Zemirah Loc: Sojourner En Route...

To all those Christians who believe that the New Testament is a unified whole and complete message from God, with the words of Jesus Christ, recorded by His chosen Apostles, as inspired by the Holy Spirit:

1) that the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, present the life, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ,
2) the Acts of the Apostles are a true historical narrative of the founding of the Christian church,
3) the Epistles, (thirteen of which were written by Paul, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit) explain the meaning and purpose of Jesus Christ’ life, death, His resurrection, and completed ministry, and its subsequent application for daily living, and
4) the purpose and the history of the church and the future resolution of our eternal destiny, are recorded in the Revelation of Jesus to John.

These books of the New Testament unite in perfect harmony, for example, the Gospel of Matthew 28, narrates the fact of Jesus’ resurrection, and the Epistle of 1 Corinthians 15, explains the significance of His resurrection. Mark 15:38 tells of the temple veil being torn in two when Jesus died; Hebrews 10:11-23 reveals the implication and importance of that event. The same Holy Spirit who inspired the Gospels also inspired the Epistles to give us a fuller understanding of God’s plan for our salvation.

Those who claim that there exists "another gospel," an apostate invention called "Pauline Christianity" or a "Pauline Doctrine," contradictory to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and that it was devised and taught as such by Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, are perpetuating a lie.


So what is "Pauline Christianity" or "Pauline Doctrine?" - and who teaches it?


Answer: "Pauline Christianity" is a term that is being applied to the Biblical Epistles of the Apostle, Paul. The claim is being made by these enemies of the Gospel that there are religious teachings unique only to Paul’s writings that are totally distinct from the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is, they insist that Jesus taught one thing, and Paul taught something completely different.

Those who believe in a separate "Pauline Christianity" insist that the Christianity in existence today is not Jesus’ teachings; but that it is rather the product of Paul’s deliberate corruption of those original teachings.


However, those who theorize about a separate “Pauline Christianity,” another gospel, if you will, also teach "another Jesus":

Jesus, they conjecture, was a great teacher, who considered himself to be the long-awaited Messiah for the Jews. He believed that God would overthrow Rome and bring His kingdom to earth. In preparation for this, Jesus taught a message of unconditional love, tolerance, and non-judgmental acceptance of everyone. Alas, Jesus’ mission of inaugurating a new earthly age failed when the Romans crucified him.

In the greatest triumph for God, since His creation of the universe, when Jesus Christ successfully paid in full the debt owed by mankind for their respective sins, these false teachers see only failure, not understanding that in God's eyes, Biblical Judaism ended at the moment of Jesus' death upon the cross, at the very moment when the no longer needed Temple veil enclosing "The Holy of Holies" was symbolically torn asunder.

They teach: that Jesus’ followers, believing that God had raised their rabbi from the dead, continued to meet in Jerusalem under the leadership of James, Jesus’ brother.Their intention was to await the still-coming kingdom and continue observing Jesus’ brand of "enlightened Judaism..." But along came Saul of Tarsus, who faked a conversion in order to infiltrate the church. Peter and James and others who had actually known Jesus were suspicious of Saul, who had never met Jesus.

Then Saul, who started calling himself “Paul,” had a stroke of genius. He artfully combined traditional Hebrew ideas with those of pagan Greek philosophy, creating a new religion that could appeal to both Jews and Gentiles. He began preaching that Jesus was actually God, that Jesus’ death was linked to the Jewish system of sacrifice, that one could be saved by simply believing, and that the Mosaic law was obsolete. Paul’s zealous missionary activity and persuasive writings took his new “gospel” around the Roman Empire. The Jerusalem Church, including Peter and James, disowned Paul as a heretic and cult leader.

They further profess that after the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, the Jewish Church lost authority, but the Gentile Church founded by Paul increased its influence. One of Paul’s fervent followers wrote the book of Acts, which gave Paul legendary status with its glowing portrayal of him as the hero of the church. Later, four unknown writers gathered scraps of information about Jesus and wrote books they called “Matthew,” “Mark,” Luke,” and “John”—but Paul’s theology, already dominant in the church, tainted the writers’ perspective. Thus, Paul’s religion won out over Jesus’ religion.

In short, they say, Paul was a charlatan, an evangelical huckster who succeeded in twisting Jesus’ message of love into something Jesus himself would never recognize. It was Paul, not Jesus, who originated the “Christianity” of today.

Commonly, those who hold to the above theory also believe the following:

1) Jesus was not divine. He never claimed to be God, and he never intended to start a new religion.

2) The Bible is not an inspired book and is riddled with contradictions. None of the Bible, except possibly the book of James, was written by anyone who knew Jesus. There are fragments of Jesus’ teachings in the Gospels, but it is difficult to discern what he really said.

3) Paul was never a Pharisee and was not highly educated. His “conversion” was either a personal hallucinogenic experience or an outright fraud. His claims to be an apostle were attempts to further his own authority in the church.

4) Pauline theological “inventions” include a) the deity of Jesus; b) salvation by grace through faith; c) salvation through the blood of Jesus; d) the sinless nature of Jesus; e) the concept of original sin; and f) the Holy Spirit. None of these “new doctrines” were accepted by Jesus’ "true" followers.

5) The demonic Gnostic Gospels, they claim, are closer to the truth about Jesus than are the traditional four Gospels of the Bible.

The concept of “Pauline Christianity” represents an outright attack on the Bible as the Word of God. Adherents of the “Pauline Christianity” theory are truly misrepresenting Jesus’ teachings. They choose to believe His words on love but deny His teachings on judgment (such as Matthew 24). They insist on a human Jesus, denying His divinity, although Jesus plainly taught His equality with God in passages such as John 10:30. They want a “loving” Jesus without having to accept Him as Lord and Savior.

Any time a skeptic finds a “disagreeable” doctrine in the Bible, he is likely to say, “That passage has been corrupted,” or, “Paul wrote that, and we know he was a liar.” Where the Gospels teach a “Pauline” doctrine, such as Jesus’ atonement for sin in John 1:29, the skeptic dismisses it as “inserted by devotees of Paul.”

In reality, the skeptic’s only basis for such a selective approach to Scripture is a personal bias against the idea of Jesus’ atonement.

Interestingly, Paul’s credentials as an apostle were attacked, even in his own lifetime, by those Judaizers who desired to lead the church into legalism and other errant ideologies. Paul defends himself from the spurious attacks of false teachers in 1 Corinthians 9; 2 Corinthians 12; and Galatians 1.

Paul’s apostleship is attested to by the miracles he performed (Romans 15:19), the training he received (Galatians 1:15-20), and the testimony of the other apostles.

Peter, far from being Paul’s enemy, wrote this about him: “Our dear brother, Paul, also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction” (2 Peter 3:15-16).



References:
Alfred Edersheim: The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah
Wikipedia
https://www.gotquestions.org/Pauline-Christianity.html
When God Spoke Greek

4430 Loc: Little Egypt ** Southern Illinory

This is the first time I've read or heard of the Pauline Christianity ! ! ! !

There are and always have been those that want to make others believe a lie !

Sorry but I'm not buying it !

no propaganda please Loc: moon orbiting the third rock from the sun

no propaganda please Loc: moon orbiting the third rock from the sun

Thanks for posting this explanation. It certainly clarifies what I have read and seen elsewhere, and helps put the explanation in language most of us can understand

pafret Loc: Northeast

Some of my Protestant friends with whom I used to debate religion called it Paulianity. They also referred to Catholicism as Maryology. From the histories which I have read, James antipathy towards Saul of Tarsus was that Saul was the chief persecutor of Christians. It is more than a little difficult to regard such a person as anything but a spy who means you harm. None of Saul's companions heard God's message, only Saul was graced with hearing.

He went from chief persecutor to chief proselytizer with a special mission to carry Christ's message to the gentile world. Given the wider audience, it is no wonder that Paul had such influence. Arguments that 'this isn't what the original message was', are pointless, in the face of miraculous divine intervention. Paul's message came from God.

bahmer

Amen and Amen

Boo_Boo Loc: Jellystone

Interesting... so now explain to everyone the differences in the messages..... Kingdom Doctrine of Jesus or the Justification/Replacement aka Fulfillment Doctrine or Saul/Paul. To help you get started, Kingdom Doctrine; was proclaimed by *John the Baptizer, taught by Jesus and his 12 disciples (did not include Saul of Tarsus). See Matthew 3, 4, and 9. Requires repentance, baptism, and faith + works. See Deuteronomy 28, Zechariah 14, Isaiah 2 and 11, and Matthew 19. Content of message was Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of G*d. And as proclaimed by Jesus the Kingdom (Luke 17) is inside of everyone. (*special note: John the Baptizer was Jesus’ cousin.)
Replacement/Fulfillment Doctrine; Proclaimed by Paul, taught to the Gentiles see Acts, 1 Corinthians 15, requires faith alone, and the church became the “chosen people” of G*d replacing the Jew.

So.... can you go into detail? Also, one other thing that has always made me wonder.... why did Jesus' give Revelations to John and not to Saul/Paul? If he, Paul/Saul, was indeed the "last apostle" or number 13..... why did Jesus tell John to write letters to the "churches" of Asia --all gentile churches started by Saul/Paul and his disciples? Does this not strike you as odd? One would think, because Jesus' had been talking directly to Saul/Paul, that he would have continued to use him as His messenger.

While you are at it...

Explain the following verses to me:

Galatians 1:15-16
Galatians 4:14
Galatians 2:20
Galatians 6:17
1 Corinthians 2:16
Romans 7:19

Read the verses slowly making sure you read each and every word..... and explain them to me, and I hope you do not copy and paste someone else's understanding, because I am interested in your point of view as a Christian and defender of the Saul/Paul. I do have other questions about Saul/Paul's teachings which, depending on your responses, I may raise. But, this is a start.

Many thanks
Ginny

pafret Loc: Northeast

Wow Ginny, why don't you ask some tough questions and quit hitting him with marshmallows?

My personal opinion is that Christ fulfilled the Covenant and prophecies of the Old Testament but did not abrogate it. Jews are still bound by the terms of the Covenant and I see no impediment to their salvation. It is naive to believe that simple acceptance of Christianity is going to guarantee you a place in heaven or nonacceptance will condemn you to Hades.

How did I arrive at that stance? With all of the competing arguments and proofs offered of biblical citations and scriptural writings it is obvious experts cannot agree. In the absence of definitive evidence and proof one must rely on our understanding of God's nature. He is a God of mercy and would not condemn the righteous because of lack of comprehension. There is a Covenant and a fulfillment and if you can manage to live by those precepts then you stand in God's favor.

Boo_Boo Loc: Jellystone

I can certainly ask harder questions, but I thought that I should start with the easier questions to get a feel for his/her depth of knowledge on scripture. To be honest, I am looking forward to the discussions that may arise from this thread.

pafret Loc: Northeast

That was a joke, these question are sufficiently difficult. It should be interesting, Zemirah seems to be well versed in Biblical exegesis.

Boo_Boo Loc: Jellystone

I too, was teasing... sorry, my humor does not translate well. Having said this, I do have even harder questions. If Zemirah should respond with comments of his own and not those provided by on line "ministers" and "experts", then I think this thread will be enlightening.

Armageddun Loc: The show me state

Amen, thanks again for great research and explanation. If Paul's writings were or are not inspired by God and guarded by the Holy Spirit (God), then very little of the N.T. can be trusted. The Bible has been explored thoroughly over the centuries by highly spiritually minded scholars. No one has proven this most precious book to contain any lies or error. The natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit because they are spiritually discerned.

Boo_Boo Loc: Jellystone

Good to see you! Hey, because my questions have gone unanswered by the author of this post.... care to give it a run? I would be most interested in your own opinion, meaning not the opinions of others but rather what you think.

Ginny

Armageddun Loc: The show me state

Hello My Friend,

I have never experienced any personal teaching referred to as "Pauline Doctrine". I know there are differences in Jewish beliefs vs. Protestant beliefs. My point of belief has always been simple, "as a child". I accept the N.T. scriptures, Matthew-Revelation as the inspired Word of God. It is difficult for me to believe that Saul/Paul deserted his people when he writes in Romans 9:1-5 and 11:1-36. It appears to me that Paul sees a time when all shall be in God through His covenant relationship. IMHO, Jews and Gentiles have received from God mercy and grace. Let me go out on a limb and say there is no biblical verse that explains why God chose to make The Jewish people His chosen people other than it was His choice. If I am wrong please correct me. It is good that God is omniscient. None of us know exactly what Gods Plans are: Isa. write His ways are not our ways, His thoughts are not our thoughts, His thoughts and ways are higher than ours. All I know is He's got the whole world in His hands. Good to hear from you. I hope I made myself clear and not just made a speech.

Your Friends Always,


Glen

Boo_Boo Loc: Jellystone

Glen, Greeting to you and I hope you had a very goo day~!!!!

First Saul never abandoned his people, he was a Roman citizen and his mother was Jewish. That would make him a Jew by blood, but not necessarily a Jew by religion. I can hear you now, but in Acts he talks about observing the Sabbath by going to the Synagogue. Just food for thought, but how many Christians go to church on Sunday.... but the other six days???? Going to a building does not make a person Christian or Jew or any of the other major religions.

I would rather not expand this conversation to Jews vice Gentile and who will or will not be judged worthy at judgment, I would like to keep this about Saul and what he wrote put beside what Jesus' taught and was written down by his chosen apostles. After we discuss that topic, then we can address your remarks about why Jews were chosen by G*d and what if anything that will mean in the end.

I am not saying that those who teach or preach primarily the Pauline Doctrine is right or wrong, what I am saying is we are obligated to learn the truth.... and there are times when the truth may be uncomfortable.... may challenge what we thought we knew... and at the end, we decide if we are so comfortable in our ways of life, or to let G*d lead us. And other times, we learn that we were right from the start.

So, with this in mind.... can you address the questions I asked earlier? Do you recall when you would ask me questions.... now it is your turn.