The Origin of Paul's Gospel

In answer to Pauline scholarship that tends to explain the origin of Paul's gospel in Palestinian Judaism, Hellenistic Judaism, mystery cults, or Gnosticism, Seyoon Kim here argues that the origin lies in Paul's own testimony that he received the gospel from the revelation of Jesus Christ on the Damascus road. Only when this insistence of Paul is taken seriously, says Kim, can we really understand Paul and his theology. Kim begins his investigation of Paul's interpretation of the Damascus event by examining Paul's Rabbinic background. He then takes a more detailed look at just what occurred on the Damascus road, and follows this with a thorough discussion of Paul's gospel–the revelation, its Christology, and its soteriology–keeping in mind at all times how it relates to the Damascus event. To American readers this title will be reminiscent of 'The Origin of Paul's Religion' by J. Gresham Machen, published well over a half a century ago. As Dr. Machen took full and critical account of Pauline scholarship in his day, so Dr. Kim does today. The upshot of Dr. Kim's carefully argued study is that all the main elements in Paul's gospel represent the logical outworking of that 'revelation of Jesus Christ' which he received from God on the Damascus road. Kim's book, then, does for this generation what Dr. Machen's book did for his contemporaries. –F. F. Bruce, the late Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis, University of Manchester A most impressive thesis which goes right to the heart of contemporary study of Paul's theology and can be unreservedly recommended to students in this area. –I. Howard Marshall, Honorary Research Professor of New Testament, University of Aberdeen, and author of 'Witness to the Gospel: The Theology of Acts' Seyoon Kim received his PhD (under the direction of F. F. Bruce) from the University of Manchester, England. He is Associate Dean for the Korean DMin Program and Professor of New Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary.