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Not a bad effort
How to summarize? The special says that Christianity had to change its view as the Lord delayed and delayed more, according E. P. Sanders. This is a decidedly poor close to a largely informative special. Surely discussing how Paul and Jesus linked together to show how God could come to all sorts of people fits the emphasis the special itself notes about the two throughout most of its three hours. This emphasis is something "journalistic" about the essence of Christian faith that would inform people about what has drawn many over the centuries to believe in what was a little Jewish movement.

In sum, what do we say about Jesus and Paul special? It was an informative and engaging three hours, an achievement for such a topic, trying to balance the many competing ideas and numerous sub-themes.

The Jesus section was improved from its original effort. There was more balance and nuance, although the issues of personal righteousness and sin are still mostly subsumed under concerns that are more political and global. How the kingdom relates to God and humanity is less treated than how the encounter with Jesus helps us view others. Perhaps in an era where we sometimes lose sight of the ethical dimensions of Jesus' teaching in terms of how we treat others, this imbalance is not a bad thing.

How our relationship to God connects to and sets up our ethics is an important missing theme that concerned both Jesus and Paul. This additional element is a key part of what made Christianity what it was and is. In addition, how the early church presented Jesus as the key to all of this, the bridge to righteousness, is not made clear. The reason Jesus' death on the cross meant so much to Paul was because of this issue. So the issues of sin, responsibility to God, and the role of the Spirit fit here. In one sense it is hard to ask for more in a tightly packed three hours, but these themes are central to what motivated Jesus and Paul as a look at Luke 24:44-49, John 14-16, Acts 1:1-8, or Romans 8 would show.

The section on Paul has three key foci that are overdrawn: that Paul thought the end was near, that he was an innovator rather than a developer of the faith when it came to the Jewish elements and Gentiles, and that his conflict with James and Peter lasted much of his career. Still there is much here worth seeing and hearing. Paul was a brilliant developer and reflector on the message of Jesus. His influence on the faith has been immense. His defense of Gentile inclusion marked the faith and kept its dynamic moving as he reached out to people unlike himself but for whom he saw hope that Jesus was the answer. One hopes the church never loses sight of that great lesson from the great apostle.

Darrell L. Bock is Research Professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary.

Copyright © 2004 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Darrell Bock interviewed Peter Jennings about the special.

The ABC News site has more on Jesus and Paul.

Also posted is an interview with Robin Griffith-Jones, a guest on the show.

Christianity Today also interviewed Jennings for his 2000 special.

Christian History magazine, a Christianity Today sister publication, has published issues on Jesus and Paul. The issues can be purchased in print or read through CTLibrary.com.

Christianity Today International's ChristianBibleStudies.com offers a six-session course on the early church, which includes a free lesson on Paul and his times, from the Christian History issue.

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April (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48