Steven Carr

Romans 16
Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him...


On page 143 of Romans for Everyone, NT Wright says about this 'First, the gospel has been made known through the prophetic writings: Paul may have in mind the Old Testament scriptures, or he may even be referring to some early Christian texts.'

Which early Christian texts? Wright does not say, as nobody has found them.

And surely Paul could not have thought of early Christian texts as already 'prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God'?

In any case, Wright just never even wonders why Paul thinks the Gospel has been revealed in writings , rather than by Jesus.

Historicists just have not begun to even consider the questions of mythicists.

andrewcriddle

One could render the Greek as ..but now revealed, and through the prophetic writings made known.. ie Paul would be saying that the long-hidden Gospel is now revealed (through the earthly ministry of Jesus) and made known through the OT prophecies (interpreted in the light of Jesus).

I agree that Paul is unlikely to be talking of early Christian written prophecies.

Andrew Criddle

Switch89

I think NT Wright is basically just Jerry Falwell in a better suit. He may be well studied, but he is incredibly biased. So incredibly biased that he's not the type of person you should get all your info about Christian history from.

show_no_mercy

It makes sense of why Paul never quotes or refers to any "ministry" of Jesus. During Paul's time, the only sacred texts were that of the LXX and that's what he quotes repeatedly. I don't think that Christian text were considered "holy scripture" until Marcion - 100 years after Paul.

Doug Shaver

Would Paul not have regarded Jesus' spoken words to be at least as authoritative as what was written in the LXX?

Or do you suppose that Paul had no knowledge of Jesus' spoken words?