37 PLEASING GOD PLEASING PEOPLE ? OR from his life in vv. 13-14 to a life of pleasing God in vv. 15-16 : he left his position and work in Judaism to preach the gospel of Christ. Therefore, to verify that his gospel is from God (vv. 11-12), Paul demonstrates that he seeks to please God (1,10) rather than to advance himself among human beings by pleasing them (1,10.13-14). He begins to do this in 1,15-17 with an allusion to his vision on the Damascus road. He does not describe it — even a detailed account would not constitute evidence that he had seen it. Instead, he shows his desire to please God by showing his lack of desire to please people, as the assumptions behind 1,10 allow, and thus in 1,15-17 he states his immediate response to the vision as a negative: he did not consult with flesh and blood or go up to Jerusalem to the other apostles. The former enthusiast for the traditions of his fathers (1,14) now invites no human input (1,16), and he cites his itinerary to prove it. Rather than join the apostles in Jerusalem, he turned immediately to Arabia and Damascus (1,17). But Paul does not focus on his Gentile mission. Instead he recites in 1,18-20 the particulars that emphasize his minimal contact with Jerusalem and the apostles: he first went to Jerusalem after three years among the Gentiles; he stayed only fifteen days; he was visiting Peter; and he saw no other apostle but James during that time. His stress on the apostles highlights the contrast to his former life in pursuing status because they are the ones he would resort to if he wished to advance himself in Christianity as he had in Judaism 37. This contrasts with the views of both Jeffrey Peterson and Jean- Noël Aletti. Peterson sees Peter’s hospitality in 1,18-19 as suggesting “ a mutual recognition of the fundamental concord between their To show that his goal is not to gain the favor of people, Paul sharpens his 37 focus by considering the objective in pleasing people and by specifying the particular people he would need to please to accomplish that goal. According to 1,13-14 the objective is status, and in Paul’s case this appears to be the only likely candidate. His life as an apostle consisted of hardship, and prominence in Christian circles is one of the few benefits believers could offer. To specify prominence as the goal of pleasing people in turn narrows the range of people Paul would need to please. He had advanced in Judaism beyond his peers. If rank were his goal in Christianity, he would pursue it at the highest level, that of the pillar apostles. Therefore to show that he does not seek to please people, Paul only needs to show that he does not seek to please the apostles, to win their approval for self-advancement.