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      Letters of Paul to the Early Church

      A Contemporary Translation

      Copyright © 2017 Robert H. Mounce. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.

      Previously released in March 2016 under the title Dear Friends, This Is Paul.

      Cascade Books

      An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers

      199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3

      Eugene, OR 97401

      www.wipfandstock.com

      paperback isbn: 978-1-5326-3412-3

      hardcover isbn: 978-1-5326-3414-7

      ebook isbn: 978-1-5326-3413-0

      Cataloguing-in-Publication data:

      Names: Mounce, Robert H.

      Title: Letters of Paul to the early church : a contemporary translation / Robert H. Mounce.

      Description: Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2017

      Identifiers: isbn 978-1-5326-3412-3 (paperback) | isbn 978-1-5326-3414-7 (hardcover) | isbn 978-1-5326-3413-0 (ebook)

      Subjects: LCSH: Bible | New Testament | Epistles of Paul | Title

      Classification: bs2095 m928 2017 (print) | bs2095 (ebook)

      Manufactured in the U.S.A. July 24, 2017

      This book is dedicated to

      Rachel Johnson Mounce,

      who consistently exemplifies Jesus’ fundamental teaching

      that one finds life by giving it away.

      Introduction

      No one in the early church played a more influential role in the spread of Christianity than did the apostle Paul. A zealous adherent of Rabbinic Judaism, he was determined to get rid of that heretical group of Christians who went about proclaiming that the man Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who was put to death by the Roman overlords, had in fact risen from the dead. So Saul, as that was his Jewish name, set out for Damascus to take some of these rebels into custody. But he never finished his mission because suddenly he was struck blind by a light from heaven and this same Jesus who had risen from the dead spoke to him personally. That dramatic encounter changed the life of the Jewish zealot who then played the major role in the rapid western expansion of the Christian faith. It was the apostle Paul who wrote a number of letters to the churches scattered throughout what we now call Asia Minor and these letters have come to form the theological structure of Christian theology.

      It has been a great joy to have been deeply involved with the apostle’s thinking for the past several years. My desire now is to place in your hands a readable English duplicate of those thirteen ancient Greek letters. As many know, translation philosophy runs all the way from a strict word-for-word approach to a very contemporary style. Both have their advantages. My intention in this work, however, is to communicate the truths that Paul intended rather than the specific words he used to convey them.

      You say, “But that involves interpretation,” and you are exactly right. All translation is interpretation. The critical question is whether the translator has accurately conveyed what the writer intended to communicate. My intention to translate meaning involved a great deal of time in the best evangelical commentaries. I wanted this work to reflect the historic understanding of the text. You will discover that I rarely solve an ambiguity in a way that is not supported by more than one of these resources. Not only have I tried for, as Calvin called it, “lucid brevity” but wherever possible I have removed ambiguity. Every first year Greek student learns that there is both an objective and a subjective genitive and context is the ultimate arbiter. E.g., Is agape tou theou our love for God (objective genitive) or his love for us (subjective genitive)?

      The great linguist Eugene Nida repeatedly emphasized that words bleed their meaning from context. In the vast majority of cases a given word is not limited to a single idea. For example, “fast” can be used in a number of ways: the runner ran fast, I believe I will fast this weekend, she is fast asleep, he lives a fast life-style, the color in this garment is fast, hold fast, etc. The word itself takes its meaning from context and that is where interpretation comes in. Good translation understands context, is sensitive to the author’s intention, and is committed to allowing context to determine word meaning rather than a preconceived theological point of view.

      The apostle wrote the various letters over a period of some 12–15 years while carrying out his goal of taking the message to the Gentile world. They provide an unusually clear portrait of life of an itinerant evangelist in a hostile society. Any change in literary style reflects the condition of the church being addressed as well as the amanuensis used for that particular letter. The order of the letters reflects the probable dates of composition.

      So here is my best understanding of what Paul wrote some two thousand years ago in a language different from ours and in a social setting quite distinct. I want the English equivalent to say exactly what Paul’s Greek conveyed to his first century readers. While that goal will never be accomplished perfectly, I trust that this translation moves in that direction.

      Robert H. Mounce

      Paul’s Letter to the Churches in Galatia

      This is Paul the apostle writing to Christian churches throughout Galatia. I was appointed an apostle, not by some committee but by Jesus Christ and by God the Father who raised him from the dead. It did not require the imprimatur of some human agency. The believers here in Antioch join me in writing.

      Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the evil world in which we live. That is exactly as the Father planned. To him be glory forever and ever! Amen.

      I am astonished at what is happening in your assemblies since I left! It’s been such a short time since God called you by the grace of Christ and already you are deserting him, led astray by what claims to be another gospel. Of course, there is no other true gospel, but some of you have twisted what I taught about Christ and that has created all sorts of confusion. May the curse of God fall on anyone (including us or an angel from heaven) who would preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you! I’ll say it again: If anyone is preaching a gospel contrary to the one you received from us, may the curse of God fall on him!

      I ask you, if I were trying to win your favor would I write to you like this? If my goal were to please people rather than God I’d no longer be a servant of Christ.

      You need to understand that the gospel I preach is supernatural in origin. I didn’t receive it from some person nor was it taught to me. It came by direct revelation from Jesus Christ himself.

      I’m sure you’ve heard how I used to live when I was a member of the Jewish faith, how I persecuted those I now realize to be God’s people. I was dead set on destroying that misguided bunch of heretics. It was widely known that I was far more zealous to preserve the traditions of my ancestors than were my fellow Jews. But when God, who had set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, decided to reveal his Son to me so I could take the message to the Gentiles, I didn’t go to some group of people for advice. I didn’t even go up to Jerusalem to consult with those who were already apostles. Instead, I went to Arabia. After preaching there I returned to Damascus.

      Actually, three years had gone by before I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter. In the two weeks we were together,

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