Paul and Judaism: 5 Puzzles

In recent years, five questions have dominated scholarly discussions regarding Paul’s attitudes toward Judaism and its Law.

Was Paul a convert? Or did he remain Jewish?

The answer to whether Paul converted depends to a large extent on what is meant by conversion and from whose viewpoint the question is posed. If conversion means changing religions, moving from one religion to another, then Paul was not a convert. This is because Judaism and Christianity were not yet viewed as separate religions. In the fifties of the first century, when Paul wrote his letters, people still looked on Christians as a particular kind of Jew.

This was the perspective not only of outside observers, but also of inside participants like Paul. Paul regarded his Christianity as the fullness of his Judaism, as the kind of Judaism that God had finally revealed in Jesus of Nazareth, not as an alternate religion.

If Paul thought that he remained within Judaism, then of what did his “conversion” consist? Paul’s conversion was really a move from Pharisaic Judaism to Christian Judaism, from one type of Judaism to another.