Paul of Tarsus as a significant person in Christianity: HSC Studies of Religion

Criteria (NESA 2025 marking guidelines, SoR I Q13(c), SoR II Q24(c)). 7: a thorough evaluation of how ONE significant person or school of thought provides direction for a meaningful life, clear and relevant evidence, integrated terminology. 5 to 6: a sound evaluation. 3 to 4: an explanation. 2: outlines how the person provides direction. 1: general statements about Christianity.

NESA's "answers could include" used Paul. Build an evaluation, not a description.

1. Direction on salvation. "Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God" (Romans 5:1), which NESA calls sola fide: clarity about how salvation is received gives life its foundation.
2. Direction for moral living. Love (1 Corinthians 13) and the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) give practical guidance.
3. Direction for community. The Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12) builds unity and mutual care.
4. Direction by example. His missionary commitment models a life given to the Gospel.
5. Evaluate. Very effective and lasting (his letters are read in almost every Sunday service); but some of his teachings (on women's roles, slavery) are contested today and interpreted differently across denominations, so the direction he gives is mediated by interpretation.

Source: NESA, 2025 HSC Studies of Religion examination and marking guidelines.

Criteria (NESA 2024 marking guidelines, SoR I Q18, SoR II Q29). 17 to 20: a comprehensive and accurate analysis of the impact of ONE significant person or school of thought, integrating the statement effectively throughout, with detailed, relevant and accurate information and integrated terminology. 13 to 16: accurate analysis, statement integrated. 9 to 12: some analysis. 5 to 8: general statements. 1 to 4: general statements about Christianity.

Plan using Paul (NESA's guidelines used Paul). Use the statement's three phrases as the spine.

1. Agent of change. From persecutor (Galatians 1:13) to apostle (Acts 9); the Gentile mission and the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15) turned a Jewish movement into a universal faith: "There is no longer Jew or Greek" (Galatians 3:28).
2. Enriching the faith. His letters, the earliest Christian writings, set out justification by faith (Romans 3:23-24; Galatians 2:16), the Resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:14), the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27) and a Trinitarian pattern of blessing (2 Corinthians 13:13).
3. Inspiring new forms of expression. Communities in Corinth, Ephesus and Thessalonica (NESA); the words of institution used at the Eucharist (1 Corinthians 11:23-26); baptism as dying and rising with Christ (Romans 6:4); and, 1,500 years later, Luther's reading of Romans, which made justification by faith central to Protestant belief (NESA).
4. Analyse limits and debate. Tensions with the Jerusalem church; contested teachings on women and slavery; the "New Perspective on Paul".
5. Judgement. After Jesus, the most influential agent of change in Christian history.

Source: NESA, 2024 HSC Studies of Religion examination and marking guidelines.

Criteria (NESA 2023 marking guidelines, SoR I Q13(c), SoR II Q24(c)). 5: an accurate and detailed explanation of how the contribution of ONE significant person or school of thought is evident in Christianity today, clear and relevant examples, integrated terminology. 4: accurate explanation. 3: an explanation with some examples. 2: general statements. 1: general statement(s) about Christianity.

Model points (Paul). The key word is "today".

1. Scripture and worship. Thirteen New Testament letters bear his name and are read in the lectionaries of Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant churches; the Eucharistic words "Do this in remembrance of me" come from 1 Corinthians 11:24.
2. Weddings and funerals. 1 Corinthians 13 ("Love is patient; love is kind") is among the most-read wedding texts; 1 Corinthians 15 is read at funerals.
3. Doctrine. Justification by faith (Romans 3:23-24) divides and now unites churches: the Catholic and Lutheran Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (1999).
4. Mission and inclusion. Galatians 3:28 is cited in debates on equality and inclusion.

Source: NESA, 2023 HSC Studies of Religion examination and marking guidelines.

Criteria (NESA 2022 marking guidelines, SoR I Q13(c), SoR II Q24(c)). 6: an accurate and detailed explanation of the contributions of ONE significant person or school of thought on encouraging people to live in fellowship, integrating the stimulus with clear and relevant examples and accurate terminology. 4 to 5: accurate explanation using the stimulus. 2 to 3: some explanation. 1: relevant statements about the tradition.

NESA's sample answer used Paul. It argued that through his epistles Paul encouraged Christians to live in "fellowship", with agape as his central theme ("Love is patient; love is kind", 1 Corinthians 13).

1. Agape as the bond of fellowship (1 Corinthians 13:4-7, 13).
2. The Body of Christ. "You are the body of Christ and individually members of it" (1 Corinthians 12:27).
3. Breaking barriers. Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and female are "one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28).
4. The shared meal. The Lord's Supper (1 Corinthians 11) and his rebuke of divisions at Corinth.
5. Link to the stimulus: walking "in the light" as living by the Gospel Paul preached.

Source: NESA, 2022 HSC Studies of Religion examination and marking guidelines.

What earns 6 marks. A detailed, accurate explanation of the impact of one person, with specific evidence and terminology (NESA 2021 marking guidelines, SoR I Q13(b), SoR II Q24(b)).

Model points (Paul).

1. Universality. By insisting that Gentile converts need not take on the whole Jewish law, confirmed at the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:19), he turned a Jewish movement into a world religion.
2. Doctrine. His letters set out justification by grace through faith (Romans 3:23-24), which became central to Christian and especially Protestant theology.
3. Church life. Churches founded across the eastern Mediterranean; the Body of Christ; spiritual gifts; the Lord's Supper.
4. Later history. Augustine (386) and Luther (Romans 1:17) were transformed by reading his letters.

Source: NESA, 2021 HSC Studies of Religion examination and marking guidelines.

Criteria (NESA 2020 marking guidelines, SoR I Q13(b), SoR II Q24(b)). 7 to 8: accurate and detailed information on the extent to which one person encouraged adherents to be faithful to Christian teachings, clear and relevant evidence, integrated terminology. 5 to 6: accurate information, some evidence. 3 to 4: general statements. 1 to 2: statements about a person.

Plan using Paul ("to what extent" needs a judgement).

1. Faithful to the Gospel. He guarded the core message: "I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received" (1 Corinthians 15:3); he rebuked the Galatians for turning to "a different gospel".
2. Faithful in conduct. Love, the fruit of the Spirit, ethical instruction in every letter.
3. Faithful by example. Imprisonment, beatings and, by tradition, martyrdom in Rome.
4. Extent. Very great, since his letters remain the Church's primary teaching on faith; limited where his teaching is contested or read differently by Catholics and Protestants.

Source: NESA, 2020 HSC Studies of Religion examination and marking guidelines.

Paul led the mission to the Gentiles. On three missionary journeys (Acts 13 to 21) he founded churches in cities such as Philippi, Thessalonica, Corinth and Ephesus, and he argued, with the support of the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15), that Gentile converts did not have to be circumcised or keep the whole Jewish law. This allowed Christianity to grow beyond Judaism into a universal religion: "There is no longer Jew or Greek ... for all of you are one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28).

Marking: 1 for identifying the contribution, 1 for accurate detail, 1 for its effect on the development of Christianity.

Teaching

"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:23-24); "a person is justified not by the works of the law" (Galatians 2:16). Salvation is God's gift, received by faith.

Expression in the Reformation

Martin Luther found in Romans 1:17 ("the one who is righteous will live by faith") the key to the Gospel; justification by faith alone (sola fide) became the defining Protestant doctrine and shaped Protestant worship around preaching and personal faith.

Expression in Catholic teaching

The Catholic Church also teaches justification by grace, received in faith and baptism and expressed in works of love; the Catholic and Lutheran Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (1999) found a shared basic understanding.

Expression in daily life

Believers find assurance and peace ("since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God", Romans 5:1), and good works are the fruit, not the cause, of salvation.

Marking (Original): 5 for accurate teaching with texts, and two or more expressions explained.

Criticism

Some texts in the Pauline letters limit women's roles ("women should be silent in the churches", 1 Corinthians 14:34) and tell slaves to obey their masters (Ephesians 6:5), and have been used to exclude women from leadership and, historically, to defend slavery.

Analysis

Scholars note that Ephesians and the Pastoral Letters (1 and 2 Timothy, Titus) are disputed as Paul's own writing; that Paul named women as co-workers, a deacon (Phoebe, Romans 16:1) and an apostle (Junia, 16:7); and that Galatians 3:28 was central to Christian abolitionists and to feminist theology.

Judgement

The criticism shows that Paul's impact is mediated by interpretation: denominations that ordain women (the Uniting Church, many Anglican dioceses) and those that do not (the Catholic and Orthodox churches, some evangelical churches) all appeal to Paul.

Marking (Original): 5 for an accurate criticism with evidence, counter-evidence and a judgement.

Judgement

Paul's contribution is greater than that of any figure other than Jesus, because he made Christianity universal, gave it its earliest theology and shaped its worship and ethics, although his legacy is interpreted and contested differently across the Church.

Development

The Gentile mission and the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15) made Christianity a world religion; his letters, beginning with 1 Thessalonians (c. 50 CE), are the earliest Christian writings and form almost half of the New Testament's books.

Expression: belief

Justification by grace through faith (Romans 3:23-24), the Resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:14), the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27).

Expression: worship and practice

The words of institution (1 Corinthians 11:23-26), baptism as dying and rising with Christ (Romans 6:4), the Trinitarian blessing (2 Corinthians 13:13), 1 Corinthians 13 at weddings.

Expression: later movements

Augustine's conversion (386), Luther's Reformation, Wesley's Aldersgate experience (1738).

Evaluation

Strengths: breadth and endurance. Limits: tensions with the Jerusalem church (Galatians 2:11-14); contested teachings on women and slavery; scholarly debate (the "New Perspective") on what he meant by "works of the law".

Marking (Original): 7 for a clear judgement, development and expression both covered with evidence, and a weighing of strengths and limits.