Paul and Christianity

Hi,

I have read in a few threads comments from posters concerning the role of Paul in the formation of the early Church.

I was hoping that someone could provide a primer for those that believe that Paul kidnapped Christianity, specifically early texts that support the idea that he was at odds with the other Apostles.

Thanks!

Eric

Firstly, Paul of Tarsus did not kidnap Christianity. That is a conclusion based on ignorance and/or prejudice, depending upon the individual.

Quite the contrary. If it weren't for Paul, Christianity would never have gone beyond being a local benign cult. It was because of his ministry, his missionary work, and his embracing of gentiles (non-Jews) which greatly helped the new faith to spread far and wide.

Secondly, Paul did not choose which of his letters and ideas would be in the New Testament. That was decided by church leaders who came after him. He had nothing to do with those decisions.

Church leaders and emperors are the ones who really dictated how Christianity unfolded into a state-dominated religion with priests, bishops, cardinals, and a pope, and the other branches of Christianity - like Greek Orthodox and all the Protestant faiths - which came after.

Paul had nothing to do with any of that either.

So if you want to blame someone for how Christianity turned out, blame the early church leaders and emperors who chose which passages would be accepted into the official religious text and who manipulated the masses and the Bible to suit their twisted desires for more power and money.

For example, most early Christians embraced the doctrine of reincarnation. A little tidbit that is not taught in any Christian Sunday school.

Reincarnation Was A Strong Belief Among Early Christians

But the early church felt the need to strengthen their grip on the masses (and get richer) and a belief in rebirth lessened that ability to control the congregation.

This led to Emperor Justinian in the Sixth Century ordering all references to the doctrine of rebirth to be omitted from the Bible. Anyone caught with the omitted texts or teaching them would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of Justinian's law. So the reincarnationists had to go underground and this is why the doctrine of rebirth is not a tenet of Christianity today - because of the edicts of a long dead Roman Emperor that very few are even educated about in seminary, much less question.

Paul had nothing to do with this issue either.

People who are ignorant of early Christianity and how politics and corruption after Paul's execution by the Romans played a key role, like to use the scapegoat that Paul of Tarsus somehow ruined Christianity. Yet at the same time, most Christian churches use Paul's letters as examples to further their theological base. So most Christian churches and many people have this love-hate relationship going on with Paul and his interpretations of spirituality and Christianity.

What they should all do is form a new ecumenical council and collectively rip out all of Paul's Epistles from the Bible

Then everyone can practice Christianity without Paul's influence and the problem of hating Paul as THE DESTROYER OF THE FAITH will be amended.

However, there is a little problem with that.

Seems that what is referred to as the Love Chapter aka 1st Corinthians 13 is widely used in weddings around the world and is considered to be one of if not THE most beautiful spiritual passage in the entire Bible

And it was penned by Paul.

oops

Oh...well...we will just ignore that from now on too.

People will just have to be inspired by some other Bible passage at weddings

it does not matter what works of paul were put into the bible.what matters is that he preached radically different ideas compared to jesus.and for some reson the catholic church took paul's preaching as their foundation,and 80% of what jesus preached has never seen the light of day!!

i have often wondered why the founders of the catholic church made this decision.especially when you think of how imbittered paul was.and how his jealousy of mary magdalene led to a great hatred for all women! his teachings are much more violent than jesus'!!

All you have to do is read what Jesus says in the bible. Then read Pauls letters and teachings and his disciple timothy and you will see a vast difference, but the most common of these is the fact that Jesus says many times over that faith alone will not get you anywhere. You must uphold my fathers commandments and my commandments and perform works in order to reach heaven. Where as Paul says that Jesus fullfilled the law. One the law cant ever be fullfilled. They are an ongoing set of rules for mankind to follow. The funny thing is most christians immediatly jump on Pauls bandwagon.......hmmmm... could it be that its alot easier then what Jesus taught?? Hey "Christians" I have an idea while your busy tearing apart the words and work of your saviour why dont you just reinstate the whole buy your way into heaven deal... its even easier then just believing.

Originally posted by jakyll
it does not matter what works of paul were put into the bible.what matters is that he preached radically different ideas compared to jesus.and for some reson the catholic church took paul's preaching as their foundation,and 80% of what jesus preached has never seen the light of day!!

i have often wondered why the founders of the catholic church made this decision.especially when you think of how imbittered paul was.and how his jealousy of mary magdalene led to a great hatred for all women! his teachings are much more violent than jesus'!!

Can you please elaborate on the '80% of Jesus' teachings not seeing the light of day' and explain why you believe that Paul was jealous of Mary Magdalene and hated women?

Thank you,

Eric

For example, most early Christians embraced the doctrine of reincarnation. A little tidbit that is not taught in any Christian Sunday school.

This is a bit off topic, but I believe that the reason it's not taught in Sunday School is that it's not true. It is NOT an accepted fact that Origen believed in reincarnation. He did believe that the soul predates the body.

There are many texts that predate Justinian and 533 from Christian writers that denounce the belief in reincarnation. Including some from Origen.

The Biblical passages that your source quotes refers to original sin. Also, quoting Wikipedia as a source is a bit dubious.

Eric

Originally posted by x0846
Originally posted by jakyll
[

i have often wondered why the founders of the catholic church made this decision.especially when you think of how imbittered paul was.and how his jealousy of mary magdalene led to a great hatred for all women! his teachings are much more violent than jesus'!!


How bout some facts to validate your claims? Your lack of knowledge on Scripture is evident by your omission of any foundational Scriptures to support your thoughts for your arguments to stand on. In other words, your statement is baseless.

Actually, he is quite right. All his statements can be historically verified...unlike most of the New Testament..

J.

Originally posted by x0846
Originally posted by plague

Once again a non-believer trying to understand and grasp what God has said. You can’t do it, you’re out of the loop and you will never understand His word until you come to faith.

Read chap 6 of John, you most likely won’t understand it but concentrate on what Jesus says about faith.



If you feel you’ve found a contradiction how about pointing it out so someone can comment. Just posting a general accusation doesn’t help a discussion progress. If all you can do is point without having some substance of examples is pointless. That’s grade school communication.

x0846

Believing that only YOU understand what 'God' is saying in the Bible is a sure sign of arrogance. You only seem to have any understanding of a heavily edited, re-written, censored book - so what gives you the right to judge 'God's' word exactly? That's too funny for words. Try reading the Gnostic Gospels to begin with - when you have a grasp on those - come back and tell us all about it, because only then will you have a measured, open opinion (hopefully).

J.