Pauline Epistle



Pauline Epistles

Introduction

The Corinthian Epistles were written by Paul at the time he made his second missionary journey. The letters were addressed to the Thessalonians. Although Paul wanted to go back to Thessalonica, he was not able to do so. Hence, he sent Timothy instead for the sole purpose of cheering converts and also bringing them good news. In the first epistle, Paul expressed his gratitude for the safe return of Timothy. As the epistles were drafted during Paul'a second missionary expedition, they were basically aimed at answer a lot of unanswered questions and rapidly spreading misunderstandings among the saints at Corinth (Muddiman & Barton, 2010). Additionally, some members were deviating towards Jewish law and this was a cause for concern for Paul. Therefore, Paul wrote this letter mainly for the purpose of explaining the Mosaic law while also emphasizing upon the importance of a spiritual religion. When Paul wrote the Epistles, he was in Rome. He addressed them to the Romans from Corinth, also asking the roman saints to visit. This letter provided important answers to several questions that were asked by Jews who had recently embraced the religions of Christ.

Discussion

When Paul drafted the epistles, he was in Rome. He was arrested shortly after writing them. Paul had written the Phillipian Epistle mainly for the purpose of expressing his affection and gratitude for the Saints of Philippian. Apart from this, the Epistles were also intended to prevent them from uprising after they had learnt of Paul's imprisonment. In the Epistle, Paul addressed the Colossians, explaining to them how they were damned because they were not following the path shown to them by Jesus (Schreiner, 2011). He also emphasize that perfection in obedience to the true scriptures was the key to becoming a devout Christian. One of the main reasons why the Epistle is important to Christianity is because it also asserts upon the importance of Paul's teachings regarding the Church of Christ. For example, Paul wrote a private letter now known as the Epistle to Philemon in which he described Onesimus, a slave who committed the grave sin of robbing his own master, Philemon. Even though the slave fled to Rome, Paul commanded Onesimus to return to Philemon. He also handed him a letter in which he asked Philemon to forgive Onesimus (Schreiner, 2011). When Paul drafted the epistle, he addressed it to the Hebrews and the Jewish members of the church. This was done mainly with the intention of persuading them to follow Mosaic Law. He convinced the Jews by explaining top them how Christ fulfilled Mosaic law rather than replacing it.

It is in the Galatians where Paul defends his authority as speaker of the gospel that was dispensed and which condemns as legalism, religious posture of the Judaizers. Paul is forced to clarify truths and to defend what Jesus had preached, mainly because some masters had started to corrupt the minds of new converts by questioning the teachings of Jesus (Schreiner, ...