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Gospels of Thomas and Philip and Truth - Syriac Christian Church

Gospels of Thomas and Philip and Truth - Syriac Christian Church

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fulminations <strong>of</strong> St Paul.<br />

Bruce Metzger, The Canon <strong>of</strong> the New Testament (1987): According to [some]<br />

scholars the presence <strong>of</strong> contradictions between New Testament books ... makes it<br />

necessary to establish a critical canon.... For example, the eschatology <strong>of</strong> Luke-Acts<br />

cannot, it is said, be harmonized with Paul's eschatology.... Again, the outlook on the<br />

Old Testament law in the Epistle to the Romans certainly appears to be different<br />

from the outlook in Matt.v.18.... Furthermore, the Epistle <strong>of</strong> James attacks the<br />

Pauline doctrine <strong>of</strong> justification by faith alone. For these <strong>and</strong> similar reasons, it is<br />

argued,... there [is] no unity within the canon.<br />

Watchtower Bible & Tract Society, Insight on the Scriptures, ‘Paul’ (1988):<br />

Whose name then appears among those on the ‘twelve foundation stones’ <strong>of</strong> the<br />

New Jerusalem <strong>of</strong> John's vision— Matthias' or Paul's? (Rev/Ap 21:2,14) ... God's<br />

original choice, namely Matthias.<br />

Paula Fredriksen, From Jesus to Christ (1988): Scholars, their confusion<br />

facilitated by Paul's own apparent inconsistency,... do not agree even on what Paul<br />

said, much less why he said it.<br />

Jostein Gaarder, Sophie's World (1991): Was Christ a <strong>Christian</strong>? That also can<br />

certainly be debated.<br />

Gerald Messadié, Saul the Incendiary (Paris 1991): Saul does not really know<br />

the teaching <strong>of</strong> Jesus. In the Epistles there are no traces <strong>of</strong> the parables, nor <strong>of</strong> the<br />

expressions <strong>and</strong> attitudes <strong>of</strong> Jesus.... The transformation, the essential metanoia <strong>of</strong><br />

the believer by ethical meditation, has almost no place in his writings.... Saul quickly<br />

arrogates to himself, <strong>and</strong> it seems incredible, the privilege <strong>of</strong> the truth. He, who only<br />

glimpsed Jesus, with unparalleled arrogance claims to be the only one who<br />

possesses the truth <strong>of</strong> the teaching <strong>of</strong> the Messiah— against those who, for their<br />

part, knew Jesus personally, against the first disciples. What insolence: he considers<br />

Peter a ‘hypocrite’!... I asked myself if Saul wouldn’t have participated also in the plot<br />

<strong>of</strong> the Sanhedrin against Jesus.... Before him, there are no <strong>Christian</strong>s, only Jewish<br />

disciples <strong>of</strong> the Jewish Jesus. After him, <strong>Christian</strong>ity <strong>and</strong> Judaism will be<br />

irreconcilable.... The Epistles make absolutely no mention <strong>of</strong> the life <strong>of</strong> Jesus.... It is<br />

the ethical teaching <strong>of</strong> Saul himself which dominates, as if to replace that <strong>of</strong> Jesus in<br />

Jesus' own name.... [He] does not mention a single miracle <strong>of</strong> Jesus.... From a<br />

strictly Scriptural point <strong>of</strong> view, the teaching <strong>of</strong> Saul diverges, in many fundamental<br />

points, from that transmitted by the direct witnesses <strong>of</strong> Jesus.<br />

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