Welcome back to another episode of five minutes in church history for this episode. I am sitting here with a book in my hand. It is J. Gressam-Machins. The origin of Paul's religion. It was first published in 1921 and that was

when it was copyrighted and this edition looks like it's from 1925 and it is

autographed. It says, with warm regards, Jay Gressum Macon, October 6, 1927.

He gave it to George Fisher and George Fisher meticulously underlined and put in margin notes

throughout this whole book. Sometimes you find books with notes and they stop after the first

chapter or two but these notes go all the way

through well that's the particular book but let's talk about this book Paul's

religion this book originated in lectures in fact there's a page here at the beginning that says the James Sprunt lectures.

In 1911, Mr James Sprunt of Wilmington, North Carolina,

gave to the trustees of Union Theological Seminary in Virginia the sum of $30,000

since increased by his generosity to $50,000 and it goes on to say that the purpose of that money was to set up a

lectureship and in 1920 to 21 the lectures the sprunt lectures were given

by the Reverend Dr. John Gressom Machen. The year before, the

lectures were given by G. Campbell Morgan from London, the great London pastor, and the year after Machen, the lectures were given by none other than the Honorable William Jennings Bryan.

The 1921, 1922 lectures just three years before Brian would get into that courtroom in Dayton, Tennessee.

Well, let's talk about Maeton's Sprunt lectures.

He gave it the title,

the origin of Paul's religion.

There were actually three views floating around

New Testament scholarship of the origin of Christianity. You see these New Testament Scholars of the origin of Christianity.

You see these New Testament scholars, German, English, turn of the 19th into the 20th century,

made a distinction between the Jesus of the Gospels and the religion of Paul.

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