The Quintessence of Paulinism, Vol. 4: A Lecture Delivered at the John Rylands Library on the 11th of October, 1916 (Classic Reprint) - Softcover

Excerpt from The Quintessence of Paulinism, Vol. 4: A Lecture Delivered at the John Rylands Library on the 11th of October, 1916

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This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from The Quintessence of Paulinism, Vol. 4: A Lecture Delivered at the John Rylands Library on the 11th of October, 1916

When we speak of Paulinism we imply, first that Paul had a theology, and secondly that this theology was so distinctive that we are justified in using a specific name for it. Both contentions are exposed to criticism. Some would deem it a grave injustice to describe Paul as a theologian. He was rather a prophet, or even a poet, who felt deeply and had a keen insight into religious experience but was careless of logical consistency and indifferent to the creation of a System. Now it is true that Paul was gifted with the mystic's vision, and that in moments of ecstasy his utterance glows with a lyrical rapture. But it is part of his greatness that his thought is set on fire by noble emotion, and that emotion is redeemed from vagueness and incoherence by thought. Indeed the belief that Paul was a seer but no thinker, could hardly survive a careful study even of one of his more characteristic writings. But, it may be retorted, Paul was in a sense a thinker, the sense in which a debater must be a thinker. In other words he is master of the argumentative style, and shows great skill in marshalling objections to the position of his opponents. He is a pleader rather than a philosopher. For my own part I believe that this is a profound mistake. Paul was not a mere controversialist who took the arguments that might be convenient for disposing of one antagonist without reference to their consistency with those he had used against another. Behind his occasional utterances there lies a closely knit and carefully constructed system of thought.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.