This is possibly to anticipate the results of the examination of the other Epistles, but only in details. The central fact of Pauline Christology is already evident in the Epistles to the Thessa- lonians, viz. that while betraying no sign that his monotheism is in danger, or that his way of inter- preting it is either singular or calling for defence, he gives to the Exalted Man, Christ Jesus, the value and many of the attributes of God.
A Messiah who is Messiah and more, One whose function it is to save from the wrath that is im- pending, but One to be in relation with whom is to have found already the basis of new life in an ethical sense, the condition of a new relation to God, and One who therefore draws to Himself faith, obedience, worshij) — that is in briefest form St. Paul's conception of Christ as set forth in these Epistles. In subsequent letters St. Paul analyzes the relation of Christ to God and of Christ to mankind, which this conception involves ; but nothing can justify the suggestion that this central conception was built up, as it were, out of the elements into which it could subsequently be resolved. It was one which reached St. Paul whole and complete at the crisis of liis conversion. That there was some preparation, psychological and even intellectual, for that transforming ex- perience is quite possible, though St. Paul himself would probably have denied it. But that it can be accounted for merely as the result of any sub- jective process is a suggestion quite irreconcilable with the evidence. We have the concurrent testi- mony of St. Paul himself (Gal P^t- ; cf. 2 Co 4«) tliat at the moment of his conversion he was artame with persecuting zeal against those who believed in Jesus as Messiah, and of Acts (8^ 9^^-), that the martyrdom of Stephen was followed by an outburst of calculated fury against the Chris- tian heretics. And the revelation of the Ilisen Christ resulted in something more than the mere reversal of Saul's opinion regarding Jesus, and the confession that He Avas indeed the Messiah ; it re- sulted in a conversion of the whole man so com- plete that the change of opinion which was its in- tellectual expression was of secondary importance. There was an ethical change which demands for its explanation a religious as well as an intellectual revolution ; and the explanation is that from the time of his conversion St. Paul found in Jesus not only Xpia-rds but Kvpios.
The proof of this ethical change lies in his sub- sequent life and in all his Epistles. It is seen alike in the ideals which he inculcates and in the degree in which he himself approximates to these ideals. And he asseits the closest causal connexion between the qualities of this new life, life of this quality, and Christ, so that the ethical experience of himself and his fellow-believers has contributed largely to his Christology. Already in 1 Thess. (P) we find the triad of Christian virtues — faith, love, and hope — recognized as being the natural fruit of being 'in Christ' ; and Christ as the active source of 'increase' in that love wherewith they have been 'taught of God' to love one another (1 Th 3^2 4^). In 1 Th 5 we have the picture of a Christian community wherein this _' love' was to be operative in curbing the unruly, in comforting those of little spirit, in supporting the weak, in showing longsuilering towards all ; where men were to abstain from every form of
evil, and to hold fast rb Ka\6v. These and other ethical ideals for the common life receive their sanction in the conviction that, as Christians, men belong ' not to the night ' but ' to the day ' (5^- ^), i.e. in a certain sense they are already living in the light of the world to come. And within this series of precepts lies one which more than anything else reveals the power over human nature which St. Paul assigns to faith in Christ. ' At all times be joyful ; pray without ceasing ; in every circumstance give thanks. For this is what God makes known to you in Jesus Christ as his will.' A trust in God which would enable men to accept everything which came to them as part of a Father's will, and so enable them in every circum- stance to be thankful, to be free from care — how- ever this reached St. Paul as part of the new ideal, it testifies to an ethical harmony between him and Jesus. St. Paul's explanation of it would be, ' It jjleased God to reveal His Son in me ' ; and again the ethical experience must be taken into account in the development of his Christology.
(3) The developed Christology of St. Paul. — This may conveniently be studied under three aspects, according as it bears upon the conception of Christ: (a) as He now is, in glory ; (b) as He was upon earth ; (c) as He had been before coming to earth.
A. The glorified Christ. — St. Paiil's faith was in a living Christ, a Being who was continuously active in and on behalf of those who had been re- deemed to God through Him, whether they were regarded as individuals or as a corporate whole. Accordingly, it is only natural that his thought dwells preponderatingly on various aspects and activities of Christ as He is now, in ' glory ' and in the Church ; but along with this there goes al- ways the recollection, whether tacit or expressed, of what had preceded the glory, viz. the death, and the manifestation in earthly life.