The Gospel According to Paul: Over a Hundred Years of Interpretation

Paul’s gospel has been the subject of numerous scholarly discussions since the start of the twentieth century. Beginning with Adolf Harnack and ending with Matthew Bates, this article provides insights into the gospel from biblical scholars who have contributed to and influenced this particular area of study for more than a hundred years. The results of this investigation show that some of the major areas of concern center on the origin of Paul’s gospel, its content, and his use of gospel terminology, especially the noun εὐαγγέλιον. A notable issue focuses on the noun form not being found in a sacred-salvific sense in Jewish Scripture but found instead in the imperial cult at the end of first century BCE. Another major point is whether Paul introduced εὐαγγέλιον to the Jesus-believing communities or whether the term originated from Hellenistic believers or Aramaic speakers prior to Paul. Another important subject is whether Scripture and Deutero-Isaiah influenced Paul and the early Christ-community’s use of the gospel. The study concludes, among other things, that Paul uses the gospel noun and verb almost interchangeably, although he may have emphasized the noun as a result of imperial use. Another conclusion is that he was not the first to use this term among Jesus-believing communities.