meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
In Our Time

St Paul

In Our Time

BBC

History

4.69.2K Ratings

🗓️ 28 May 2009

⏱️ 42 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Melvyn Bragg and guests Helen Bond, John Haldane and John Barclay discuss the influence of St Paul on the early Christian church and on Christian theology generally. St Paul joined the Christian church in a time of confusion and wonder. Jesus had been crucified and resurrected and the Christians believed they were living at the end of the world. Paul's impact on Christianity is vast: he imposed an identity on the early Christians and a coherent theology that thinkers from St Augustine to Martin Luther have grappled with. Crucially, Paul is responsible for changing Christianity from a Jewish reform movement into a separate and universal religion.Helen Bond is Senior Lecturer in the New Testament at the University of Edinburgh; John Haldane is Professor of Philosophy at the University of St Andrews; John Barclay is the Lightfoot Professor of Divinity at Durham University.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Thanks for downloading the Inartime podcast. For more details about Inartime and for our terms of use

0:05.4

Please go to bbc.co.uk forward slash radio for. I hope you enjoy the program

0:11.6

Hello about two thousand years ago

0:13.8

Saul of Tarsus a young tent maker an adjouche a zealot was traveling to Damascus when a light flashed around him

0:20.8

As the King James version has it and he fell to the earth and heard a voice saying unto him

0:26.4

Saul saw why persecute to Thou me

0:30.1

This is the original damacine

0:32.1

Conversion one that blinded Saul and then transformed him from a persecutor of Christians into a founder of churches and one of the key

0:39.3

Creators of an institution of faith which is swept over the world for two thousand years. We know him as

0:44.7

Sent Paul the spirit of sent Paul infuses Christianity still and his life and his letters real a very early church a community

0:52.5

Dealing with the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ without Paul's energy his encouragement and his ideas

0:58.9

Christianity as we know it would probably not exist

1:01.7

We need to discuss and Paul and John Barkley light foot professor of divinity at Durham University

1:07.3

Helen Bond senior lecturer in the New Testament at the University of Edinburgh and John Holda and professor of philosophy at the University of San

1:15.1

Andrews John Holda and what evidence do we have for what the Bible says happened on the road to Damascus?

1:22.2

Well, the only sources we have are ones that are contained within

1:25.8

The scripture themselves. I suppose the question would be what do we to make of those?

1:33.6

I mean it depends very much on what kind of perspective you take on this. There's been a fashion for the last

1:39.7

In the modern period at Henry to try to give a psychological explanation of what may have happened to Paul in terms of prior tensions

1:46.4

Unresolved questions in his own life perhaps some sort of illness and such like

1:50.2

But I think the important thing to do is

1:52.8

In general actually with scriptures first of all take it at face value

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.