mountainman

Paul and the Wild Beasts by Robert E. Osborne (Pages 225-230), published by: The Society of Biblical Literature.

Did Paul actually fight with wild beasts in the amphitheatre at Ephesus?

Or was the historical Paul just boasting a little?

Duvduv

Some do not translate the sentence in English this way.
See: http://bible.cc/1_corinthians/15-32.htm

Sheshbazzar

Well, if as claimed by Hippolytus as quoted in that article, 'the lion that was set upon him lay down at his feet and licked him'
He really didn't actually fight with this wild beast.

Neither Paul or anyone else seems too clear on what manner of beasties it was that he did fight with.
Did he have to kill a pissed off bull, a wild goat or, a dog or two in the arena at Ephesus?
Seems that if he were actually engaged in such death defying feats of of courage and physical prowess he would be inclined to share the circumstances.
I mean, after all he does tell us about being let down a wall by a rope, which in contrast does seem a bit more mundane.

Sheshbazzar

I rather highly doubt that Hippolytus ever read that particular English translation

And what Hippolytus read or heard in languages he could understand clearly led him to believe it was literal wild beasts, rather specifically, a lion.

jakejonesiv

:constern02:By the time even the "authentic" epistles were written, The Great Apostle, Paul, was gone and long rumored to be dead. But he would return again—as was his wont—from beyond the grave in terrifying epistles.

There are multiple reports of Paul's death. He had reportedly died many times before, and had even more close calls.

2 Corinthians 11:23-26 (Young's Literal Translation)
23 …I more; in labours more abundantly, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, IN DEATHS MANY TIMES;
24 from Jews five times forty [stripes] save one I did receive;
25 thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice was I shipwrecked, a night and a day in the deep I have passed;
26 journeyings many times, perils of rivers, perils of robbers, perils from kindred, perils from nations, perils in city, perils in wilderness, perils in sea, perils among false brethren;

Paul, like the fictitious Pauline copy-cat Ignatius, had been martyred by the wild beasts; Paul in Ephesus in Asia Minor. “… I die daily. If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not?” , 1 Cor. 15:31-32.

How, the readers of the epistles asked, if Paul had died (multiple times, even daily like Jesus in the Eucharist 1 Cor. 15:31) had he still been able to send epistles? The answer is that Paul had been resurrected!

2 Corinthians 1:8-9
8: For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:
9: But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead:
10: Who delivered us out of so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;

As we have seen previously, the risen Jesus Christ communicated through the ecstatic utterances of spirit filled prophets. In a similar but unique method, the risen Paul communicates through terrifying posthumous letters. 2 Cor. 10:9. It is Paul’s “signature move.” He is the Paper Apostle.

2 Corinthians 13
1: This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.
2: I told you before, and foretell you, as if I were present, the second time; and being absent now I write to them which heretofore have sinned, and to all other, that, if I come again, I will not spare:

Did you see that? Paul had come to the Corinthians three times by epistles, each constituting a separate witness to Paul’s message. If the “comings” had been physical visits by the historical Paul, or even if all the letters to the Corinthians had been written by the alleged historical Paul, the appeal to “two or three witnesses” would be meaningless.

There is even a concern and an apology for the delay of Paul’s parousia!
2 Corinthians 12
14: Behold, the third time I am ready to come to you…
20: For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would…
21: And lest, when I come again…
Note the similarity to the Son of Man saying in Lk 18:8.

How Christ-like is he? When Paul does come again, he will spare not the judgment of the sinners.
2 Corinthians 13:2 I told you before, and foretell you, as if I were present, the second time; and being absent now I write to them which heretofore have sinned, and to all other, that, if I come again, I will not spare.

Paul is dead. He is "absent in body but present in spirit" (1 Cor. 5:3). To be "absent from the body" is to be "present with the Lord" (2 Cor. 5:8). But just as Jesus will have a future coming (1 Cor. 4:5) also will Paul (1 Cor. 4:19).

Paul has many of the attributes of divinity, including being the *Father* of believers, who are his *beloved sons* whom he has *begotten* whom he calls to *follow me*. (1 Cor. 4:14-16. cf Mark 1:11, 17; Psalm 2:7, Acts 13:33, Heb 1:5; 5:5). The *spirit* of Paul has the authority to judge a man and deliver him to Satan for the destruction of his flesh. 1 Cor. 5:4-5.

The “spirit of Paul” sent forth his own emissaries in the form of the bearers of his posthumous letters. The epistles in reality were written by later followers, channeling what Paul “would have said;” e.g. 1 Corinthians Sosthenes, 2 Corinthians 1:1 Timothy. The bearers of these letters would use them as credentials with the various Pauline churches. We see this in the “fill in the blank” ______ brother of 2 Corinthians 12:18 noted by R.Price.

Phillipians, far from being authentic, is the "Last Testament of Paul"

The letter abounds with clues to its in pseudepigraphical nature.
The letter writer of Philippians and its readers share a background of Paul’s death in the dim past. The epistle is filled with this literary foreshadowing.
His colleagues are long dead, enshrined now in the book of life. Phil 4:3. The “bishops and deacons” reveal a church organization far in advance with Paul’s putative time.
Paul is hovering between life and death (Phil 1:21-22). He will have a second coming (2:24) by returning in pseudepigraphical letters.

Paul’s absence (2:12) is a reference to Paul’s alleged death long ago. The death of Paul had in the intervening period become a complimentary sacrifice alongside Christ himself 2:16-17. He shares in Christ’s suffering (3:10) as he races towards his perfection, his legendary death at the headsman axe --poured out as a libation upon the sacrificial service of faith, 2:17.

Next, lets look at 1 Clement.

"By reason of jealousy and strife Paul by his example pointed out the prize of patient endurance. After that he had been seven times in bonds, had been driven into
exile, had been stoned, had preached in the East and in the West, he won the
noble renown which was the reward of his faith, having taught righteousness unto the whole world and having reached the farthest bounds of the West; and when he had borne his testimony before the rulers, so he departed from the world
and went unto the holy place, having been found a notable pattern of patient
endurance." 1Clem 5:5-6.

That Paul was in bonds seven times is mentioned nowhere in the New Testament epistles or Acts.

Finally, we can come to the Muratorian fragment that alleges that Paul went to Spain. Perhaps the redactor of 1 Clement thought Paul was assumed into heaven from there. Whatever the case, the legend of Paul continued to grow. Clearly we are not dealing with historical facts.

Best Regards,
Jake Jones IV

Duvduv

I was looking only at the English versions.
I guess the Greek can be understood in more than one way.

Duvduv

In any case there seems to be alot of confusion as the existence of this fellow Hyppolitus and whether writings can be ascribed to him. As a so-called second century figure reports about him are from writers from later centuries. Even Origen is unknown without good old Eusebius.

Clivedurdle

How old is the story of Androcles and the Lion?

Atheos

Although I think some arguments from silence have merit this doesn't seem to be one that does. The rope thing was in Acts so technically it's not something "Paul" told us about.

yalla

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apion

"Apion (20s BC - c. 45-48 AD), Graeco-Egyptian grammarian, sophist and commentator on Homer, was born at the Siwa Oasis, and flourished in the first half of the 1st century AD......He wrote several works, none of which has survived. The well-known story "Androclus and the Lion", which is preserved in Aulus Gellius [2] is from his work: Aegyptiacorum ("Wonders of Egypt"). "