The origin of Paul's concern for the gentiles and Paul's gentile mission

This purpose of this study is to investigate the origin of Paul’s concern for the Gentiles and of his Gentile mission. Chapter 1 serves to show that recent Pauline studies tend to focus only on Paul at and post-Damascus, and then provides the outline for the thesis. Chapter 2 focuses on the origin of Paul’s concern for the Gentiles. I argue that the main background of the pre-Damascus Paul’s thought was not Hellenism, but Judaism. Thus, it is highly likely that Paul was aware of patterns of Jewish universalism with regard to the inclusion of Gentiles into God’s people. There are two representative patterns of Jewish universalism: One is the tradition of an eschatological pilgrimage; the other is that of Gentile proselytism. On the basis of Gal. 5:11 and Rom. 11, I argue that Paul shared the tradition of Gentile proselytism rather than that of an eschatological pilgrimage. Therefore, Paul’s concern for the Gentiles originated before Damascus. Chapter 3 focuses on the origin of Paul’s Gentile mission. In Gal. 1:11-17 and 2 Cor. 4:4-6 Paul explains the origin of his gospel and his mission. In particular he links them to Damascus. Furthermore, we do not have evidence that a period of time elapsed after Damascus before Paul began preaching to the Gentiles. On the contrary, we do have evidence that Paul preached the gospel to the Gentiles immediately after he experienced the Christophany at Damascus. Therefore, Paul’s Gentile mission originated at Damascus. Chapter 4 serves as conclusion of the study. I conclude that Paul’s concern for the Gentiles originated before Damascus and that his Gentile mission originated at Damascus, and suggest that this implies that the pre-Damascus Paul’s concern for the Gentiles played a definite role in his Gentile mission.