Corpus-Paul

["David C. Hindley" <dhindley AT compuserve.com>]

Dave Inglis says:

>>As I have commented before, the only 'discrepancies' occur because people
make completely unwarranted assumptions regarding the linkages between Acts
and the Pauline letters.  For example, it is assumed (usually on the basis
of no evidence at all) that Paul's visits to Jerusalem in Galatians and Acts
must 'dovetail' neatly, e.g. that a visit mentioned in Gal must be mentioned
in Acts, whereas in reality there is *no* requirement for events mentioned
in one document to be recorded in the other.  Once this 'assumption' is
abandoned, things become much easier.<<

That was my point - they don't neatly dovetail! However, assuming that the
events mentioned in the Pauline letters are actually written by Paul, then
anyone trying to place the letters into the historical framework of Acts
must account for them in some way, if only to say "there's no record of this
in Acts."

A while ago I came up with this:

Gal

1:13-14         Act 7:58; 8:1-3; 9:1-2
1:15-16ace              Act 9:3-19 (cf 2 Cor 12:2-4)
1:17a                   No record (Poss Act 9:20-21)
1:17b                   Act 9:22
1:18-20         Act 9:26-28
1:21-24         Act 9:29-30
2:1-5                   Act 15:1-12
2:6-10          Act 15:13-29
2:11-14         No record (Poss Act 14:26-28; 15:1-2)
4:13-14a                2 Cor 12:7-9a

2 Cor

11:24a          No record
11:24b          No record
11:24c          Act 17:26; 27:41-44
11:25                   Act 16:22-24 (OK, only beaten once)
11:32-33                Act 9:23-25
12:2-4          No record (Poss Act 15:1-12)
12:7-9a         Gal 4:13-14a

Set up a table with the corresponding text pasted in, and it will show the
difference in details. Of course, there is no guarantee that the accounts
are of exactly parallel incidents or events, or that the author of one or
both did not misrepresent, embellish or omit events for whatever personal
reasons that may have pleased him that day. It is also possible that one
author directly borrowed or was indirectly influenced by the author of a
parallel passage.

When you say things become "much easier" it sounds a little like The Way, a
protestant sect based here in Ohio, which maintains that Peter actually
denied knowing Jesus six times, because when the three denials per gospel
are compared (3 x 4 = 12 accounts) for detail, only six distinct
combinations are possible. They have got around the problem of variation
between accounts by increasing the number of accounts. They just believe
that each gospel author chose three of the six denials to report.

Respectfully,

Dave Hindley
Cleveland, Ohio, USA