Posted on 02/24/2014 2:10:01 PM PST by SeekAndFind
That is some really theowonky stuff!
I posted this as a reference for Christians who tell me that they have encountered on many occasions, people who claim that Paul “invented” Christianity.
The basic idea is that Jesus taught a pure and ethical form of Judaism that focused on God and gracious living, while Paul developed a religion that worshiped Jesus rather than God.
Though this idea literally makes no sense historically, it’s gotten a lot of run. Even the occasional serious academic book “blames” Paul for perverting Jesus’ message in inventing Christianity.
Hence, this article.
Thread-with-potential PING
The last time I ever heard of the Pauline theology, or the gospel of Paul was in the 70’s ... mid 80’s
Homosexuals and feminists hate the teachings of Paul, but Jesus instructed Paul after his conversion. Paul’s teachings are Jesus ‘ teachings.
I didn't know it at the time, but it was A beginning to the anti MALE Christian sentiment we know today and the beginning of the "women can be pastors" movement.
On the other hand, there is Hyam Maccoby’s “Revolution In Judaea: Jesus and The Jewish Resistance” which gives a fairly strident Jewish perspective on the issue.
Whenever I read assertions that Saul of Tarsus invented Christian doctrine, I am apPauled...
RE: Homosexuals and feminists hate the teachings of Paul,
Supporters of gay marriage often argue that homosexuality must not have been a big deal with Jesus since He never said anything about it in the gospels.
Only Paul condemned it... ergo, Paul ADDED his own teachings.
Peter.
It is incontrovertible that Judaism/Noachism was founded by G-d A-mighty. People should be satisfied with that. No further "development" attributed to a "prophet" or (chas vechalilah!) "gxd-man" is even necessary.
Why do all chrstians without exception simply assume from the outset that J*sus/the Church/the "new testament" have the right to authentically interpret and apply the prophecies in the Hebrew Bible???
I recall being shocked one time at church when someone said something like “Oh, Paul. I don’t believe any of his books.” I thought they were joking and quipped something about Luke I think. “Oh - Luke is okay - just Paul and all of that stuff about women being silent, wearing hats, etc.”
You should feel asSAULted ;)
Jesus didn't have to; his audience was already steeped in Leviticus 18, and one of the ways they saw themselves as separate from the Gentiles was in their unwillingness to accept homosexual acts. Paul, OTOH, as the presenter of the gospel to those same Gentiles, would have to have confronted the issue directly, which he does, to the two groups whose local cultures would have been most steeped in homosexuality: Rome and Corinth.
No, but I might be charged with battery, depending on the voltage of the battery
God predestined Saul to be on the road to Damascus and thus give us so many books of the bible. The things God gave him went against everything he believed when he was Saul. Paul was faithful even unto death.
Some people want Paul out because he calls homosexuality a sin. They think removing Paul will free them of their guilty feelings. Once Adam and Eve at of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, there eyes (and ours) were open to good and evil. Some people continue in sin and have hardened their hearts and no longer have there eyes open. Satan has blinded them.
We had a prominent FReeper come out and say the same thing, right here in the Religion Forum, several years ago.
Paul’s letters are consistent with Jesus’s teachings as are the words of the prophets of the Old Testament. Paul said repeatedly that he was a follower of Jesus, that he believed in Jesus and that he wanted to spread the gospel of Jesus. Paul’s letters were probably no different than the gospel spread by the Apostles and the other early Christians. Paul is significant in that his writings survive until today.
RE: Oh - Luke is okay - just Paul and all of that stuff about women being silent, wearing hats, etc
But Luke wrote the book of Acts, which details Jesus’ commissioning of Saul, who changed his name to Paul, who then brought the gospel to the gentiles.
If “Luke is Okay” in the book of Acts, then Jesus’ commissioning of Paul should be Okay too, and by extension, Paul’s teaching should be Jesus’ teachings.
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