s people, Jew and Gentile alike;
since these pagans are not flocking to Zion, I will go
out to them; etc. I’m not saying all of this came to
Paul overnight, but neither do I think it came to him
over the sluggish pace of “14 years”. Murphy-O’Connor

suggests that Paul was preaching to receptive Gentiles
as early as Arabia. Already in the earliest days of
his Christian career was Paul “coming to terms with
his new faith”.

Loren Rosson III
Nashua NH
rossoiii AT yahoo.com


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  • Re: Symbolism of 14 years, MillerJimE, 04/03/2001
    • <Possible follow-up(s)>
    • Re: Symbolism of 14 years, Loren Rosson, 04/03/2001

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