Studies in the New Testament. Volume 2. Romans to Philemon.

We are entering upon a study of the works of Paul, the most fascinating of early Christian leaders. The converging of many streams of influence made possible the powerful current of his life, which at times flowed deeply and smoothly and at other times surged with the fury of a torrent. Trained under the broad-minded rabbis of the Dispersion, nurtured in the cultural atmosphere of the great school center of Tarsus, reborn and inspired through his vision of the glorified Christ, his massive personality embraced the three elements that have made our western civilization―Hellenism, Hebraism, and Christianity. Through the latter came his deeply religious experience, the satisfaction which his passion for love and knowledge had sought.

The first of our Christian writings came from the pen of Paul. While the Gospels go back in their testimony to a time prior to that of Paul, yet Paul is the first literary witness of the historicity of Jesus, for they were all written after the time of his death. This priority in time has tended to make the Pauline Epistles the cornerstone of Christian study, but it must be remembered that the oral gospel which later was written into the books which now head the list of our New Testament books, made his career possible.