THE LETTERS OF PAUL The letters of St. Paul were reportedly written by Paul in the process of his efforts to support the budding Christian communities of the Mediterranean basin. The earliest letters are believed to be those referred to as 1 Thessalonians, Philippians, Galatians and 1 Corinthians, all written in the timeframe of 49 to 55 CE. The letter to Romans probably dates from 57 or 58. As such, these letters are the oldest Christian documents that we have today.

St Paul, by Masaccio (15th century Florentine School)

The overriding theme of Paul's letters is the universal salvation of mankind through faith in the redemptive value of Jesus' death and Resurrection. Through this ultimate sacrifice, Jesus had shown The Way; through a wholehearted conversion to Jesus as exemplified by the act of baptism, believers would be equally assured of eternal life.

In addition to the key tenets of Paul's theology, the letters also address a wide range of practical issues that confronted the early Christian communities in their efforts to define an authentic liturgy and lifestyle. The most urgent issues dealt with the extent to which non-Jewish, i.e. Gentile followers needed to adhere to the precepts of the Jewish Law. Jesus, after all, had been a Jew, and the central church of Jerusalem, led by Jesus' brother James, always assumed that their preaching should be focused solely on Jews.

Indeed, the tension between the original 'Jewish' Christian church and the growing Gentile communities of Asia Minor and Greece runs through many of Paul's letters as well as the Book of Acts of the Apostles. Paul strenuously argued (particularly in the Letter of the Galatians) that the sacrificial quality of Jesus' death and Resurrection had replaced, and indeed obviated the redemptive precepts of the Mosaic Law. Paul defended his decision not to ask his Gentile converts to subject to circumcision, a policy that was met with dismay in Jerusalem.

In the end, a compromise was reached whereby Paul could focus on his ministry among the Gentiles while James and Peter focused on the Jewish Christian communities in Judea and elsewhere in the Roman Empire (including Rome itself). What's more, certain instructions of the Mosaic dietary laws were supposed to be incorporated in the doctrine of Paul's apostolic writings, but it is not clear that this was the case.

Paul died in Rome sometime between 64 and 67 CE, possibly as a result of the persecutions by emperor Nero following a devastating fire in Rome that was blamed on the Christians.