Paul: Church founder

I seem to have stumbled upon the idea of founding, as in founding a church.

On page 2 of Thomas Leishman’s The Continuity of the Bible: Paul the Missionary Apostle, my interest was jogged when I read about Peter and Paul’s influence on the beginning of the Christian church.

Much has been made of Jesus exchange with Peter about his Christliness. Peter said of Jesus, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus replied, “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church” (Matt. 16:13-18, cf. Mark 8:27-29, Luke 9:12-20).

Leishman tells us,

In the circumstances, one might expect Peter to have the chief part in the growth of the Christian Church; but if, as Jesus implied, the truth Peter proclaimed was the rock on which his church was to be built, the actual building on that foundation was largely left to Paul, who likewise received a great promise: “He is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel” (Acts 9:15).

Now, Mrs. Eddy is stated to be the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science. I find no place where the words “Discoverer and Founder” are used in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, but there are many in her Prose Works (other than Science and Health).

I searched in JSH-Online for some information on this matter. Robert Peel, noted historian of Christian Science, has written an article called “The Role of Founder” (see Christian Science Sentinel September 1, 2013). It was originally published in the 1977 pamphlet titled “Mary Baker Eddy: Discoverer, Founder, Leader”.

Inevitably, I suppose, Peel relates Eddy’s work as Founder to that of Paul and Luther: Paul for the infant Christian church; Luther for the Protestant off-shoot.

Peel writes:

It was a Christian truth she discovered, a Christian church she founded.

But her first major step in founding Christian Science in general public thought was the publication of Science and Health in 1875.

Her new understanding of the infinitude of good as pure Spirit had now taken visible form, as the earlier Mary's remarkable vision of God's spiritual fatherhood had taken form in the child born in a stable. But for Mrs. Eddy to have left her book to make its own way in the world would have been like leaving the infant Jesus alone in his manger to fend for himself against the brutal exigencies of mortal existence. Endowed though he was by his divine origin and through the preparation of thought by prophecy, he still needed the care and tending which would enable him to grow "in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man." 4  

The Apostle Paul, who played so important a role in the formation of the primitive Christian Church, had written, "Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ."

I am reminded of a book about Alexander Hamilton. Of brilliant mind and organisational ability, Hamilton was the one who went about founding the United States of America under the laws of the Constitution written by the Founding Fathers. Maybe he could be said to have worked out the By-laws. He did not sign the Constitution, but neither did George Washington and a couple of others.

I wondered about one of my heroes, Benjamin Franklin. He moved the motion that the Constitution be signed. (He didn’t think it was perfect.) This site is an interesting read: https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/today-the-constitution-was-signed-in-philadelphia.

Hamilton organised—made it work! Read about him in the book, Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow. Or perhaps you have seen the movie/musical?

One could certainly go through Leishman’s book and get an approximate list of “churches” founded by Paul. He not only started the “groups”, but he perceived their spiritual needs and wrote letters of encouragement and enlightenment, and sometimes, admonitions.

One can find sites on the Internet which give possible lists of churches. For example, in ChurchPlanting.com, Neil Cole (“follower of Jesus, father of three, husband of one, church planter, author and coach”) writes:

He probably started close to 20 churches himself, with many more born out of those by his apprentice leaders. 

In Asia alone, the New Testament mentions Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea, Colossae, and Hieropolis.

Cole refers to the many “daughters, grand-daughters and great-grand-daughters … birthed from those.” What a cute way of acknowledging the off-shoot principle!

“Apprentice leaders”? Can we find them in our book? A quick scan, perhaps?

• ·       Barnabas (a disciple named Joses)
• ·       Titus
• ·       Mark (also known as John)
• ·       Simeon (Gentile name Niger)
• ·       Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen.
• ·       Sergius Paulus (Gentile convert)
• ·       Timothy (from Lystra)
• ·       Timothy’s mother Eunice
• ·       Timothy’s grandmother Lois
• ·       Judas called Barsabas
• ·       Silas (sometimes called Silvanus)
• ·       Luke (the author of Acts)
• ·       Lydia (first convert in Europe)
• ·       Aquila (fellow tent-maker with Paul)
• ·       Priscilla (Aquila’s wife)
• ·       Crispus (synagogue official at Corinth)
• ·       Justus (Corinthian)
• ·       Apollos (a Jew from Alexandria)
• ·       Gaius
• ·       Aristarchus
• ·       Tychicus
• ·       Onesimus (a runaway slave)

What a list.

Paul. Founder indeed!

Writing between 1936 and 1944

I must admit that I always thought Thomas L. Leishman’s writing style was a bit dry. I’ve changed my mind. His articles are thorough, succinct, and engaging. 

I’ve gone back to the archives (of the Christian Science periodicals) and discovered that he first started contributing in 1936 with a brief article titled “The Greek of the New Testament”. Fourteen articles appeared over the next 8 years.

Here’s a list of those articles, written, perhaps not coincidentally, during the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler in Germany, when surely millions of people were turning to their Bibles for comfort, guidance and support –

1.      April 1936 – The Greek of the New Testament

2.      October 1938 – The Geographical Background of the Bible

3.      July 1940 – Preparation for the Gospel in the Graeco-Roman World

4.      September 1941 – Luke, and the book of Acts

5.      October 1941 – Means of Travel in New Testament Times

6.      November 1941 – The Background of Paul’s Letters

7.      December 1941 – Paul’s Earliest Epistles

8.      January 1942 – Paul’s Letters to the Galatians and to the Romans

9.      March 1942 – Letters of Paul’s First Roman Captivity

10.  April 1942 – The Distribution and Grouping of Paul’s Letters

11.  May 1942 – Paul’s Pastoral Epistles

12.  December 1942 – Dress in New Testament Times

13.   June 1944 – Women who aided the Pauline Ministry

 

From #1 I learned that the Greek of the New Testament was not the style used by “such classic authors as Euripides or Plato” but “was simply the … graphic, homely speech of everyday life”.

#2 suggests that “some knowledge of the physical features of the land of the Bible aids us in appreciating the vividness of the teachings”.

#3 indicates that Paul was well aware of the “elements of truth to be found in the religion or philosophy of his audience” in Athens, citing Ephimenides, Aratus, Virgil and Plato. Paul knew how to communicate to his listeners.

Of interest in #4 is a explanation from Bible scholar Alexander Cruden (1699–1770), who compiled the famous Cruden’s Concordance to the Bible, that “the beloved physician” (Col. 4: 14) probably means that Luke was a “healer of the mind” a  “comforter”.

#5 tells us that most New Testament people walked a lot. In “the East walking is considered no hardship”, says Mr. Leishman.

#6 is of particular interest to us this month. Leishman explains that Paul’s writings “may be justly regarded as representing the urgent correspondence of an exceedingly active missionary”.  [Note that more recent scholarship indicates that the only writings considered to be authentic to Paul are Romans, I & II Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, I Thessalonians, and Philemon.]

#7 helps us glimpse the situation on the ground with the church in Thessalonica. Leishman says that the “letter … provides clear evidence of the dangerous situation which prompted it”.

#8 explains that “Paul’s letters to the Galatians and to the Romans … both deal with the basic subject of the relation between Judaism and Christianity” and that “salvation awaits all mankind”.

#9 reminds us that Paul continued supporting his friends even while in semi-captivity, awaiting trial. See Acts 28: 30.

In article #10, Leishman quotes Eusebius, “that great Christian historian of the fourth century” who wrote that “Paul … who surpassed them all in vigour of expression and in richness of thought, committed to writing no more than the briefest epistles”. Here we learn that Paul’s letters were undoubtedly copied and passed around.

#11 gives us a picture of the early church, and in particular, of workers like Timothy and Titus.

Who hasn’t wondered what people were wearing in different periods of history. #12 gives a vivid account of the garments worn by John the Baptist and Jesus. We learn here about the difference between the “cloke” of Matthew 5: 40 (similar to a modern-day coat) and “cloke” of II Timothy 4: 13 (a circular travelling cape).

In #13, we are reminded of valuable early Christian women such as Lydia and Priscilla who featured in Paul’s ministry.

Each of the articles (all from The Christian Science Journal) are less than a page long! And yet packed with information that will help us read the Bible more understandingly.

Finally, an article title “Opportunity versus Time” was written for the July 13, 1940 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel. It engages the reader at the outset with this sentence:

“In our busy world, there is perhaps no cry more insistent, no excuse more prevalent, than this, that the individual does not have sufficient time for constructive thinking or activity.”

Readers will be delighted to read on where Leishman shares Jesus’ parable of the labourers who all wanted to work and leaped at the opportunity to do so – and who all received a penny a day, no matter when and how long they worked.

Thank you, Mr. Leishman.

Julie Swannell

For all Bible students: Paul the missionary apostle

An announcement "for all Bible students" appeared in the October 10 1977 issue of The Christian Science Journal. Thomas Linton Leishman's fifth and final book in the Continuity of the Bible series, PAUL THE MISSIONARY APOSTLE had just been published. 

The short announcement then quoted from Leishman's foreword:  "The enormous contribution of Paul, that fearless pioneer Christian, can never be overestimated or overshadowed in the history of the Christian church." 

The other books in this series were: The Patriarchs, Joshua to Elisha, Prophetic Writings, and The Gospels. 

The articles from which all five books were compiled first appeared in The Christian Science Journal and are today available through the Bound Volumes found in many Christian Science Reading Rooms or via the indispensable website jsh-online.com. I did a search under Thomas Leishman which yielded great results.

For those interested in owning the book, a quick online search tells me that some copies of the original book are available to purchase. 

Writing in 2015, one reader's online response to the book is inspiring:

    "Love his books! Thomas Leishman has a remarkable Christian background and became an amazing theologian after moving to America from Scotland. He has done painstaking research of the Bible and its history; has studied the ancient languages in order to more accurately research his subjects. I own all of his books and find that his clear, concise writing style and understanding of the subject matter has enlightened my own understanding of the Bible and Christianity."

Julie Swannell