The Cult of Paul

*Paul affirms all within the “one body” (regardless of doctrinal differences) …
Jesus makes it quite clear that there is only one Way to enliven the will of his all-Loving Father
(see John 14:6 – focusing on dia, the Greek word often translated as through, much more than the Greek word
emou, oft translated as me) and only one very narrow gate of selfless sacrifice through which any & all
must pass to attain entrance to his Kingdom of Heaven (see Matthew 7:13-14 + Matthew 18:3-4 +
Matthew 24:12-14). He even goes so far as to say that any & all self-focused habits &/or addictions
must be cut off and thrown away in order to do so (a la “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and
throw it away; for it is better for you to lose it than for your whole body to be thrown into Gehenna. And if
your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away as well; for it is better for you to lose one of your
members than for your whole body to go into Gehenna.” ~ Matthew 5:29-30). Paul, on the other hand (pun
intended), is embarrassingly lax when it comes to sinful violators of the Law; establishing a new codex
grounded in a mere profession of faith, regardless of one's actual conduct (see Romans 3:31, Romans
7:4-6, & Romans 10:1-10 et al), even going so far as to say: “As it is, there are many members, yet one
body. The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I have no need of you,' nor again the head to the feet, 'I have no need of
you.' On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members
of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor. Our less respectable members are
treated with greater respect; whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged
the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but
the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one
member is honored, all rejoice together with it as well.” (1 Corinthian 12:20-26)
*Some even say that the Bible shows Paul to be “the Antichrist” …
While I personally do not subscribe to this particular argument, it is still interesting to note the
following biblical tidbits: A) that the numeric value of Tarsus in Hebrew (TRSV) is 666, B) that the
1290 days mentioned in Daniel 12:11 match the probable length of Paul's ministry, C) that Paul
persecuted the saints of the early church in alignment with the “prophecy” of Daniel 7:25 (see also
Matthew 24:15), D) that the author of 1 John clearly states “the Antichrist [is] the one who denies the
Father and the Son” (1 John 2:22) – something Paul regularly does throughout his writings (regularly
downplaying the importance of the former in favor of solely exalting the latter – see 1 Corinthians 4:15,
Romans 10:9-10, & Romans 15:1-4 – and these alongside Galatians 5:14 & Romans 13:9 when they are
contrasted with Matthew 22:37-40), E) that Paul performed “signs and wonders” that indeed “misled the
elect” (as this book quite clearly shows) just as Jesus warned the Antichrist would (see Acts 15:12 &
Matthew 24:24), and F) that Paul's “revelation” on the Road to Damascus (“Now as [Saul] was going
along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him” ~ Acts 9:3) quite eerily
hearkens back to Jesus' utterance in Luke 10:18 (that he “saw Satan fall like lightning from the heavens”).
*The book of Revelation strongly hints that Paul is a false prophet …
Ephesians 1:1 has Paul telling the church there that he is “an apostle of Christ Jesus.” And this
claim is much more than a mere Paulinist boast. For of the 7 churches noted in the book of Revelation,
the one in Ephesus is the only one cited for having dealt with false apostles (stating in Revelation 2:2 that
“you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them to be false”). This fact is
made all the more potent when we realize that the biblical record makes it equally clear that Paul had a
great deal of trouble with the Ephesian congregation during his ministry (see Acts 19:8-9). In addition,
the letter of 2 Timothy (admittedly probably written by a follower of Paul, not by Paul himself) has Paul
admitting that “all those in Asia have turned away from me” (2 Timothy 1:15). As such, when we
remember that Paul is the only person in the Bible (other than the original 12 disciples) who ever claimed
to have been an apostle, what we have here is A] Paul falsely claiming to be an apostle of Christ (while
preaching his own unique religious doctrine to the contrary), B] the Ephesian Church vehemently rejecting
the same, and C] a “returned Christ” thereafter applauding the Ephesian Church for doing so!
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