Knowra Pauline Christianity Pauline Christianity Forms of early Christianity shaped by Paul’s letters, missionary work, and theological arguments, especially about Christ, salvation, and the inclusion of Gentiles.
Paul the Apostle : A first-century Jewish missionary and early Christian letter writer who spread the movement around the eastern Mediterranean. His missions and letters are the principal sources and agents of Pauline Christianity.
Justification by faith : The Pauline teaching that people are set right with God through faith in Jesus Christ, not by works of the law. It expresses how Paul explains belonging to God’s people apart from Torah observance.
Council of Jerusalem : A meeting of early Christian leaders, described in Acts, that addressed whether Gentile converts must observe Jewish law. Its questions about Gentile inclusion overlap with the conflicts addressed in Paul’s letters.
James the Just : A leader of the Jerusalem church and a central figure in early Christian traditions about Jesus’s family. The contrast between James and Paul is often invoked in debates about faith, works, and Torah.
Pauline epistles : Letters attributed to Paul in the New Testament, including seven widely accepted as written by him. They preserve the movement’s arguments, advice, and evidence of its communities.
Participation in Christ : The idea that believers share in Christ’s death, resurrection, and life through baptism and faith. Paul describes salvation not only as pardon but as a changed life joined to Christ.
Incident at Antioch : A dispute in which Paul publicly opposed Cephas over table fellowship between Jewish and Gentile believers. Paul’s account in Galatians reveals the practical stakes of his teaching on Gentile inclusion.
Judaizers : A label for early Christian teachers who insisted that Gentile converts adopt Jewish practices such as circumcision. Paul’s sharpest arguments about circumcision respond to this position.
Second Temple Judaism : The diverse Jewish religious and cultural world of the Second Temple period, from 516 BCE to 70 CE. Paul’s language about scripture, law, covenant, and Messiah comes from this setting.
Resurrection of Jesus : The Christian claim that Jesus was raised from the dead after his crucifixion. Paul treats the resurrection as the foundation of Christian hope and proclamation.
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