The Cult of Paul

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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. 40
Jesus Christ, on the other hand, maintained a very different style of affiliating with others. First & foremost, while he did (like Paul) enter local synagogues to teach there, he spent the vast majority of his ministry teaching to crowds of strangers – crowds not that he had sought out, but rather who had thronged to him (see Matthew 4:25, the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, Matthew 8:1-5, Matthew 8:18, Matthew 9:9, Matthew 9:27-32, Matthew 11:7, Matthew 12:15, Matthew 13:1-3, Matthew 14:13, Matthew 14:34-36, Matthew 15:10, Matthew 15:30, Matthew 19:2, Matthew 19:16, Matthew 20:29, Mark 1:32-33, Mark 2:1-2, Mark 2:13, Mark 3:7-8, Mark 3:20, Mark 4:1, Mark 5:21-24, Mark 6:33-34, Mark 6:54- 55, Mark 7:24, Mark 8:1, Mark 8:22, Mark 9:15, Mark 10:1, Mark 10:13-17, Mark 10:46, Luke 4:42, Luke 5:1- 3, Luke 5:11, Luke 5:15-19, Luke 6:17-18, Luke 7:11, Luke 8:4, Luke 8:40, Luke 9:11, Luke 9:37, Luke 12:1, Luke 14:25, Luke 15:1-2, Luke 17:11-12, Luke 18:15, John 4:45, John 6:2-5, John 6:24-25, John 10:41, & John 12:9-12). Secondly, it is important to note that Jesus did not limit his interactions to those with whom he felt comfortable, but regularly and willingly associated with the meek and the downtrodden and the “undesirable” and the “unclean” – embracing lepers (see Matthew 8:3, Mark 1:41, & Luke 5:13), being kind to centurions (see Matthew 8:5-13 & Luke 7:1-9), forgiving prostitutes (see Luke 7:37-50 & John 8:3- 11), honoring Samaritans (see Luke 17:11-19 & John 4:7-40 – also Acts 1:8 & Luke 10:29-37), dining with Pharisees (see Luke 7:36, Luke 11:37-54, & Luke 14), and openly associating with “tax collectors and sinners” (see Matthew 9:10-12, Luke 15:1-3, & Luke 19:1-10). Finally, Jesus refused to bend to pressures from political authorities; never appealing to their mercy, but rather answering their charges with either cryptic wisdom (see Matthew 26:63-64, Matthew 27:11, Mark 15:2, Mark 14:61-62, & John 18:6) or unwavering silence (see Matthew 26:62, Matthew 27:12-14, Mark 15:3-5, Luke 23:9, & John 19:9). “Paul would have done well to often ask himself: What would Jesus not have written – What would Jesus not have done? … How fortunate we are that, despite this grave undersight, every day more and more people are waking up; that every day more and more are walking away from the church of Paul and heading back to the God of Christ.” ~ inspired by Chuck Palahnuik & Lenny Bruce 41
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 and 20: "Paul avoids quoting the teaching o
Page 21 and 22: As the previous pages have shown, t
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: Jesus & Paul: a look at their preac
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

The Cult of Paul

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