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corpus-paul - Re: The symbolism of '14 years'

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  • From: Richard Fellows <rfellows AT intergate.ca>
  • To: "Corpus-paul" <corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: The symbolism of '14 years'
  • Date: Fri, 30 Mar 2001 11:41:07 -0800


Robert A Bayer wrote:
>Not much happened? Paul went from being a Pharisee and persecutor of
>Christians to preaching a Gospel so radical that was untraceable in the
>Hebrew scriptures. ISTM when we consider all the issues Paul had to work
>through in order to comprehend the revelation of Jesus Christ and make
>sense of the Gospel, even as he dealt with doubts within and fightings
>without, that the fourteen years he spent (largely in seclusion) must
>have been a very busy time of thought, prayer, and contemplation.

and Brian made a similar point about the 14 years being a time of preparation.

This may be partly right, but if Paul was thinking things through for 14
years, why did he not go to Jerusalem more often to confer with the apostles?

I see the following possible solutions to the problem of the 14 relatively
inactive years:

1. The 14 years were not 14 years at all. If it is symbolic of Jacob's
experience, as I suggested it might be, then the actual time span may have
been only 6 or 7 years. This would be an appropriate length of time for the
evangelization of Syria and Cilicia.

2. The initial revelation was not the only revelation, and it was a later
revelation which prompted the missionary phase in Paul's life. It may be
that Paul's gospel of non-circumcision of gentiles was given to him by some
later revelation - perhaps the revelation of Gal 2.1.

3. Before Paul could embark on missionary journeys he needed the
endorsement of the Jerusalem apostles (see Gal 2.2), and this required that
he first win their trust, which was difficult, given his persecuting past.
Only after his probation period of '14 years' could he go to Jerusalem to
get their approval, and only then could he really start to evangelize.

4. His great missionary journeys may have been delayed by a practical
consideration such as family commitments, lack of funds, or an illness. Or
maybe he just couldn't find a traveling partner who shared his vision.

Richard.





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