SAINT PAUL IN THE CONTEXT OF THE EARLY CHURCH

Stumbling upon a wonderful video of the actor David Suchet travelling in the footsteps of Saint Paul, I remembered a recent episode of Jonathan Pageau (YouTube channel)  interviewing Father Stephen De Young on his recent book, with the title, "Saint Paul the Pharisee: Jewish Apostle to All Nations" (link). Father Stephen has specialized on the Early Church and Second Temple Judaism. He knows a lot of little known, or even unknown facts pertaining to this period, particularly the early years of Christianity as it emerged from Judaism. He talks about these subjects often with Father Andrew Stephen Damick (link) on their podcast on Ancient Faith Radio, Lord of Spirits (link).

Jan. 19, 2025 Jonathan Pageau: St. Paul the Pharisee - with Fr. Stephen De Young.

This book comes not a moment too soon. Saint Paul has been the source of many speculations, often from sources critical of Christianity -- implying that his theology somehow diverges from the teachings of Christ, "in order to sell Christianity to a Roman public". Father Stephen puts paid to that type of attacks. 

Time stamps:

00:00 - Coming up

01:13 - Intro music

01:38 - Introduction to St. Paul and Contextual Understanding

06:16 - Settling the "works vs faith" debate

13:06 - St. Paul and the Gospels: A Unified Message

15:37 - Scholasticism vs Mysticism

20:17 - The Transformation of Society through St. Paul's Vision 

24:19 - Slavery and Christian Ethics in St. Paul's Writings

32:34 - The Kingdom of Heaven is already here

38:15 - Hierarchy bad

39:58 - The core of St. Paul's teachings: Faithfulness

41:34 - The Call to Individual Purpose

46:32 - The Nature of Christian Hierarchy

51:32 - St. Paul: Context and Misunderstandings

56:03 - Keeping Jewish practices

01:04:56 - The Sabbath

01:05:50 - Tradition preserves context

01:11:08 - Understanding St. Paul: A Personal Connection

If you’re curious about the Orthodox Church then start with this book: pic.twitter.com/GWzqnMFemh

— luigi (@orthodoxluigi) May 28, 2025

May 8, 2025 Up Close Documentaries: David Suchet In The Footsteps Of St Paul The Apostle - Ambassador of Christianity.

March 26, 2025 Transfigured: Fr Stephen DeYoung - The Apostle Paul, Judaism, Torah, and Christianity.

Time stamps:
00:00:00 - Introduction
00:01:50 - Background on the book
00:06:10 - How Jewish was Paul?
00:16:30 - Did Paul invent Christianity?
00:21:00 - Should Christians keep Torah?
00:36:40 - Acts 15 and the Council of Jerusalem
00:51:20 - Romans 6
01:06:15 - Justin Martyr and the law
01:20:00 - Melito of Sardis
01:38:10 - Suetonius and the Roman expulsion
01:41:00 - Romans 7
01:58:00 - Galatians 3
02:06:45 - Colossians 2
02:10:15- Concluding Remarks

- More on Saint Paul, Eastern Orthodoxy, Christianity, Father Stephen De Young, Jonathan Pageau -