The Cult of Paul

Contrast #17: Paul's heated preaching & Jesus' calm teaching …
As mentioned previously (primarily on pages 31 & 32 herein), Paul tended to inspire vehement
argument and aggressive opposition whenever & wherever he preached. Indeed, he is seen arguing
with Hellenists in Acts 9:29, debating with Judean Jews in Acts 15:2, disagreeing sharply with
Barnabas in Acts 15:39, haranguing Thessalonians in Acts 17:2, quarreling with Athenians in Acts
17:17, squabbling with Corinthians in Acts 18:4, bickering with Ephesians in Acts 19:8-9, stirring up
dissension between Pharisees & Sadducees in Acts 23:6-9, and inspiring stark disagreement amongst
Roman Jews in Acts 28:24-25. But it was not only the author of Acts who portrayed him in this light,
as even in his own letters Paul openly brags about “destroying [others'] arguments” (2 Corinthians
10:4), brazenly curses his religious opponents (see 1 Corinthians 4:14, Galatians 1:9, & Galatians 3:1-3 et
al), and encourages his followers to reject and “drive out the wicked from among you” (1 Corinthians
5:12-13) … Jesus Christ, on the other hand, is repeatedly shown in quite a different light – repeatedly
calling for peace and harmony amongst friends & enemies alike (see Matthew 5:9, Matthew 5:22,
Matthew 5:44-48, Matthew 18:21-22, Matthew 24:12-14, Mark 11:25, Luke 6:27-36, Luke 10:29-37, John
13:15-17, & John 13:34-35 et al), teaching others his loving Gospel calmly “with authority” (see
Matthew 7:29, Mark 1:27, & Luke 4:32) – others who often refused to debate him at all and who were
regularly “astounded at his teaching” (see Matthew 7:28, Matthew 12:23, Matthew 13:54, Matthew 22:33,
Mark 1:22, Mark 10:24, Mark 11:18, Luke 2:47, & Luke 4:32 – also Luke 19:48 & John 7:46).
Contrast #18: Paul's loyalty to allies & Jesus' devotion to strangers …
It makes easy sense that relatively cowardly individuals with low self-esteem (see Contrast #09 on
page 29 and Contrast #14 on page 34) would tend to gravitate towards speaking to gatherings of people
who are either already well-known &/or who are likely to accept whatever is being sold or shared.
And this is precisely what we see Paul doing throughout his ministry – traveling to &/or writing to
the “believers” in already-established churches (see Acts 13:1, Acts 14:20-28, Acts 15:3-4, Acts 15:30-35,
Acts 15:41, Acts 18:22-23, Act 20:2-3, Acts 20:17, Acts 21:7, Acts 21:15-17, & Acts 28:14-15 – also Acts
15:36's “Come, let us return and visit the believers in every city where we [have already] proclaimed the word
of the Lord” and, of course, the biblical epistles Paul penned to the congregations in Rome, Corinth, Galatia,
Philippi, Colossae & Thessalonica) &/or entering and preaching in pre-established synagogues 19 (see Acts
9:20, Acts 13:5, Acts 13:14-16, Acts 14:1, Acts 17:1-2, Acts 17:10, Acts 17:17, Acts 18:4, Acts 18:19, & Acts
19:8 – and this despite Paul's proclamation that he had been “entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised”
in Galatians 2:7). Paul also goes out of his way to laud those of like mind &/or like faith (see Acts
13:17, Romans 1:6-7, Romans 3:22, Romans 4:13, Romans 8:1, Romans 8:27-30, 1 Corinthians 1:2, Galatians
1:15, Galatians 6:10, Philippians 1:3-5, Philippians 2:15, Colossians 1:12, Colossians 1:26-28, 1 Thessalonians
3:11-13, 1 Thessalonians 4:9-10, & 1 Thessalonians 5:2-5), to denigrate those who believe differently than
he does &/or who aren't in his comfortable circle of friends (see Romans 1:18-21, Romans 1:28-32,
Romans 10:2-3, Romans 16:17-18, 1 Corinthians 2:14, 1 Corinthians 5:9-
13, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 2 Corinthians 6:14, 2 Corinthians 11:4-15,
Galatians 1:6-9, Galatians 3:1-3, Galatians 4:30-31, Galatians 4:10-12,
Philippians 3:2, Philippians 3:17, Colossians 2:8, Colossians 3:5-6, & 1
Thessalonians 2:14-15), and to coddle or bow down to those who had
political power &/or influence (see Acts 16:40, Acts 18:1-4, Acts 18:7-
8, Acts 20:3-4, Acts 22:25-28, Acts 23:5, Acts 23:16-32, Acts 24:22-23,
Acts 25:10-11, Acts 27:3, & Acts 28:16 – also his admonition in Romans
13:1-2 to “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for
there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist
have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists authority resists
what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment”) …
19 While it is admittedly true that Paul's self-made theology was not welcomed in the majority of the synagogues he
visited, it is just as true that Paul was obviously well-versed in Jewish Law and felt quite comfortable arguing about the
same in those particular arenas.
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