Session 4: The Silent Years
Preparation Resources
1) Primary text: Galatians 3:27-29
2) Extended Biblical texts (optional): Galatians 1: 18-24, Acts 9: 10-30, Isaiah 49
3) Paul, A Biography reading (optional): Chapter 3: "Arabia and Tarsus"
Discussion Topics
1) How does Prof. Wright say Paul was initially received by his contemporaries following his conversion?
2) What does Prof. Wright conjecture Paul was doing during his “silent years” in Tarsus?
3) Where does Prof. Wright say the “note of heartbreak” that comes through in many of Paul’s letters come from?
4) In what way did Paul reframe both the Jewish prayer tradition and the Scriptures he had spent his life reading and learning?
5) What is the significance of the Suffering Servant passages of Isaiah for understanding Paul’s view of Jesus and his own vocation?
Notes for Discussion
1) Primary text: Galatians 3:27-29
2) Extended Biblical texts (optional): Galatians 1: 18-24, Acts 9: 10-30, Isaiah 49
3) Paul, A Biography reading (optional): Chapter 3: "Arabia and Tarsus"
Discussion Topics
1) How does Prof. Wright say Paul was initially received by his contemporaries following his conversion?
2) What does Prof. Wright conjecture Paul was doing during his “silent years” in Tarsus?
3) Where does Prof. Wright say the “note of heartbreak” that comes through in many of Paul’s letters come from?
4) In what way did Paul reframe both the Jewish prayer tradition and the Scriptures he had spent his life reading and learning?
5) What is the significance of the Suffering Servant passages of Isaiah for understanding Paul’s view of Jesus and his own vocation?
Notes for Discussion