The Pauline Letter Opening Comparison Essay Paper

The Pauline Letter Opening Comparison Essay Paper

Pauline Letter Opening Comparison
Compare and contrast the four (4) Pauline letter opening in the “Pauline Introductions Download Pauline Introductions” article. How do the differences between these openings provide you with insights concerning the major themes of Romans?

INSTRUCTIONS: Your Reflection Paper is to be between 500-750 words in length (about 1-2 pages) following MLA format and submitted as a Microsoft Word compatible document (.doc or .docx). If you cite source material, include a Works Cited page, but do not include the Works Cited in the total requirement for the assignment The Pauline Letter Opening Comparison Essay Paper.

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Pauline’s letters are those of Paul’s teaching of the difficulties that the Christian Church faced in the early years of its existence. In these letters, one learns about the life and teachings of Paul, who happened to be an integral element of Christianity after Christ (Demarest, n.d.)The Pauline Letter Opening Comparison Essay Paper. Paul started the letters with salutations, and through the first initial verses in each epistle, one can learn about the Church that was being addressed at the time. Notably, the Pauline letters provide insight into the beliefs and various controversies that existed in the early Church. In this essay, a comparison is made on the openings of the four selected epistles: Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, and Colossians.

In all four letters, Romans, Ephesians, Galatians, and Colossians, Apostle Paul starts with salutations. Also, he introduces himself as the apostle of Christ. In Romans, Paul introduces himself as a slave of Christ Jesus called to become an apostle to spread God’s word. By reading the first opening lines of the letter to the Romans, one can see that a group of people, the Gentiles, were discriminated against by the Church. As such, Paul wrote the letter to remind the Romans that Jesus, God’s son, was a descendant of David, who rose and was resurrected from the dead. Through Jesus, there is grace that would foster obedience of faith among the Gentiles. By further stating that the Roman Church was also among them, Paul tried to reunite Jews and Gentiles by arguing that they served the same purpose and were all called by God. From this, one may say that the Roman epistle was a way of reuniting the Gentiles and Jews and asking for peaceful associations among them The Pauline Letter Opening Comparison Essay Paper.

Further, from the opening lines of the Galatian epistle, one can tell that the Church of Galatia was sinful. After the salutations, Paul refers to Christ as one who gave himself, through death, to rescue humanity from the present evil age based on God’s will. By stating “this present evil age,” one may see that the Church of Galatia existed at a time marked and characterized by the prevalence of sin. However, the Church of Ephesus appears to be the opposite of the Church of Galatia. After saluting the Church of Ephesus, Paul goes further ahead to refer to them as saints and faithful. Mainly, this signifies that the Church of Ephesus was without minimal scandals and sins, as they were praised for their deeds and actions. In this letter, Paul describes the Church and what it should be like The Pauline Letter Opening Comparison Essay Paper.

Lastly, as seen in the first opening lines, Colossians was written by both Paul and Timothy. Paul states that the letter is from himself and his brother Timothy. Further, Paul described the Colossae Church as saints and comprised of faithful brothers and sisters in Christ. Based on these first verses, one may argue that the Colossae Church was faithful and demonstrated immense love for Christ, who heads the body of Christ. The introduction suggests that the Church obeyed God’s commands of loving one another as God loves. From this, one can see the different churches that Paul wrote to, and one can see that it is easy to learn about the recipient church of the letter based on the apostle’s salutations and opening lines.

Reference

Demarest, R. (n.d.). What are the Pauline epistles? Life, Hope & Truth. https://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/holy-bible/new-testament/epistles-of-paul/    The Pauline Letter Opening Comparison Essay Paper