AbstractsHistory

The problem is to determine whether or not Paul may have had some written sources regarding Jesus. This dissertation is limited by excluding from consideration all possible sources other than written. It attempts to discover evidence of written sources and their nature and to correlate them with the documents posited as a result of Gospel-criticism. The tradition in the Church and the insights of the greatest interpreters must be used, but the primary method used in this study is to compare Pauline and Gospel passages with respect to their vocabulary, form, and content. These books are assumed as Pauline: Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, and Philemon. Previous workers in the area of Paul's relation to Jesus fall into five groups: 1) those who believe that Paul founded a new Gentile Christianity independently on the basis of his own theology; 2) those who believe that Paul is dependent upon and agrees with Jesus in every way; 3) those who believe that Paul is often in substantial agreement with Jesus but that no connection is to be traced between the two; 4) those who believe that Paul continues Jesus' work and gospel being consciously dependent upon the Jesus of history; and 5) those who believe that Paul continues Jesus' work without conscious dependence upon the Jesus of history. [TRUNCATED]