ABSTRACT
Looked at broadly, it was a break from Jewish law and custom. But from Acts the people learn little or nothing of the depth of religious experience and the breadth of external religious environment involved in this movement. The contrast between the preaching reported in the early chapters of Acts and the teaching of Jesus is obvious. The extent of Paul’s own agreement with or divergence from the primitive tradition can only be determined by reference to his own letters. The early preaching is a message of the death, resurrection, Messiahship, and advent of Jesus. The extent of Paul's own agreement with or divergence from the primitive tradition can only be determined by reference to his own letters. The Paul of Augustinian and Lutheran theology is as far removed from the real Paul as the Aristotle of Aquinas is from the real Aristotle..
