Paul's Mythology: The Unspoken Bible

Paul's Mythology: The Unspoken Bible

It is useless to attempt to reason a man out
what he was never reasoned into.

-Jonathan Swift

How did Paul pull it off? How did he manage to pull the
Jesus movement from its Jewish roots? Before we get into the specifics, it
helps to understand his method of biblical interpretation and the
political-religious climate in which he lived. This is the first of a four
part series on Paul's mythology.



The uninformed take it for granted that there was a
smooth transition from Judaism to Christianity, when in fact they never found
common ground. The irony is that Christian Bibles include Hebrew Scripture in
order to support the New Testament, though they are completely at odds with
each other.


How this came about was by a method of interpretation
called Midrash. The idea is to look for meanings in the Bible, other than
literal. The problem with this technique is that it invites a lot of
self-serving rationalizing and abuse, even if it is done with good intentions.
Our highest ideal should be truth. Truth deems that we try to be objective by
aiming to interpret what the speaker is trying to communicate.



A modern example would be the U.S. Constitution. The
Supreme Court has piled on so many layers of interpretation that much of
contemporary law conflicts with original constitutional limits. In practice,
Midrash requires that the interpreter strip the language of its context and
invent new definitions and connections. Some relevant examples help to
explain.



1. Aside from being obviously a folk tale, Genesis does
not even hint that Adam's curse went beyond sentencing man to a life of hard
labor. We really have to stretch our imagination to infer that this was the
infectious curse for which Jesus died. Genesis is also clear that man was
created as a mortal being. By rationalizing, we could infer that if he wasn't
cursed, he would have eaten from the tree of life.


2. After Genesis, Hebrew Scripture defines sin in terms
of Torah law. It was endowed to Jews as a commitment to their covenant with
Yahweh. To link to the idea of inherited sin, the Torah had to be relegated to
a standard that inferior humans can't live up to. Technically this is correct,
as evidenced by their fall from grace when they were exiled. From this it was
offered as proof that righteous behavior is futile; everybody is a sinner.


3. Late Hebrew Scripture abounds in prophecies about the
coming of a day when there will be a Kingdom of Israel on earth, a place free
of sin and suffering. It would be a new Eden formed out of a new Creation. On
that day mankind would be judged by Yahweh or his consecrated Messiah from the
family of David. After much destruction, those judged righteous would be
entitled to live in the new Kingdom. There are mutations, but this is the
general picture.


Watch how terms shift meaning: The parochial fantasies of
the Kingdom of Israel changed to the Kingdom of God to the Kingdom of Heaven
to the more universal sounding, Heaven. The Messiah went from a human Davidic
son of God to a incarnate divine Son of God. The
harsh sounding word, Judgment, was replaced with a more positive sounding
Salvation. Once the Torah was relegated as a stopgap measure until the
apocalypse, it was no longer necessary to be Jewish as long as one had faith.



This is just a sampling of how Midrash works, but it
shows that whenever reality disappoints, the best alternative is to alter the
semantics with subtle shifts. It also gives a lie to the claim that the Bible
came into print by revelation from God. Could a so-called perfect deity be so
fickle every time his plan got frustrated?



Next, it helps to get a flavor for the environment Paul
lived in. As much as apologists insist that Christianity came into its own
independent of outside influence, that defense is not credible. Aside from its
Jewish influence, there are too many similarities with pagan mythology to be
ignored.

Historical Background

According to historians, in the years following the
Jewish exile 586 BCE, Jews migrated throughout Asia Minor. Under Hellenistic
rule, a large number settled in Alexandria, Egypt. After the Roman-Jewish war
in 70 CE, many Jewish prisoners were brought to Rome. Within those years and
after, without central rule in Israel and Judah, a variety of messianic cults
sprang from different speculations of how the messiah would restore the
Kingdom of Israel. The Jesus sect embodied one of those speculations.



Now let it be said that the death and resurrection of
savior gods who had the power to bring immortal life was typical of pagan
religions in Paul's day. This introduction presents a sampling of the many
religions, sects and cults that swirled around the Mesopotamia area.
Syncretism was a common process by which polytheistic religions were not only
tolerant of each other; they borrowed ideas from each other. It explains why
Greek speaking gentiles were able to accept Paul's mythology of a personal
resurrection.



Egypt had Osiris who was said
to be slain by the powers of darkness embodied by his brother Set. He rose
from the dead and was enthroned in the world of souls to judge every Egyptian
according to his works. There is no more obvious testimony to the Egyptian
belief in resurrection than their pyramids and mummies.



The Phoenician fertility god known to the Greeks as
Adonis was slain by a boar when he was in the prime of life. His death was
annually mourned in the spring, chiefly by women to symbolize the goddess
Aphrodite's loss. His yearly death and resurrection was timed to the death and
resurrection of vegetation. He was the counterpart to the Babylonian god,
Tammuz, which Ezekiel describes below.

¹⁴Then he
brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the LORD; and
behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. (Ez.
8:14)

In Phrygia, now known as Turkey, the death and
resurrection of the god Attis, symbolized the end
of winter and arrival of spring. When he was unfaithful to the goddess
Cybele, she had him castrated, which caused his
death.



Zoroastrianism was popular in ancient Persia (Iran).
Zoroastrians saw history as a cosmic struggle between the power of light and
goodness and that of darkness and evil. Mankind was perceived as a mere pawn
in this cosmic struggle. Upon death each person's soul will be judged at the
Bridge of Discrimination. The follower of Truth will cross and be led to
paradise, and the adherents of Lie will fall into hell. All evil will
eventually be eliminated on earth in an ordeal of fire and molten metal.


The Mithra cult began as an
ancient Persian god of light and wisdom. Mithra
was supposed to have slain the divine bull from whose dying body sprang all
plants and animals beneficial to humanity. Paul's home town of Tarsus was also
a center of Mithraic worship, the religion that
bears closest resemblance to Christianity.



It's most distinctive feature was the practice of
drinking the blood of the sacred bull or a chalice of wine in place of wine.
There are other similarities with Christianity: the ideals of humility and
brotherly love, baptism, the rite of communion, the use of holy water, the
adoration of Shepherds at Mithra's birth, the
adoption of Sundays and December 25 as holy days, and the belief in the
immortality of the soul, the last judgment, and the resurrection.




In the mid-4th century BCE, Alexander the Great conquered
the Persian Empire and the eastern Mediterranean region. It had the effect of
inaugurating the Hellenistic Age, in which Greek language, philosophy and
culture spread throughout the eastern Mediterranean. When the Romans conquered
the area in the first century BCE, they eagerly absorbed Hellenism.



From the Greeks, comes Dionysus, a son of Zeus who was
said to die each winter and be reborn each spring. Hercules was another son of
Zeus, said to be born of a human mother. The Greeks helped spread the cult of
Mithraism by identifying Mithra with Helios, the
Greek god of the sun. When the Romans absorbed Greek culture, they absorbed
Mithraism as well. Christianity did not emerge from this babble because of
some truth. It was a legacy of Roman imperialism.

Religious Darwinism

Although we are used to associating Darwin's theory of
natural selection and survival of the fittest with biology, the process
applies as well to religious movements and other categories of social
evolution. It was standard practice for kingdoms to have their gods. As
Jeremiah tells us, there was as many gods as there were cities.

²⁸But where
are your gods that you made for yourself? Let them arise, if they can save
you, in your time of trouble; for as many as your cities are your gods,
O Judah. (Jer. 2:28)

More or less, they had the same themes but encapsulated
in different languages. As the smaller kingdoms were swallowed by the larger
ones, the religions of the smaller kingdoms usually merged into the larger
ones or fell into obsolescence.



From the days of the Babylonian exile 586 BCE to the Fall
of Jerusalem 70 CE, the hope of a restored kingdom of Israel was rooted deep
in Jewish beliefs. Palestine went from Babylonian rule to Persian rule, then
to the Greeks, then to the Romans. There can be no doubt that the Jews
absorbed a great deal from their captors. Greek culture especially was
absorbed into the region in the same way American culture has spread
throughout the world. In the third century BCE, Hebrew Scriptures were
translated into Greek, the Septuagint.



By the first century BCE, Yahweh was transformed from a
local tribal god, the God of Israel, to a Supreme Being, the God of the
universe. Instead of the Kingdom of Israel, the fantasy grew to the Kingdom of
God. Instead of a flesh and blood king, the next king would be a supernatural
intermediary. This cosmic messiah was going to terminate the old world and
inaugurate a new one inhabited by Yahweh's chosen people.



The Book of Daniel was the last to be incorporated into
Jewish Scripture. In the next passage, we can see the seeds of reward and
punishment when the messiah comes at the end of history.

²And many
of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to
everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

³And those who are wise shall shine
like the brightness of the firmament; and those who turn many to
righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.

¹³But go your way till the end;
and you shall rest, and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the
days." (Dan. 12:2-3, 13)

At the end, the anointed one will put an end to sin and
will restore and build Jerusalem. First, there will be a flood, and at the end
there will be a war causing desolation. He shall make a strong covenant and
shall cause sacrifice and offering to cease.

²⁴"Seventy
weeks of years are decreed concerning your people and your holy city, to
finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity,
to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet,
and to anoint a most holy place.

²⁵Know therefore and understand
that from the going forth of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the
coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for
sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a
troubled time.

²⁶And after the sixty-two weeks,
an anointed one shall be cut off, and shall have nothing; and the people
of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its
end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war; desolations
are decreed.

²⁷And he shall make a strong
covenant with many for one week; and for half of the week he shall
cause sacrifice and offering to cease; and upon the wing of abominations
shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the
desolator." (Dan. 9:24-25)

This apocalyptic vision was so ingrained that the
Synoptic Gospel writers have Jesus announcing the good news (gospel) at the
beginning of his mission. Yes, dear Christians, Jesus was out to save Jewish
sinners before the world came to end. His mission was contingent on a one time
event.

¹⁷"Repent, for
the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matt. 4:17)

¹⁵"The
time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in
the gospel."(Mark 1:15)

⁴³"I must
preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also; for I was
sent for this purpose." (Luke 4:43)

⁵These twelve
Jesus sent out, charging them, "Go nowhere
among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans,

⁶but go rather to the lost sheep of
the house of Israel.

⁷And preach as you go, saying, 'The
kingdom of heaven is at hand.' (Matt. 10:5-7)

The Book of Revelation predicted that Rome (personified
as Babylon) would be completely destroyed into oblivion. Of course it is still
standing.

²¹Then a
mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea,
saying, "So shall Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and
shall be found no more; (Rev. 18:21)

It also predicted that a tenth of Jerusalem would be
destroyed and seven thousand people would be killed in the earthquake. Of
course Jerusalem was completely destroyed and there was no earthquake.

¹³And at that
hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell;
seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were
terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. (Rev. 11:13)

The Roman-Jewish War of 66-70 in which the Romans razed
Jerusalem and built a new city on top of the ruins, killed off the sects that
were pushing for a restoration of an earthly kingdom of Israel. There was no
chance of defeating the Romans. The prophecies were worthless; but to the
religious mind, time stands still. So the Kingdom of God would have to move
upstairs to heaven and wait for the messiah's return.


I've presented this introduction as a way of showing that
Christianity did not erupt suddenly because of Jesus' dramatic influence. It
evolved slowly in Darwinian fashion where a large variety of religions, sects
and cults where pared down to a few remaining survivors. The origins of
religion evolved out of a felt need to make sense out of a natural world
poorly understood. There was a lot of hubris involved here too.


This is where Paul comes in. By authoritative accounts,
he was a Jew whose mission began no earlier than 33 CE. His surviving letters
are dated between the years 50-60. He came from the city of Tarsus in southern
Turkey. Tarsus was located on a major highway and was an important market for
trade between Syria, Egypt and central Asia Minor. In his early life, he could
not fail to be impressed by the currents of different religions flowing
through Tarsus. This would explain why his ideas contain a mix of Judaic and
pagan mythologies.


That his sect survived among the messianic movements has
more to do with a lucky chain of events. He did not survive long enough to see
the Roman-Jewish war, but it gave his followers credibility. His Kingdom of
God was not on earth; it was in heaven. He had no quarrel with the Romans. In
fact he taught that they were anointed by God. Such flattery might have been a
factor when the Roman Emperor Constantine adopted Christianity as the official
religion of the empire in the 4th century. From that time, the word went out
to eradicate the pagan religions. You might say Christianity owes its success
to Darwinism.


When reading Paul it is essential to keep in mind that
his actions were governed by his belief that the world was going to end soon.
He saw himself as the only man who was graced by God to spread the word about
the coming of Judgment Day. On that fateful day there would much destruction.
When the dust settles, the unrighteous and the demonic powers will have been
annihilated. There will be a new creation, a new Eden inhabited by the
righteous. Of course, he expected to be among the righteous.


This is important enough to repeat: He foresaw a one time
opportunity to live forever (as a spirit) that was to occur on the day of the
apocalypse. As the centuries rolled by, the Catholic Church had to devise new
schemes to keep its authority alive. So as explained above, it was by a series
of semantic shifts that Judgment Day was divorced from the Apocalypse and
tacked onto the time of an individual's death.


I give Paul credit for his interpretation of the Bible
out of convenience, though I'm convinced that he drew heavily from his Jewish
contemporaries. On his overall mythology, we can't know what is original to
him, but it is not important. What is important is his unchallenged reputation
as the ideological founder of Christianity.

Authority

From the time of the Babylonian exile 586 BCE to the
Jewish-Roman War of 66-70 CE, the Jews did their best to resist any authority
that interfered with their tradition. Paul did not foresee the destruction of
Jerusalem. So it seems likely that his previous allegiance to Roman authority
fit with his quest to break off from Jewish tradition. When the war was over,
it made him appear prophetic.


Arguably, if it were not for the establishment of
Christianity as the official religion of Rome by Emperor Constantine in 313,
the fledgling Christian movement would not have survived. Officially,
Constantine claims that he had a vision of Christ which he credits to a major
battle victory that accounted for his rise to power. But some scholars believe
that he needed a new source of revenue. The pagans had the money and the
Christians had the friendliness.


To Paul, all authority comes from God. Whoever resists
the authorities resists what God has appointed and will incur judgment. When
you do wrong, they do not use the sword in vain. They are servants of God who
execute his wrath on the wrongdoer. Pay your taxes, for they are ministers of
God. It didn't seem to matter to him that they were ruthless murderers. Add to
the fact that they were pagans; it would imply that God was supporting the
pagan religions.

¹Let every
person be subject to the governing authorities. For
there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been
instituted by God.

²Therefore he who resists the
authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur
judgment.

³For rulers are not a terror to
good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of
him who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his
approval,

⁴for he is God's servant for your
good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain;
he is the servant of God to execute his wrath on the wrongdoer.

⁵Therefore one must be subject, not
only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience.

⁶For the same reason you also pay
taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing.


⁷Pay all of them their dues,
taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom
respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.(Rom. 13:1-7)

Jesus also preached cooperation with the Romans.

²¹."Render
therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that
are God's." (Matt. 22:21)

On many occasions
Paul claimed that his authority came by grace from God. Just so there is no
confusion here, he treats Jesus as a separate deity from God the Father.

⁹For I am the
least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the
church of God.

¹⁰But
by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in
vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I,
but the grace of God which is with me.
(1 Cor. 15:9-10)

¹⁵But
on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder,
because of the grace given me by God

¹⁶to
be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of
the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable,
sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
(Rom. 15:15-16)

Meanwhile, Jesus said
all authority has been given to him. So we would think that Paul would say he
preached on authority from Jesus.

¹⁸."All
authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. (Matt. 28:18)

Instead he disavows any prior knowledge of Jesus until
the mystery was disclosed to him through the prophetic writings. By "prophetic
writings" he was referring to Hebrew Scripture. The Gospels weren't written in
his time.

²⁵Now to him
who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of
Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which was kept
secret for long ages

²⁶but is now disclosed and
through the prophetic writings is made known to all nations, according to
the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith
(Rom. 16:25)

I don't recommend to Christians that they share Paul's
confidence in the prophets. Isaiah, for example, walked around naked and
barefoot for three years because he thought God told him to. If that wasn't
bad enough, he believed that his actions would force the Egyptians and
Ethiopians to do the same.

²at that time
the LORD had spoken by Isaiah the son of Amoz,
saying, "Go, and loose the sackcloth from your loins and take off your shoes
from your feet," and he had done so, walking naked and barefoot-

³the LORD said, "As my servant
Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and a
portent against Egypt and Ethiopia,

⁴so shall the king of Assyria lead
away the Egyptians captives and the Ethiopians exiles, both the young and the
old, naked and barefoot, with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.
(Isa. 20:2-4)

Final Thought


When Paul claims his authority came by God's grace, all
anyone has is his word for it. There is no reason to suspect he didn't believe
himself, but it doesn't matter. In his time, people were not cognizant of the
fact that their thoughts were self generated. This is the conceit upon which
Christians are placing their faith.


Related Reading




Paul's Confessions of Ignorance




Paul's Mystery

Paul's Imaginary Jesus | The Unspoken Bible

Paul's Imaginary Jesus | The Unspoken Bible

"In Bible history, the further away from the supposed
time of events, the more embellished the story gets. The Book of Mark
treats Jesus as a man. In Matthew and Luke, he is half man half God. By
the time of John, he was God at creation. It took the Catholic Church
300 years to graft Jesus onto the Old Testament God at the Council of
Nicea"

To make a contented slave, it is
necessary to make a thoughtless one.

It is necessary to darken his moral and mental vision, and,

as far as possible, to annihilate the power of reason.

-Frederick Douglass

While Christians refuse to believe that Jesus' did
not exist, there is no argument about Paul's historicity. We have his
epistles from Romans to Philemon to confirm that fact. By searching
through the epistles to find out what Paul knew about Jesus, we find
that he knew hardly anything.




He didn't know about: (1) virgin birth (2) place of
birth (3) time of birth (4) parents names (5) childhood (6) John the
Baptist (7) Jesus' baptism (8) the devil's temptation (9) moral
teachings (10) miracles (11) apocalyptic views (12) transfiguration (13)
Judas (14) Peter's denial (15) his arrest and trial (16) twelve
disciples (17) the women who came to his tomb (18) Son of Man (19)
travels (20) parables. I may have left something out, but that covers
most of the gospels.




Some apologists argue that Paul had no need to go
into the details of Jesus' life because they were commonly understood.
No so! Paul positively renounced any knowledge of Jesus through human
sources.

¹¹For I
would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me
is not man's gospel.

¹²For I did not receive it
from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus
Christ. (Gal. 1:11-12)

He felt unique in having been set apart through
grace to have Christ revealed to him.

¹⁵But
when he who had set me apart before I was born, and had called me
through his grace,

¹⁶was pleased to reveal
his Son to me, in order that I might
preach him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with flesh and blood,


¹⁷nor did I go up to
Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me,
but I went away into Arabia; and again I returned to Damascus.
(Gal. 1:15-17)

He was placing his bets on the unseen because, to
him, they are eternal. Things that can be seen are transient. -It is
fair to say that if there had been a walking talking Jesus, Paul would
not have accepted him.

²⁴For
in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who
hopes for what he sees?

²⁵But if we hope for what we
do not see, we wait for it with patience. (Rom. 8:24-25)

¹⁸because
we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are
unseen; for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that
are unseen are eternal. (2 Cor. 4:18)

So when he says he saw Jesus, he means in his mind,
not with his eyes.

¹Am I
not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?
Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? (1 Cor. 9:1)

The Galatians, to whom he says they saw Christ
publicly portrayed as crucified, he does not mean they witnessed an
historical event. It was either a reenactment or a commonly shared
vision.

¹O
foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ
was publicly portrayed as crucified? (Gal. 3:1)

He even says that they began with the Spirit.

³Are
you so foolish? Having begun with the Spirit, are you now ending with
the flesh? (Gal. 3:3)

This is where we get into the definition of faith
as the conviction of things not seen. If there had actually been a real
Jesus, his physical existence would have annulled the definition of
faith.

¹Now
faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not
seen. (Heb. 11:1)

So as Paul proclaims, it is only through faith in
Christ that one can become a son of God. The whole idea of faith in
Christ negates actual knowledge. It means as much then as it does today.

²⁶for
in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. (Gal.
3:26)

This brings us to the matter of the original
disciples. Though Paul did not claim to know Jesus personally, he did
know the people who were supposed to have known Jesus personally: James,
Peter and John. ⁹and
when they perceived the grace that was given to me, James and Cephas
[Simon Peter] and John, who were reputed
to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship,
that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised;
(Gal. 2:9)

The letters of James, Peter and John tell us even
less about Jesus. That there was a Jesus cult before Paul came into the
fold could lead to the presumption of an actual Jesus. All this proves
is that the
Messianic Prophecies
had an earlier following. It was on matters of
interpretation where they parted company. (See

Paul's Schism) If it had not been for Paul, the Jesus cult would
have been snuffed out by the Roman Empire or fizzled out on its own.
(See

Paul's Mythology) If it did survive, Christians would have been
practicing within the Jewish tradition.




For these reasons and because of Paul's prominence
in defining Christianity, we are forced to ask, how can he claim to know
the nature of Jesus' mission, when his letters show he knew so little?




Give the man credit for his zeal. He learned about
Jesus from his job of

persecuting Christians. The rest he got from revelation and
Scripture, and he denies learning anything from Jesus' apostles. What
else is left to think, except that Jesus was a phantom?

⁶And
because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our
hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" (Gal. 4:6)

¹⁵He is
the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation;
(Col. 1:15)

Dating Paul and the Gospels

I'm going to state what appears to be a general
consensus among scholars, that Paul's epistles were written
approximately between the years 55-60 CE. Readers who have the New
International Version can find those dates on the first page of 1
Corinthians and Ephesians. These dates are approximations.


The official
reasoning is as follows:




His encounter with Herod fixes his birth at the end
of Herod's career at 4 BCE. According to Luke, his ministry began when
he was thirty years of age. They figure his ministry lasted a few years
which brings the end of his life to about 30 CE.

²³Jesus,
when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age, (Luke
3:23)

The Arabian King Aretas tried to arrest Paul
shortly after his conversion. Aretas IV was known to rule Damascus from
9 BCE to 40 CE as a subject of Rome. So Paul would have had to start his
ministry sometime around 35 CE.

³²At
Damascus, the governor under King Aretas guarded the city of Damascus in
order to seize me, (2 Cor. 11:32)

From the time of his conversion, he spent seventeen
years incommunicado. Within that time he waited three years before going
back to Jerusalem to meet Peter for fifteen days. Then fourteen years
later he went back to Jerusalem again to meet with Barnabas. Besides
telling us how little contact he had with the apostles, this seventeen
year period takes us to about 55 CE.

¹⁶was
pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among
the Gentiles, I did not confer with flesh and blood,


¹⁸Then after three years
I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas [Peter],
and remained with him fifteen days.


¹Then after fourteen years
I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me.
(Gal. 1:16, 18, 2:1)

As to the Gospels, scholars estimate they were
written about 70-110 CE, with Mark being the first and John the last.
Readers who have the New International Version can find the date of 70
CE on the first page in the Gospel of Matthew.



The sequence in the New Testament gives the
impression that the gospels were written first and the epistles last. If
that was true, Paul would have had the gospel writers or the gospels
themselves to work from. No one even knows who the gospel writers were.




So while Luke tells us he wrote his gospel based on
eyewitness and ministers, none of it came from anybody Paul knew.

¹Inasmuch
as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things which have
been accomplished among us,


²just as they were delivered
to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of
the word, (Luke 1:1-2)

A catastrophic event helps explain these dates. In
the year 66 CE, the Jews revolted against Roman rule. The city lay in
siege until it was captured and destroyed in 70 CE. Paul's writings show
that they were written before the revolt, because Jerusalem was still a
thriving city. Because Paul shows no awareness of the Gospels, they had
to be written after Paul after the revolt.



It is for this reason that the Jesus character says
and does things with no explanation behind them. Because of Paul's
influence, the Gospels are best understood through Paul. As a case in
point, Jesus talked about not judging lest you be judged measure for
measure.

¹"Judge
not, that you be not judged.


²For with the judgment you
pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the
measure you get. (Matt. 7:1-2)

Paul wrote about not judging outsiders for they
will be judged by God.

¹²For
what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the
church whom you are to judge?


¹³God judges those outside.
"Drive out the wicked person from among you." (1 Cor. 5:12-13)

In real history, the most reliable information and
detail comes from the actors themselves and witnesses closest to the
time of events. In Bible history, the further away from the supposed
time of events, the more embellished the story gets. The Book of Mark
treats Jesus as a man. In Matthew and Luke, he is half man half God. By
the time of John, he was God at creation. It took the Catholic Church
300 years to graft Jesus onto the Old Testament God at the Council of
Nicea.

How Paul came to know Jesus

While Christians continue to defend Jesus as a
person who actually walked the earth, Paul says his knowledge of Jesus
came exclusively from visions, revelation and OT Scripture. Considering
his brief ties with the Jesus cult, it is equivalent to saying them
ignored them entirely.



What the below passages show is that Paul did not
claim to be authorized by Jesus. He claimed to be graced by God to
preach of Jesus. This severely opposes what Jesus supposedly told his
disciples.

¹⁸And
Jesus came and said to them, "All
authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. (Matt.
28:18)

The mystery was made known to him by revelation.
-Or shall we say, by intuition.

³how
the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written
briefly. (Eph. 3:3)

His knowledge did not come through other men, but
through revelation. -The gospel he refers to was not the written gospel.
"gospel" means "good news."

¹¹For I
would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by
me is not man's gospel.


¹²For I did not receive it
from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus
Christ. (Gal. 1:11-12)

He appeared to Paul in a vision. -Paul's untimely
birth implies it was after the alleged time of Jesus.

⁸Last
of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. (1 Cor.
15:8)

He relies on visions and revelations.

¹I must
boast; there is nothing to be gained by it, but I will go on to
visions and revelations of the Lord.

(2 Cor. 12:1)

What he knows, he learned through the Spirit.

⁸To one
is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the
utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit,


⁹to another faith by the same
Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 

¹⁰to another the working of
miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish
between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the
interpretation of tongues.


¹¹All these are inspired by
one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he
wills. (1 Cor. 12:8-11)

According to Scripture, Christ died for our sins,
and was buried and raised on the third day.

³For I
delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that
Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures,


⁴that he was buried, that he
was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, (1
Cor. 15:3-4)

The scriptures were written for our instruction.

⁴For
whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction,
that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we
might have hope. (Rom. 15:4; 1 Cor. 10:11)

As it is written, God calls into existence the
things that do not exist.

¹⁷as it
is written, "I have made you the father of many nations"-in the presence
of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls
into existence the things that do not exist. (Rom. 4:17)

It was written that the first Adam became a living
being and the last Adam became a life giving spirit.

⁴⁵Thus
it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam
became a life-giving spirit. (1 Cor. 15:45)

Paul's scriptural source

To make my point that whatever Paul knew about
Jesus came artificially from Hebrew Scripture, I've compiled a list of
anything that suggests Jesus was a real person. I'm ignoring the Book of
Acts because it was not written by Paul.



The scriptural sources come from either Bible
footnotes or a table of
Messianic Prophecies from Holman's Bible Dictionary.
The report on
Messianic Prophecies
shows that passages were taken out of context
and have no bearing on Jesus. Their method of interpretation is explained in

Paul's Mythology. So if the OT references don't make sense, this is
the fault of the interpreters and the point of this exercise. If they do
make sense, then I recommend the two above links for clarification. It
still doesn't take away my point about Paul's artificial knowledge of
Jesus.



He was a descendant of David according to the
flesh. -Rom. 1:3/Ref. 2 Sam. 7:12-13

³the
gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to
the flesh (Romans 1:3)

¹²When
your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will
raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your
body, and I will establish his kingdom.

¹³He shall build a house for
my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever.
(2 Sam. 7:12-13)

He became the Son of God at the time of his
resurrection. -Rom. 1:4/Ref. Jeremiah 23:5-6

⁴and
designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by
his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,(Romans 1:4)

⁵"Behold,
the days are coming, says the LORD,
when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall
reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and
righteousness in the land.

⁶In his days Judah will be
saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he
will be called: 'The LORD is our righteousness.' (Jer. 23:5-6)

He was promised to Abraham. -Gal. 3:16/Ref. Gen.
3:3; 12:7

¹⁶Now
the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say,
"And to offsprings," referring to many; but, referring to one, "And to
your offspring," which is Christ. (Gal. 3:16)

³I will
bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and by
you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves." (Gen.
3:3)

⁷Then
the LORD appeared to Abram, and said, "To your descendants I will give
this land." So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to
him. (Gen. 12:7)

He was born of
a woman. -Gal. 4:4/Ref. Isaiah 7:14 and Gen. 3:15

⁴But
when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman,
born under the law (Gal. 4:4)

¹⁴Therefore
the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a young woman shall
conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (Isaiah
7:14)

¹⁵I
will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her
seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."
(Gen. 3:15)

He was meek and
gentle. -2 Cor. 10:1/Ref. Isaiah 42:1-16

¹I,
Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ.
(2 Cor. 10:1)

¹Behold
my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have
put my Spirit upon him, he will bring forth justice to the nations.


²He will not cry or lift up his voice, or
make it heard in the street;

³a bruised reed he will not break, and a
dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth
justice. (Isaiah 42:1-3)

He had apostles, one whose name was Peter. He had a
brother named James. -That Paul knew some apostles is not in dispute.
The term "brother" implies brotherhood, not blood brother.

⁵as
the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas
[Simon Peter]?
(1 Cor. 9:5)

¹⁷nor
did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me ..(Gal. 1:17)

¹⁹But
I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord's brother.
(Gal 1:19)

He came into
the world to save sinners. -1 Tim. 1:15/Ref. Mal. 3:3 (Timothy was
written pseudonymously.)

¹⁵The
saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners. And I am the foremost of sinners;
(1 Tim. 1:15)

³he
will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the
sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, till they present
right offerings to the LORD. (Malachi 3:3)

He became a servant to Jews according to promises
given to the patriarchs. -Rom. 15:8/Ref. Psalm 18:49

⁸For
I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's
truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs,
(Romans 15:8)

⁴⁹For
this I will extol thee, O LORD, among the nations, and sing praises to
thy name. (Psalm 18:49)

He was betrayed. - 1 Cor. 11:23/Ref. Psalm 55:12-14

²³For
I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the
Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread,
(1 Cor 11:23)

¹²It is
not an enemy who taunts me- then I could bear it; it is not an adversary
who deals insolently with me- then I could hide from him.


¹³But it is you, my equal, my companion,
my familiar friend.

¹⁴We used to hold sweet converse
together; within God's house we walked in fellowship. (Psalm
55:12-14)

He said "This is my body for you. Do this in
remembrance of me." -1 Cor. 11:24/Ref. Lev. 17:11

²⁴and
when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said,
"This is my body which is for you. Do this in
remembrance of me." (1 Cor 11:24)

¹¹For
the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it for you upon
the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is
the blood that makes atonement, by reason of the life. (Lev.
17:11)

He made a new covenant. -1 Cor. 11:23-25/Ref. Jer.
31:31-34.

²⁵In
the same way also the cup, after supper, saying,
"This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do
this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." (1 Cor
11:23-25)

³¹"Behold,
the days are coming, says the LORD,
when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the
house of Judah,

³²not like the covenant
which I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to bring
them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, though I
was their husband, says the LORD.


³³But this is the covenant
which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,
says the LORD:
I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts;
and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

³⁴And no longer shall each
man teach his neighbor and each his (Jer. 31:31-34)

He testified
before Pontius Pilate. -This is the only passage with an historical
name. By the writing style, scholars are certain Timothy was written
pseudonymously.

¹³In
the presence of God who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus
who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession,
(1 Tim. 6:13)

He was reproached. -Romans 15:3/Ref. Psalm 69:9

³For
Christ did not please himself; but, as it is written, "The reproaches of
those who reproached thee fell on me." (Rom. 15:3)

⁹For
zeal for thy house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult
thee have fallen on me. (Psalm 69:9)

He was obedient to the time of his death. -Phil.
2:8/Ref. Isaiah 42:1-16

⁸And
being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto
death, even death on a cross. (Phil. 2:8)

¹Behold
my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have
put my Spirit upon him, he will bring forth justice to the nations.


²He will not cry or lift up his voice, or
make it heard in the street;

³a bruised reed he will not break, and a
dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth
justice. (Isaiah 42:1-3)

He died by being crucified. -1 Cor. 2.2; Gal.
2.20/Ref. Isaiah 53:12

²For
I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him
crucified. (1 Cor. 2:2)

²⁰I
have been crucified with Christ. (Gal. 2:20)

¹²Therefore
I will divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the
spoil with the strong; because he poured out his soul to death, and was
numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made
intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:12)

He was cursed on a tree. -Gal. 3:13/Ref. Deut.
21:23

¹³Christ
redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us-for
it is written, "Cursed be every one who hangs on a tree" (Gal.
3:13)

²³his
body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but you shall bury him
the same day, for a hanged man is accursed by God; you shall not defile
your land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance.
(Deut. 21:23)

He was buried and raised on the third day. -1 Cor.
15:4/Ref. Psalm 16:8-10

⁴that
he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with
the scriptures, (1 Cor. 15:4)

⁸I keep
the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not
be moved.

⁹Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul
rejoices; my body also dwells secure.

¹⁰For thou dost not give me up to Sheol,
or let thy godly one see the Pit. (Psalm 16:8-10)

He appeared to Peter and the twelve apostles.
-Peter was one of the eleven. (Matt. 28:16; Mark 16:14; Luke
24:9)

⁵and
that he appeared to Cephas [Peter], then
to the twelve.

⁶Then he appeared to more
than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom are still alive,
though some have fallen asleep. (1 Cor. 15:5-6)

Then he appeared to James and all the apostles. -In
the Gospels and Acts, James is not mentioned by name at Jesus'
reappearance.

⁷Then
he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. (1 Cor. 15:7)

He was raised
from the dead and sits at the right had of God. -Rom. 8:34/Ref. Psalm
110:1, 5

³⁴who
is to condemn? Is it Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised from
the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us?
(Rom. 8:34)

¹The
LORD says to my lord: "Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies
your footstool."

⁵The Lord is at your right hand; he will
shatter kings on the day of his wrath. (Psalm 110:1, 5)

Final thought


Paul put a lot of faith in things unseen and it
shows.



Related Articles


Any other article under "Paul the Mythmaker"


To get a real picture of the timing of Jesus'
birth, see

When was Jesus Born

For the length of his ministry, see
Gospel Zodiac

Why Paul's and Jesus' Teachings Differ

Why Paul's and Jesus' Teachings Differ



Conclusion



This article shows that there is no evidence that the
Christianity spread by Paul was the same Christianity of the disciples
in Jerusalem or was the same Christianity that lead to the production of the Gospels. Indeed, Paul had so little
interest in what the disciples had to say about Jesus that he never mentions
any person, who,

according to Paul, saw Jesus while he was alive.



Indeed, Paul had so little interest in what the disciples
had to say about Jesus that he couldn't be bothered to talk to most of
them, even when he had made a special trip to Jerusalem.



Paul did not regard being a companion of Jesus as anything
special. As far as he was concerned, the earthly life of Jesus had no
interest and being a companion of Jesus did not mark one out as an apostle.

How could this be if Jesus did
all the things attributed to him in the Gospels?



Where did Paul learn all of this? Paul claims revelation.
More likely, he learned from others, if not from Peter, James and John.

Jesus is Not All-Powerful, and Not All-Knowing: - Islam Guide: The Bible Denies the Divinity of Jesus

Islam Guide: The Bible Denies the Divinity of Jesus


Jesus is Not All-Powerful, and Not All-Knowing:

Christians and Muslims agree that God is
all-powerful and all-knowing.  The Gospels show that Jesus was not
all-powerful, and not all-knowing, since he had some limitations.

Mark tells us in his gospel that Jesus was unable
to do any powerful work in his hometown except few things: “He could not do
any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.”
(Mark 6:5).  Mark also tells us that when Jesus tried to heal a certain
blind man, the man was not healed after the first attempt, and Jesus had to try
a second time (see Mark 8:22-26).

Therefore, although we hold a great love and
respect for Jesus, we need to understand that he is not the all-powerful God.

Mark’s Gospel also reveals that Jesus had
limitations in his knowledge.  In Mark 13:32, Jesus declared that he
himself does not know when the last day will occur, but the Father alone knows
that (see also Matthew 24:36).

Therefore, Jesus could not have been the
all-knowing God.  Some will say that Jesus knew when the last day will
occur, but he chose not to tell.  But that complicates matters
further.  Jesus could have said that he knows but he does not wish to
tell.  Instead, he said that he does not know.  We must believe
him.  Jesus does not lie at all.

The Gospel of Luke also reveals that Jesus had
limited knowledge.  Luke says that Jesus increased in wisdom (Luke
2:52).  In Hebrews too (Hebrews 5:8) we read that Jesus learned
obedience.  But God’s knowledge and wisdom is always perfect, and God
does not learn new things.  He knows everything always.  So, if Jesus
learned something new, that proves that he did not know everything before that,
and thus he was not God.

Another example for the limited knowledge of
Jesus is the fig tree episode in the Gospels.  Mark tells us as follows: “The
next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry.  Seeing in the
distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit.  When
he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for
figs.” (Mark 11:12-13).

It is clear from these verses that the knowledge
of Jesus was limited on two counts.  First, he did not know that the tree
had no fruit until he came to it.  Second, he did not know that it was not
the right season to expect figs on trees.

Can he become God later?  No! Because there
is only one God, and He is God from everlasting to everlasting (see Psalms
90:2).

Someone may say that Jesus was God but he took
the form of a servant and therefore became limited.  Well, that would mean
that God changed.  But God does not change.  God said so according to
Malachi 3:6.

Jesus never was God, and never will be.  In
the Bible, God declares: “Before me no god was formed, nor will there be
one after me.” (Isaiah 43:10).

The Bible clearly shows that Jesus was not
all-powerful and all-knowing as the true God should be.

Did Paul Invent Christianity? Is the Founder of the Christian Religion Paul of Tarsus or Jesus of Nazareth?

Did Paul Invent Christianity? Is the Founder of the Christian Religion Paul of Tarsus or Jesus of Nazareth?

by Rich Deem

Introduction

Paul of Tarsus

Many skeptics assert that Paul of Tarsus (the apostle Paul) hijacked the
early Christian religion, changing the theology from what Jesus originally
taught. Usually offered as proof for this claim are the doctrines found in
Paul's great theological work, his letter to the Romans. Without a doubt, the
book of Romans contains the most complete exposition of orthodox Christian
doctrines. Are these doctrines contrary to what Jesus taught? Do they conflict
with the teachings of the Old Testament from which they were purportedly
derived? If Paul really "invented" Christianity, then one would expect that his
teachings would be different from Jesus, the other apostles, and disciples.

The claims of Christianity

Christians claim that Paul of Tarsus met Jesus on a trip to persecute
Christians in Damascus. Struck blind for three days, Paul waited for Ananias
(one of Jesus' followers) to heal him. Converted by the experience, Paul
passionately proclaimed the gospel to the Jewish and Gentile world. This gospel
included doctrines including the atonement of sin through Jesus' death on the
cross and justification through faith. Paul, in his letter to the Galatians,
indicated that he received this gospel by revelation of Jesus Christ:

For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was
preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from
man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of
Jesus Christ. (Galatians 1:11-12)

If it were true that Paul received his teaching directly from Jesus
Christ, then surely Jesus Himself would have taught what Paul
was preaching.

"But it
happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about
noontime, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all
around me, and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me,
'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?' "And I answered, 'Who are
You, Lord?' And He said to me, 'I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you
are persecuting.' "(Acts 22:6-8)


This is Paul's account of his encounter with the risen Jesus Christ.
Paul said that it was through this event that he stopped persecuting
Christianity, becoming its greatest proponent and evangelist.

Reason must be deluded, blinded, and destroyed. — Martin Luther

Reason must be deluded, blinded, and destroyed.   Faith must trample underfoot all reason, sense, and understanding.

                        — Martin Luther

What Did Paul Know About Jesus? Not Much.

What Did Paul Know About Jesus? Not Much.

December 17, 2012 By Bob Seidensticker 220 Comments

For being the founder of Christianity, Paul knew surprisingly little about Jesus.



Paul is our first and, for that reason, potentially our most reliable
source of information on the life of Jesus. Let’s sift Paul’s writings
for information about Jesus.



If we were to do this with the gospels, we’d have a long list—the
story of Jesus turning water into wine, walking on water, raising
Lazarus, the Prodigal Son story, curious events like his cursing the fig
tree, and so on. But what information about Jesus does Paul give us?



We’ll start with that well-known passage from 1 Corinthians 15.

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared
to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than
five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom
are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to
James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also,
as to one abnormally born. (1 Cor. 15:3–8)

This tells us that:



1. Jesus died “for our sins.”


2. Jesus was resurrected from the dead three days later, in fulfillment of prophecy.


3. Jesus made many post-resurrection appearances.



Though 1 Corinthians was written perhaps 20 years after the death of
Jesus, some scholars argue that this 3-sentence passage was written with
a different style and so is an early creed that preceded Paul’s
writing, taking us back closer to the earliest disciples. Others use the
same logic to argue the opposite conclusion: that it was a later
scribal addition. (Our oldest copy of this passage comes from our earliest complete Bibles, written in about 350. That’s three centuries of party time during which changes could’ve been made.)



First, we’ll sift through Paul’s epistles to find confirmation of these first claims.



1. Confirmed—many verses report that Jesus was a
sacrifice (see Rom. 3:25, 5:6–8, 8:3; 1 Cor. 5:7; and more). The passage
above does not contain the word “Jesus,” but many other Pauline verses
combine “Jesus” and “Christ.”


2. Confirmed: many verses report
that Jesus was raised from the dead (see 1 Cor. 15:20; Rom. 1:4, 4:24; 2
Cor. 4:14; and more). Note, however, that there is no confirmation of
the three days or the scriptural prophecy.


3. Not Confirmed: I could find no confirmation of the post-resurrection appearances in Paul’s epistles.


What other biographical details about Jesus can we find in Paul?


4. He was crucified: “we preach Christ crucified” (1 Cor. 1:23; also 1 Cor. 2:2, Gal. 3:1, 2 Cor. 13:4, and more).


5. He was a descendant of David: “his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David” (Rom. 1:3).


6. He was betrayed: “The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed” (1 Cor. 11:23; also 2 Tim. 2:8).


7. He asked that his followers eat bread and drink wine in remembrance of him (1 Cor. 11:23–6).


8. Jesus was killed by Jews: “the Jews who killed the Lord Jesus” (1 Thes. 2:14–15)



We can go further afield, into books that are almost universally
rejected as authored by Paul. For example, 1 Tim. 6:13 places the trial
of Jesus during the rule of Pontius Pilate, and Heb. 5:5 gives an
adoptionist view of Jesus (that is, Jesus was a man adopted by God).



By the way, this list comes from my own search. Please point out any omissions.



If we stick to the reliably Pauline works and assume the authenticity of 1 Cor. 15, here is the Gospel of Paul:

Jesus died for our sins by crucifixion and was then
raised from the dead three days later, according to prophecy. He was
seen by many after the resurrection. He was a descendant of David, he
was betrayed, he defined a bread and wine ritual for his followers, and
the Jews killed him.


The End.

The Gospel of Paul is one brief paragraph. It arguably has the most
important element—death as a sacrifice for our sins and resurrection—but
very little else.



No parables of the sheep and the goats, or the prodigal son, or the
rich man and Lazarus, or the lost sheep, or the good Samaritan. In fact,
no Jesus as teacher at all.



No driving out evil spirits, or healing the invalid at Bethesda, or
cleansing the lepers, or raising Lazarus, or other healing miracles. As
far as Paul tells us, Jesus performed no miracles at all.


No virgin birth, no Sermon on the Mount, no feeding the 5000, no
public ministry, no cleansing the temple, no final words, and no Great
Commission. Paul doesn’t even place Jesus within history—there’s nothing
to connect Jesus with historical figures like Caesar Augustus, King
Herod, or Pontius Pilate.



Perhaps everyone to whom Paul wrote his letters knew all this
already? Okay, but presumably they already knew about the crucifixion,
and Paul mentions that 13 times. And the resurrection, which Paul
mentions 14 times.



Paul indirectly admits that he knew of no Jesus miracles.

Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles (1 Cor. 1:22–3)

Why “a stumbling block”? Jesus did lots of miraculous “signs”—why
didn’t Paul convince the Jews with these? Paul apparently didn’t know
any. The Jesus of Paul is not the miracle worker that we see in the
Jesus of the gospels.



But perhaps the problem is Jews demanding actual miracles performed
in front of them, not merely stories of miracles. That shouldn’t be a
problem either. Jesus said, “Whoever believes in me will do the works I
have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these” (John
14:12). And, indeed, Luke (that is, the author of both Luke and Acts)
reports that this happened. Peter healed a lame man (Acts 3:1–8) and
raised a woman from the dead (Acts 9:36–42), Philip exorcised demons to
heal people (Acts 8:5–8), and “the apostles performed many signs and
wonders” (Acts 5:12).



Again, the Jesus of Paul isn’t the Jesus of the gospels. Robert Price
questions whether Paul even imagined an earthly Jesus (Bible Geek
podcast for 10/3/12 @ 1:15:10). I’ve written more about the evolution of the Jesus story here.



What would Paul have said about the philosophical issues that divided the church for centuries?
These don’t mean much to most of us today because they’ve long been
decided, but they were divisive in their day—whether Jesus was
subordinate to God or not, whether Jesus had a human body or not,
whether he had a human nature or not, whether he had two wills or not,
whether the Holy Spirit was part of the Godhead, and so on. No one knows
how Paul would have resolved them or even if they crossed his mind.



The Gospel of Paul is more evidence that the Jesus story is a legend that grew with time.

Where did Paul get his authority? | Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry

Where did Paul get his authority? | Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry

by Ryan Turner

If Paul did not know Jesus while He lived on this earth, then how can Paul have any authority to teach and preach the Gospel?

Though Paul did not walk with Jesus while he was on this earth, he did receive
approval from the followers of Jesus. In Galatians chapters 1-2, Paul
explains that he took two different trips to Jerusalem to see the
Jerusalem apostles.1

Trip #1: 36 A.D.

In his first trip, Paul mentions the most popular apostles by name: Peter and James. In Galatians 1:18-19, Paul says,

"Then three years later [36 A.D.?] I went up to Jerusalem to become
acquainted with Cephas [or Peter], and stayed with him fifteen days.
19But I did not see any other of the apostles except James, the Lord's
brother."

If Paul and Peter spent fifteen days together, they must
have discussed some very important matters! I wish that I could have
been a fly on the wall to hear Paul and Peter's conversation. What a
sight that must have been! As one scholar stated, they probably did not
spend all of their time talking about the weather. It is quite likely
that given the context of Galatians 1 where Paul is discussing his
authority to preach the gospel, that Peter and Paul discussed the
content of the Gospel during their time together.

Trip #2: 47-50 A.D.

However, Paul also mentions a second trip to Jerusalem in Galatians 2:1-2:

"Then after an interval of fourteen years [47-50 A.D.?] I went up again to
Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also. 2It was because of a
revelation that I went up; and I submitted to them the gospel which I preach
among the Gentiles, but I did so in private to those who were of
reputation, for fear that I might be running, or had run, in vain."

In this second visit, Paul mentions that he explicitly brought his gospel
before the Jerusalem apostles (Peter, James, and John). He indicates
that he had a fear "that I might be running, or had run, in vain." Some
have speculated that Paul wanted to verify the content of his preaching
to be sure that he was correct. Therefore, he goes up to Jerusalem a
second time to see Peter, James, and then John.

Interestingly, the apostles respond:

"And recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James and Cephas and
John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right
hand of fellowship, so that we might go to the Gentiles and they to
the circumcised (Gal. 2:9)."

In other words, the early apostles agreed with Paul's Gospel that he preached.

The Ultimate Authority

Even though Paul had approval from the eyewitnesses of Jesus' life,
nevertheless, Paul claimed that his ultimate authority did not come from
humans, but directly from Christ's revelation to him:

"For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by
me is not according to man. 12For I neither received it from man, nor
was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ (Gal. 1:11-12)."

Paul himself saw Jesus via revelation on his encounter on the road to Damascus (Acts 9, 22, 26) in which Christ revealed Himself to Paul . He was an eyewitness in the sense of having seen Jesus after his death (1 Cor. 9:1). Therefore, Paul certainly had the authority to teach and preach the Gospel.

Summary:

• 33 A.D. - Paul's Conversion
• 36 A.D. - 1st Trip to Jerusalem: meets Peter and James
• 47-50 A.D. - 2nd Trip to Jerusalem: meets Peter, James, and John

Did Paul Ever Meet Jesus? - Gracethrufaith

Did Paul Ever Meet Jesus? - Gracethrufaith

Q. We first wanted to thank you for your website on the Bible and Jesus Christ. We have a question about the Apostle Paul that we hoped you may be able to answer. I was at a Sunday school class and asked the question, did Paul ever meet Jesus?  The answer I got from the group was no.  On the road to Damascus Paul met Jesus after he had ascended into heaven. Was Jesus’s appearance physical or spiritual?  Please give us some insight.

A. There’s no indication from Scripture that Paul and Jesus ever met before the Damascus Road incident.  And Acts 9:4-7 doesn’t specify whether the Lord’s encounter with Paul was physical or
not. It only says Paul saw a bright light and heard a voice. The men with him heard a loud sound but didn’t see anything. In subsequent re-tellings of the encounter Paul never indicated that He had actually seen Jesus at that time.

But Paul did spend 3 years in Arabia where he received the Gospel from the Lord (Galatians 1:11-17). And he made a visit to the Throne of God (2 Cor. 12:1-4) where he saw things he was not allowed to talk about. In 1 Cor. 15:3-8, when Paul recounted all the Lord’s post resurrection appearances, he included himself as one who had seen Him.  So, at some point, he
apparently did have a physical meeting with the Lord.

Related posts:

1. Was Paul The Apostle To The Gentiles?
2. Was Paul A Real Apostle?
3. Was Paul An Apostle?
4. Paul And The Rapture

Bill Maher Trashes the Bible Noah Story and Psychotic Mass Murderer God

Published on 14 Mar 2014

March 14, 2014 - On Friday evening,
Bill Maher's "New Rules" segment concluded with a lengthy tirade against
the arbitrary rules and customs set forth in the Bible, as well as some
of the more unbelievable details religious folks still believe to be
literally true. Maher began the monologue by declaring that America is
"stupid" because 60 percent of the country reportedly believes the tale
of Noah's ark is literally true. He went on to slam the film Noah as
"floating giraffe crap," but said it "must be doing something right"
since it's been condemned by both Muslims and Christians. And the fact
that it might lose a lot of studio money, he joked, "may put it in hot
water with the Jews too."



That gave way to a rant on how the
world is now four centuries removed from the scientific revolution, and
yet we still find the Noah's ark story to be entirely true, despite some
of the more... unbelievable... details. Christians are mad about the
blockbuster film, he noted, because it doesn't take the Bible literally
enough. "They're mad that this made-up story doesn't stay true to their
made-up story," he quipped.



But, really, Maher said, Noah's tale
is an "immoral" one because it's about a "psychotic mass murderer who
gets away with it and his name is God." The Earth's creator became so
irate that he had created mankind so flawed, as Maher related, that he
sent a flood to kill everyone, including babies.



"What kind of tyrant kills everyone just to get back at the few he's mad at? I mean, besides Chris Christie," he jabbed.



"Isn't
life hard enough without making shit up out of thin air to fuck with
yourself?" he later asked of religion's arbitrary rules about food,
clothing, and other material goods.

Religion ‘unacceptable’ says Chris O’Dowd | News.com.au

Chris O’Dowd calls religion ‘unacceptable’ | News.com.au

Actor Chris O’Dowd calls calls religion ‘unacceptable’
Source: AAP

 

Actor Chris O'Dowd thinks following a religion will eventually become as offensive and unacceptable as racism.

The Irish star of films such as The Sapphires and Bridesmaids says
he grew up respecting people of faith despite his atheist views, but has
become “less liberal” as he ages.



Now he says religious doctrine is halting human progress and brands it “a weird cult”.

He also thinks US president Barack Obama had to overstate his Christian faith in order to get to the White House.



O'Dowd
has told Britain's GQ magazine: “For most of my life, I've been, 'Hey,
I'm not into it, but I respect your right to believe whatever you want'.
But as time goes on, weirdly, I'm growing less liberal. I'm more like,
'No, religion is ruining the world, you need to stop!'.



“There's going to be a turning point where it's going to be like
racism. You know, 'You're not allowed to say that weird s**t! It's mad!
And you're making everybody crazy!'



“And you know, now America
can't have a president that doesn't say he believes in God. So we're
f**ked! Like, they f**ked everything!



“You wanna go and live in
your weird cult and talk about a man who lives in a cloud, you do that,
but don't. I mean, you really think that Barack Obama believes in God?
No way!”