BOOKS OF THE DAY
St. Paul (The Dean of St. Paul's) . .
Social Service Explained (R. F. Scott) .. A History of Cynicism (C. E. M. Joad) China and Japan (Guenther Stein) .. Potemkin (G. A. Birkett)
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434 435 435 436 436 Living Buddhism (H. Rosinski) The Lindbergh Kidnapper (E. B. C. Jones) Victorian Sunshine (Arthur 'Waugh) . . New Stories by Gissing (Walter Allen) Fiction (Kate O'Brien) . . . .
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PAGE 438 440 440 442 444
ST. PAUL.
By THE DEAN OF ST. PAUL'S
JUDGED by almost every standard, Saul of Tarsus was one of the most important men who ever lived. His activity as a Christian propagandist and still more his vision of the Church as a divinely constituted body with a universal mission have changed the course of history and those who, in the interests of some philosophy of history, deny the determining influence of great personalities have always found it convenient to forget him. His letters, written for the most part to meet the pressing need of special occasions, have been more deeply pondered and more fiercely fought over than any recorded human words except those of his Master. Sentences in his epistles have formed the basis of great theologies and the watchword of reforming movements within Christianity It is remarkable how in times of crisis the Church seems instinctively to turn once again to St. Paul, with his sombre view of the nature of man and human society and his gospel of the grace of God. It is no accident that now, when the Christian faith everywhere faces crisis, St. Paul should once more be at the centre of theo- logical discussion.
There is a sense in which we may be said to know St. Paul as well as we know any man of the ancient world, for few writers have had so marked a quality of unconscious self-revelation and the exigencies of his controversy with opponents forced him, against his will, to refer to his own career and experience. There are, however, many points which are still obscure and likely to remain so. The present time is a good one to attempt a new survey of the life and work of the great Apostle and Professor Nock has given us a study which deserves the epithet " masterly," for it combines excellent scholarship, impartiality, and sympathy with a lucid presentation of an astonishing mass of material in a comparatively small compass. This is a book worthy to stand beside Dr. Edwyn Bevan's Christianity in the same series.
Some of the controversies which have impeded the under- standing of St. Paul have faded away, if they cannot be said to have been finally settled. The question of the authenticity of the Epistles is decided, on the whole, against the more extreme critics. The Pastoral Epistles are generally rejected and Ephesians is gravely questioned, though Professor Nock thinks its teaching is in harmony with St. Paul's thought, but the remainder may be accepted as genuine com- positions of their reputed author. The historical value of the Acts of the Apostles is a matter on which opinions differ still. Professor Nock uses the so-called " We sections " (those which appear to be the record of a companion of St. Paul) with confidence and the rest of the book with caution. The account given in Acts of the Council at Jerusalem to decide the controversy between Paul and the Jewish Christian party is certainly difficult to harmonise with the Apostle's own statements, and we may suspect a certain smoothing out of the rough places in the memory of the historian. In any case, Acts gives a most imperfect account of St. Paul's life, as may easily be seen by comparing it with his own list of the trials and persecutions which had befallen him.
Several great problems about the position of the Apostle are still under discussion, and on each Professor Nock has something valuable to say. It has been thought by some that St. Paul was the chief agent in the Hellenisation of St. Paul. By Arthur Darby Nock. Home University Library. • (Thornton Butterworth. 2s. Ed.) Christianity and that his theology was deeply affected by the pagan mystery cults. The author has a profound knowledge of Hellenistic literature and his judgement on this question is therefore of peculiar value. He points out that, though St. Paul had a real mastery of Greek and constantly shows acquaintance with the Greek Old Testament, his writings are " marked by an extreme rarity of echoes from the classical writers and lack both the merits and demerits of the Greek schools of eloquence." The Apostle, he thinks, shows no close understanding of paganism and no sympathy with it. He views it " in terms of the condemnation customary in Jewish apologetic literature." He " picked up some of the philosophical, possibly a little of the religious terminology of the time, much as a man today does not need any special knowledge to acquire the words evolution ' and ' relativity.' " There is no need to go outside the circle of Jewish-Christian eschatology to explain St. Paul's sacramental doctrine.
Closely connected with this problem is that of the relation of St. Paul to the teaching of Jesus. On this subject we should have welcomed a more extended discussion, specially as what the author has given us is excellent. The antithesis between the Epistles and the Gospels has often been treated as a sign that the Apostle spoiled the simple original message by the introduction of unnecessary subtleties. This Professor Nock rightly dismisses as shallow. The somewhat meagre references in St. Paul's letters to the sayings and life of Jesus and his startling saying, " Even if we have known Christ after the flesh, we know him so now no more,'' are to. be explained by the belief, central in St. Paul's religion, that the Crucifixion and Resurrection have initiated a new world-order. The earthly life of Jesus belonged to that order of events which preceded the new birth. The guidance needed comes not primarily trim the memory of the words of the historical Jesus but from the Risen Lord Who, as ate Spirit, directs and inspires the Church, which is His body in the world. At the same time, it may be claimed that the Apostle of the Gentiles " Understood and developed elements in the teaching of Jesus which were obscured and imperilled at Jerusalem." " Freedom in face of the law, a generous outward-turned view of humanity, a zeal to save men at the cost of correctness —these were the marks of both Jesus and St. Paul. Neither tolerated
All the easy speeches That comfort cruel men.'"
Professor Nock is interesting on the subject of St. Paul's con- ception of the Church and its authority. He sees dearly that the old-fashioned liberal Protestant. interpretation of the Apostle's doctrine was one-sided and that the germ of later Catholicism was in his teaching. To the Apostle, as the spiritual father of the community5 an- individual power belongs, which does not, however, extend to churches, such as that in Rome, which he did not found. But the spiritual authority of the Church is inherent in the fellowship or the inspired community. It owes no obedience to persons such as James, .however venerable ; it depends on the guidance of the Spirit. There may be some doubt concerning what St. Paul would have thought of dictators in shirts—perhaps he would have regarded them as relatively respectable representatives of the evil world— but there can be no doubt what he would have thought of dic- tators in cassocks.
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