Known as the Acts, the narrations incorporating the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles are traditionally considered the first attempts at establishing the link between the reader and the Biblical characters, making the latter closer to an average Christian (The Gospel of Luke para. 1). According to Powell, though, the so-called Book of Acts and the Paul’s Letters, though admittedly sharing a number of details, still contradict each other.
Powell considers the Acts as the tool that represents the staples of the epoch; according to the theologist, the Acts do not provide any other significant information, being rather a “general history” (Powell 200) than a series of events, which were in any way significant for the Christian history. However, when the descriptions of these events do cross with what the Gospel of Paul says, severe contradictions can be observed: “Luke’s portrayal of Paul’s life and theology does not accord with what we ascertain regarding this pivotal figure from his own letters” (Powell 201).
While the fact that the Gospel according to Paul and the Acts clearly has certain discrepancies, it would be wrong to assume that one of the given sources provides deliberately false information. In fact, the given conflict between the data provided in two sources can be stretched to searching conflicting passages in the Bible and questioning the significance of the latter. It is time to realize that the Christian texts related to Bible are not to be taken as historically accurate accounts of the past events, but, instead, should be regarded as the means to envision the evolution of Christianity, as well as evaluate the challenges that stood before the early Christians, and the efforts that were taken to fight these challenges and overcome the emerging obstacles.
Gnosticism, in its turn, seems to have raised quite a stir in the present-day studies of Christianity and theology, triggering endless discussions concerning the elements of Gnosticism in various interpretations of the teachings of Christ, the Gospel according to Paul in particular. On the one hand, Powell’s idea of Paul being the first figure to discover Gnosticism and reveal it to people is quite accurate. On the other hand, Mark’s arguments can be debated. While Paul does stress the role of the Jewish people in the context of the Christian religion, he never goes as far as to stating their supremacy.
Another peculiar issue regarding Powell’s interpretation of Paul as a Biblical character and a historical persona concerns the concept of repentance, which Powell claims Paul to have been forcing onto the Christian society: “Paul hopes that drastic actions will bring about the repentance necessary for the man to be saved” (Powell 232). Thus, Powell states that Paul actually intertwined the principles of repentance and suffering. Again, a very arguable idea, which requires an outside research of Paul’s influence on the early Christianity, the idea of suffering as the necessary attribute of a true Christian can be considered rather dubious from the perspective of present-day ethics, yet seems quite natural in the history of Christianity.
Seeing how martyrdom as the acceptance of one’s fate is traditionally believed to be the utmost manifestation of one’s humility and faith in God, it seems reasonable to assume that Paul could interpret the Christ’s teachings as the call for humility and the need to subdue one’s desires and emotions. A new and fresh look at some of the traditional issues is what makes Powell’s study all the more endearing to theologists.
Works Cited
Powell, Mark Allan. Introducing the New Testament: A Historical, Literary, and Theological Survey. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2009. Web.
The Gospel of Luke. n. d. Web.