Jerusalem in Paul's letters

[Giuseppe]

Surely, from the only Paul's epistles, one can't infer that Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem.


To my knowledge, there are only 4 mentions of ''Jerusalem'' in all the paulines:

I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus.
Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days

(Gal 1:17-18)

Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.

(Gal 4:25-26)

[Ben C. Smith]

To my knowledge, there are only 4 mentions of ''Jerusalem'' in all the paulines:

I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus.
Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days

(Gal 1:17-18)

Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.

(Gal 4:25-26)

There are six others:

Romans 15.18-19: 18 For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed, 19 in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.

Romans 15.22-31: 22 For this reason I have often been hindered from coming to you; 23 but now, with no further place for me in these regions, and since I have had for many years a longing to come to you 24 whenever I go to Spain — for I hope to see you in passing, and to be helped on my way there by you, when I have first enjoyed your company for a while — 25 but now, I am going to Jerusalem serving the saints. 26 For Macedonia and Achaea have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. 27 Yes, they were pleased to do so, and they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things. 28 Therefore, when I have finished this, and have put my seal on this fruit of theirs, I will go on by way of you to Spain. 29 And I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ. 30 Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, 31 that I may be delivered from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints.

1 Corinthians 16.3: 3 And when I arrive, whomever you may approve, I shall send them with letters to carry your gift to Jerusalem.

Galatians 2.1: 1 Then after an interval of fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also.

Zion is also an established code name for Jerusalem:

Romans 9.32-33: 32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33 just as it is written, "Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed."

Romans 11.25-26: 25 For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery, lest you be wise in your own estimation, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; 26 and thus all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, "The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob."

[Giuseppe]

As above, there is no way to even only imagine that Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem, from the pauline epistles only.

[toejam]

^Sure there is:

1 Corinthians 1:23
we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles

Romans 9:32-33
[Israel] have stumbled over the stumbling block, as it is written, "See, I am laying in Zion a stone that will make people stumble..."

1 Thessalonians 2:14-15
For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you suffered the same things from your own compatriots as they did from the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets

[Giuseppe]

^Sure there is:

1 Corinthians 1:23
we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles

Romans 9:32-33
[Israel] have stumbled over the stumbling block, as it is written, "See, I am laying in Zion a stone that will make people stumble..."

The stumbling block is the proclamation in Jerusalem of the event ''Christ crucified'', not the event per se.

1 Thessalonians 2:14-15
For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you suffered the same things from your own compatriots as they did from the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets

Banal interpolation.

[Giuseppe]

This is really indirect evidence that Jesus was not crucified in Jerusalem.

1 Corinthians 1:23
we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles

Romans 9:32-33
[Israel] have stumbled over the stumbling block, as it is written, "See, I am laying in Zion a stone that will make people stumble..."

If Jesus was only preached as "crucified" in Jerusalem, then surely he wasn't crucified in Jerusalem. You don't preach x to people who already know x.

[Giuseppe]

Strictly speaking, Golgota is not in Jerusalem.

[toejam]

The crucifixion is seen as a stumbling block to potential Jewish converts. Paul quotes/conflates a prophecy that a stumbling stone would be laid in Zion (Jerusalem). Cephas, John and James - the pillars - are found in Jerusalem. And I'm not at all convinced that 1 Thessalonians 2:14-15 is an interpolation. Paul never says that Jesus was crucified anywhere else. The most reasonable explanation is that Paul thought Jesus had been crucified in Jerusalem.

[Giuseppe]

The crucifixion is seen as a stumbling block to potential Jewish converts

The preaching of the crucifixion is seen as a stumbling block to potential Jewish converts from Jerusalem.

Paul quotes/conflates a prophecy that a stumbling stone would be laid in Zion (Jerusalem). Cephas, John and James - the pillars - are found in Jerusalem. And I'm not at all convinced that 1 Thessalonians 2:14-15 is an interpolation. Paul never says that Jesus was crucified anywhere else. The most reasonable explanation is that Paul thought Jesus had been crucified in Jerusalem.

I don't see how this fact:

Cephas, John and James - the pillars - are found in Jerusalem

...may help to believe that 1 Thess 2:14-15 is not an interpolation.
if Paul was not a Jew, then surely he could have written 1 Thess 2:14-15. But if Paul was not a Jew, then he was a gentile, e so very probably he was Marcion.