Arabia

 Last Wednesday Before Advent

One thing I strive for is never to be in denial. It's a particularly good intention for someone my age. I'm noticing that I make more mental slip-ups than I did a couple of years ago. That has happened sometimes with this blog. One of those times was yesterday. I had the right day on the blog heading, but I didn't do the right thing for that day. Tuesday is Bible Study, but I did response to comments, which I said I would do Wednesday. Aargh! (as Charlie Brown would say). So today I'm making up for it by doing the Bible Study I should have done yesterday. 

Please read Acts 9:26-31 and Galatians 1:13-22.

Because Acts and the letters of Paul don't always jibe, Pauline chronology has become a cottage industry in the field of New Testament studies. Although Acts gives us a coherent chronology of Paul's Christian years, Paul's letters are sometimes at variance. As we mentioned last time, when they are at variance, the letters take precedence.

Paul's life is not the subject of any of his letters. He writes his letters to churches. Their content relates much more to the churches than to Paul. We can learn a great deal about the church at Corinth from reading 1 Corinthians, for example, but not so much about Paul. There are only two passages in letters in which Paul writes in some detail about his own life. They are 2 Corinthians 11:21-33 and Galatians 1-2. The 2 Cor. passage does not provide any chronology. The Galatians chapters do. We will be referring to them frequently as we move through Acts.

In Acts Paul begins preaching in Damascus as soon as he has recovered from his Damascus Road Experience. Then having to escape Damascus over the city wall in a basket, he goes to Jerusalem.

In Galatians Paul does not begin preaching in Damascus nor go to Jerusalem afterward. Rather, Paul goes away into Arabia immediately after Damascus Road and then returns to Damsacus. It is fully three years after Damascus Road before Paul goes to Jerusalem. 

Luke makes no reference to Paul's trip to Arabia, apparently not knowing about it. Remember, Luke did not have Paul's letters as a source. Galatians does not make clear how much of this three year interval was spent in Arabia and how much in Damascus, after Paul returned there. Most scholars think that Paul spent most of these three years in Arabia. Where in Arabia did he go? The strong probability is that he went to the spectacular ancient city of Petra, the capital of the Kingdom of Nabatea, about 200 miles south of Damascus.  There was no other city in Arabia nearly as close. He possibly could have gone alone and lived in a cave in the desert like St. Anthony three centuries later, but this is not likely.  Paul was a city boy and not a loner. Paul tells us nothing about his time in Arabia. 

Paul returned to Damascus confident in his newly completed faith and his ability to proclaim it. Paul is adamant that he did not go to Jerusalem or talk to any of the Jerusalem apostles during this three year time period. Luke, speaking of Paul's time in Damascus before he went to Jerusalem, says, in Acts 9:23, merely, "After some time had passed."

 

As is often the case, these complex texts take me more time to write about than I think they will. I'll pick up in the same place in Acts next time.

 

Thanks to Jennifer for her comment. No blog tomorrow. I'm taking Thanksgiving off. Happy and safe Thanksgiving to all of you!

 

Faithfully,

Christian