Gospels of Thomas and Philip and Truth - Syriac Christian Church
Gospels of Thomas and Philip and Truth - Syriac Christian Church
Gospels of Thomas and Philip and Truth - Syriac Christian Church
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
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 />
157