The tension between Paul’s cosmic Christ and the Jesus character of the Gospels is evident. Paul presents a Christ who is a divine intermediary and a universal redeemer, while the Gospels offer a Jewish teacher deeply engaged in ethics, law, and community. This divergence raises some questions: How did early Christianity bridge this theological gap? Did early church councils and later theological traditions attempt to reconcile these differing portrayals, or did they prioritize Paul’s vision over the Gospel narratives?
By examining early Christological debates, the influence of Hellenistic thought, and modern theological trends, we can explore how Christianity negotiated the relationship between these two representations of Jesus.
The Role of Early Church Councils in Shaping Christology
One of the primary mechanisms for reconciling Paul’s cosmic Christ with the Gospel Jesus was the early church councils, particularly those of Nicaea (325 CE) and Chalcedon (451 CE). These councils sought to define the nature of the Christ character amid theological disputes that had emerged within the Christian community. Tillich’s (1972) A History of Christian Thought explores how such councils did not simply adopt Paul’s theology outright, but worked to integrate his Christological vision with the traditions preserved in the Gospel narratives. The Nicene Creed, for example, emphasized the Christ character’s divine nature and preexistence, reflecting Pauline themes, while also affirming the narrative of his incarnation and literary role as the Son of God, bridging the gap between the cosmic Christ and the Gospel Jesus.
The Synthesis of Pauline and Gospel Christology in Later Traditions
The works of Augustine provide another lens through which Christianity synthesized these two portraits of Jesus. As Lupi (2002) discusses in Saint Augustine's Doctrine on Grace, Augustine heavily drew upon Paul’s theological framework, particularly in his doctrines of grace, original sin, and redemption. However, Augustine did not reject the Gospel Jesus; instead, he integrated the ethical teachings of the Jesus character within his broader soteriological framework, arguing that the ministry of the Gospel Jesus was essential but secondary to his redemptive function. This synthesis found expression in post-Nicene traditions, where Jesus' humanity was affirmed but always within the greater context of Pauline salvation theology.
Hellenistic Philosophy: Bridging Theology and History
The philosophical traditions of Hellenism played a critical role in shaping early Christian theory and reconciling Paul’s cosmic Christ with the Gospel Jesus. In Taylor’s (2003) Paul and the Historical Jesus Quest, Hellenistic philosophical thought, particularly Platonism and Stoicism, provided the conceptual framework for articulating the Jesus character’s dual nature as both divine and human. Paul’s writings, which emphasize Christ as the divine Logos and a cosmic mediator, align with Platonic notions of an abstract, transcendent reality underlying the material world. The Gospel narratives, by contrast, present a more tangible, human Jesus, which resonated with the Aristotelian and Stoic traditions that emphasized practical ethics and virtue.
One of the key ways that Hellenistic thought influenced early Christian theology was through the doctrine of the Logos, which had its roots in Stoic and Middle Platonic traditions. Philo of Alexandria, a Jewish-Hellenistic philosopher, had already conceptualized the Logos as a divine intermediary between God the Father and the world, a notion that early Christian thinkers adapted to describe their Christ. The Gospel of John explicitly refers to Jesus as the Logos (Word) (John 1:1), reflecting an attempt to synthesize Jewish theological concepts with Greek philosophical ideas.
Tillich (1972) further explains how early Christian theologians, such as Clement of Alexandria and Origen, built upon these philosophical traditions to construct a Christology that harmonized the Pauline cosmic Christ with the Jesus character. Clement saw the Jesus character as the ultimate teacher of divine wisdom, merging the rational structure of Greek philosophy with Christian revelation. Origen, in turn, developed a theological system in which the Jesus character’s incarnation was seen as a bridge between the material and the divine, enabling human souls to ascend toward God’s ultimate truth.
Moreover, Augustine, whose theological works were deeply influenced by Neoplatonism, provided another avenue for integrating Hellenistic thought with Christian doctrine. As Lupi (2002) discusses, Augustine adopted the Platonic idea that the physical world is a mere shadow of a higher, spiritual reality. He interpreted the Jesus character as the ultimate source of divine illumination, whose role was not just to teach ethical truths but to provide a metaphysical path to salvation. This philosophical interpretation allowed for a seamless transition between the Gospel’s depiction of Jesus as a teacher and Paul’s portrayal of Christ as a cosmic redeemer.
We, in 2025, have no idea how Hellenistic philosophy offered early Christian theologians a way to reconcile Paul’s emphasis on the Jesus character’s divine nature with the Gospel’s portrayal of Jesus as a seemingly historical figure. By framing Jesus as the Logos, the divine wisdom made flesh, Christianity was able to present a Christology that was both philosophically sophisticated and theologically cohesive. This synthesis helped Christian theory appeal to both Jewish (Hellenistic Jews) and Greco-Roman (pagan) audiences, ensuring its doctrinal survival and expansion in the ancient world.
Pauline or Gospel Jesus?
Even today we can see the strange and persistent tension between Paul’s Christ and the Gospel Jesus. Some Christian traditions, particularly within Protestantism, emphasize justification by faith and the Christ character’s atoning sacrifice, echoing Pauline theology. Others, especially in contemporary liberal theology, focus on the ethical teachings of the Jesus character, aligning more closely with the Gospel narratives. As Tillich (1972) notes, modern Christianity continues to struggle with this dual identity, reflecting an ongoing negotiation between theological necessity and a forced historical tradition.
The Concern
Early Christianity did not so much resolve the tension between Paul and the Gospels as it absorbed both into a complex theological framework. The church councils prioritized Paul’s vision but integrated the Gospel narratives; theological traditions like those of Augustine synthesized both perspectives; and Hellenistic philosophy provided the intellectual scaffolding to bridge the theological and historical Jesus. What we see today of Christianity remains shaped by this synthesis, with different traditions leaning toward either the cosmic Christ of Paul or the ethical Jesus of the Gospels. The question of whether Christianity is primarily about faith in the divine Christ or the teachings of the Gospel Jesus is a question of concern because, with the Bible (in Psalm 51:10) defining its goal according to the saying, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me,” with Christian theory ultimately transitioning away from this goal in unrealistic terms for the growth and wellbeing of the psychological and inward dimensions of our being, we need to sincerely think about where we are spending our energy.
References:
Lupi, J. (2002). Saint Augustine's doctrine on grace (1).
Taylor, N. (2003). Paul and the historical Jesus quest. Neotestamentica, 37(1), 105-126.
Tillich, P. (1972). A history of Christian thought, from its Judaic and Hellenistic origins to existentialism. Simon and Schuster.
