Getting Biblical in Daily Life
Roman Catholic Perspective
Catholics dig Paul, but as far as the original followers of Jesus go, Peter is much higher on their list of apostolic crushes.
Paul might not have thought much of him, but in Catholic theology, Peter gets to be the first Pope. He gets personally handed the keys to Heaven by Jesus himself. He's also the rock that built the church. Paul just gets to stand around holding a sword in his hand waiting to be beheaded. He even has to share his feast day—June 29th—with Peter. Talk about getting muscled out (source, 6).
But Paul is still the most prolific author in the Bible, so he hasn't been totally left out of Catholic thought and theology. His writings have had influence on lots of important Catholic thinkers through the years.
The Epistle to the Galatians was the only book of the Bible to get a full commentary devoted to it by early church bigwigs like Augustine, Pelagius, and Jerome. In the end, Augustine concludes that what Galatians is really about is how Christians can kindly correct each other. Well, that's one way of looking at it. (Source.)
Thomas Aquinas and St. John of the Cross were also really interested in the idea of kenosis, which means "self-emptying." This idea ties in with Philippians 2:6-8 where Paul explains that Jesus "emptied himself" in order to fully understand God's will. The book that John of the Cross mentions this in is Dark Night of the Soul, which was—surprise, surprise—written while he was in prison, too (source).
See? It's not all snubbing and sword-holding from the Catholic Church when it comes to Paul.
Protestant Perspective
Protestants, on the other hand,—and we're including a wide net of non-Catholic faiths in this section—are really, really into Paul. In fact, you might say that Paul and his letter to the Galatians are one of the things that started the whole Reformation. Gee, we wonder why Catholics don't like him as much.
Martin Luther pretty much got the ball rolling. Though he began as an Augustinian monk and a nice Catholic boy, Luther grew disillusioned with the feeling that he could never seem to escape sin and guilt by following Catholic laws and traditions. But when he took a closer look at Paul's letter to the Galatians, he just realized he was trying too hard.
Luther really latched onto Paul's idea that Christians are "justified by faith" (Galatians 3:24). Basically, this just means that no one can get in good with God just by following the law—or as Luther saw it, saying the rosary and paying for indulgences. When Luther finally realized that all his Catholic piety and prayers couldn't bring him closer to God, he finally felt free. He just had to put his faith in Jesus and all would be well. (Source.)
The Catholic Church was less tickled. Since they were the only show in town, they weren't really open to criticism, to say the least. Luther persisted though and was eventually excommunicated. And so Protestantism (named because its adherents "protested" the Catholic Church) was born.
Other Christian Perspectives
Some Christians (generally fundamentalists, who tend to read the Bible as the literal word of God) interpret the ban in Galatians 5:20 against "sorcery" to apply not only to pagan cults of the first century, but of modern forms of "witchcraft," too. That means no fortune tellers. No dressing up on Halloween. And no Harry Potter..
Paul's description of "the fruit of the Spirit" in Galatians 5:22 is also popular with believers. Many Christians believe that these nine qualities—"love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control"—are the outward signs of a Christian heart. A tree can call itself Christian, but it's gotta bear the fruit to prove it.
Jewish Perspective
Sadly, Paul's letters, like these ones to the Galatians, Philippians, and Philemon, have caused loads of problems between Christians and Jews throughout the years. Galatians, especially, has some of his most fierce arguments against Jewish law and culture:
• "Other Jews joined him in this hypocrisy." (Galatians 2:13)
• "You are observing special days, and months, and seasons, and years. I am afraid that my work for you may have been wasted." (Galatians 4:10-11)
• "If you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you." (Galatians 5:2)
• "Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of those who mutilate the flesh!" (Philippians 3:2)
• "Many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things." (Philippians 3:18-19)
Many people have pointed to these passages to confirm what they already suspect: Paul—and by extension God—thinks it's fine to hate and oppress Jewish people.
Not cool.
Of course, this argument ignores the huge fact that Paul was Jewish. He states his proud Jewishness: "We ourselves are Jews by birth" (Galatians 2:15). He cites Hebrew scripture and tells Torah stories. He even thinks Jewish law did have a purpose…before Jesus, that it (Galatians 3:19). Then, of course, there's this little tidbit he drops about treating people equally: "There is no longer Jew or Greek" (Galatians 3:28). Check and mate, haters.
Paul struggled his whole life to balance his Jewish faith with his newfound belief in Jesus. On one hand, he saw Jesus as the messiah that had been promised to the Jewish people, the fulfillment of thousands of years of God's promises to his chosen people. On the other hand, the coming of Jesus did change some things. Paul believed that Christians should be more focused on living a life in Christ and not worrying so much about following the Torah point by point.
Given this background, we're guessing that Paul would have been pretty horrified at the way his writings have been used over the years. One of Paul's biggest fans, Martin Luther, even wrote an essay called On the Jews and Their Lies. Sadly, he quotes from Paul's letters to back up his prejudicial points.
We're guessing that if Paul were alive back then, Martin Luther would have been on the receiving end of one sharply-worded letter.
Islamic Perspective
Head on over to our guide to Romans to hear about the Islamic perspective on Paul.