The Cult of Paul

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“The name 'disciple of Jesus' has little applicability to Paul, with the obvious contradictions in the three accounts given by him in regard to his Road to Damascus conversion being more than enough to arouse a palpable distrust in the man … The moral majesty of Jesus -- his purity and piety, his ministry among the people, his manner as a prophet, the concrete ethical-religious content of his earthly life – signifies very little whatsoever for Paul's Christology. As such we are confronted with Jesus or Paul: the fundamental choice that all are required to make; the choice that embodies the primary spiritual battleground of our present day.” ~ via William Wrede 20
As the previous pages have shown, there is quite obviously a stark contrast in the Bible between the words attributed to Jesus Christ and the theology Paul presents in his epistles. And yet a schism as critical as this one warrants a much more thorough examination of the Scriptures with regards to these two men and their beliefs, and that is precisely what now follows – namely, an in-depth examination of their very different lives, their very different personalities, and their very different teaching styles – all of which contributed to or directly engendered what turned out to be their very different (and indeed, patently contradictory) theologies. And yet before we look into the latter, let us cast a closer glance at how the two men are portrayed … Jesus & Paul: a look at their lives ... First off, let me state quite clearly that I no way claim to know “the Truth” about Paul or Jesus. I don't know whether or not the words in my Bible (as someone interested in scholarship, I prefer the NRSV over all other translations) are fully accurate, I don't know if the spiritual concepts expressed therein are valid, and I don't even know whether or not Paul or Jesus actually said what they are reported to have said – much less whether either man actually existed at all. And yet none of those issues are relevant to the task at hand – namely, showing how the Bible itself (or at least one of its more widely accepted versions) proves quite convincingly that Paul was not a supporter of Jesus and his teachings, but was rather a stark opponent thereof. And the best place to start during such an examination is a look into how the texts of the Bible portray the lives of the two men – very different lives that in and of themselves do not prove my primary postulation, and yet very different lives that do indeed explain how such radically divergent theologies could come to be. As such, please consider the following biblical contrasts that show the same: Contrast #01: their citizenship … Though Paul was a self-proclaimed Roman citizen regularly respected by the authorities (see Acts 16:37 & Acts 22:25-28), Jesus is portrayed as coming from the home of a common Jewish laborer 5 & as an itinerant preacher often met with scorn and disdain (see Matthew 13:54-58, Mark 6:3, & John 6:42). 5 Though common Christian tradition cites Jesus as having been a “carpenter”, the actual Greek word used in the relevant verses is tekton (Strong's # 5045), a word that actually meant “laborer” or “artisan.” While some scholars have noted that this would have made Jesus a well-respected craftsman of sorts, the opposite is more than likely to have been the case, with the average peasant artisan residing even below the peasant farmer on the sociological pecking order of the day. Indeed, there was no “middle class” to speak of in more ancient times. Rather, there were those like Paul and his family who had wealth, and there was everyone else who essentially didn't. This would explain the disdain and even disrespect that Jesus obviously receives in the above-cited verses. Indeed, it is intriguing to note that Jesus never once mentions the bustling city of Sepphoris in the Gospels, and this even though he grew up within sight of its walls. He also rarely talks in urban images, even though he was raised near a mid-sized metropolis, and even though his family probably worked regularly therein. As such it seems that Jesus quite obviously knew that cities were the places where opulence gathered, and that cities were the sources of the very same peasant oppressions that his ministry was designed to stifle and quell. 21
Page 1 and 2: The Cult of Paul examining the cont
Page 3 and 4: “For the time is coming when peop
Page 5 and 6: “I have set you an example, that
Page 7 and 8: Forward … the WHY of it all While
Page 9 and 10: And yet as far as this particular t
Page 11 and 12: An introductory look at Paul of Tar
Page 13 and 14: “Now as Saul was going along and
Page 15 and 16: A few of the Bible's“smaller hint
Page 17 and 18: *Paul downplays the innate holiness
Page 19: "Paul avoids quoting the teaching o
Page 23 and 24: In marked contrast, Jesus is seen t
Page 25 and 26: Contrast #04: their affiliations wi
Page 27 and 28: Contrast #07: how they dealt with t
Page 29 and 30: Jesus & Paul: a look at their perso
Page 31 and 32: Contrast #12: Paul's condemnation &
Page 33 and 34: In quite marked contrast, Jesus Chr
Page 35 and 36: And finally, where Paul is frequent
Page 37 and 38: *Paul lied to King Agrippa about hi
Page 39 and 40: Jesus & Paul: a look at their preac
Page 41 and 42: Jesus Christ, on the other hand, ma
Page 43 and 44: In marked contrast, while it is tru
Page 45 and 46: *Paul was inconsistent in his teach
Page 47 and 48: *Just as revealing, every single on
Page 49 and 50: Jesus & Paul: their conflicting the
Page 51 and 52: Conflict #03: Paul guided by conven
Page 53 and 54: In truth, in the Gospel of Matthew
Page 55 and 56: Conflict #05: Paul believing God to
Page 57 and 58: And yet the nature of God is not th
Page 59 and 60: Conflict #06: Paul believing God to
Page 61 and 62: Conflict #08: Paul equating the “
Page 63 and 64: Finally, and in full harmony with t
Page 65 and 66: Even the parable of The Sower in th
Page 67 and 68: Paul: an apostle of delightful iron
Page 69 and 70: “There is, on the one hand, the a
Page 71 and 72:
Conclusion: Returning to The Way of
Page 73 and 74:
As such, now that the dichotomy bet
Page 75 and 76:
“The body that is sown is perisha
Page 77:
“I praise You, Father, Lord of he
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The Cult of Paul

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