Dan Brown's 'The Da Vinci Code': What do Paul's letters say about Jesus?
The earliest Christian documents that we have are the letters written by the apostle Paul and preserved in the New Testament.
Scholars do not agree about whether all the letters that are attributed to Paul were actually written by him. However, almost all scholars agree that at least seven of the letters attributed to Paul really are by him:
- the letter to Romans
- two letters to the Corinthians
- Galatians
- Philippians
- 1 Thessalonians
- Philemon
For the sake of argument, we will stick to the letters that almost everyone agrees about. Paul was probably executed by the Emperor Nero, around 66 AD, and all his letters were written between around 50-65 AD - that is, within 36 years of when Jesus was executed.
In Galatians chapter 4 verses 4-5, Paul says:
... when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.
In 1 Corinthians chapter 8 verses 5-6, he writes:
According to some people, there are many so-called gods and many lords, both in heaven and on earth. But we know that there is only one God, the Father, who created everything, and we exist for him. And there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom God made everything and through whom we have been given life.
Paul begins his letter to the Christians in Rome like this:
This letter is from Paul, Jesus Christ's slave, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News. This Good News was promised long ago by God through his prophets in the holy Scriptures. It is the Good News about his Son, Jesus, who came as a man, born into King David's royal family line. And Jesus Christ our Lord was shown to be the Son of God when God powerfully raised him from the dead by means of the Holy Spirit.
And in Philippians chapter 2 verses 5-6, he says:
Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God...
Most scholars believe that at this point in Philippians, Paul is actually quoting from a Christian hymn. If so, this hymn must be even earlier than Paul's letter.
So it is clear that by the second half of the first century the apostle Paul believed and taught that Jesus was the Son of God. This was within about thirty years after Jesus was put to death, and two hundred and fifty years before the Council of Nicaea. The claim that Jesus was made divine by a vote at Nicaea just will not stand up to being examined.