The Cult of Paul

Jesus and Paul: their Conflicting Theologies ^{Back to Top ↑}

^{"Paul was the very first corrupter of the doctrine of Jesus Christ; a doctrine very different from the one practiced by those who would call me infidel while elevating themselves as preachers of the Gospel Indeed, these "Christian" impostors have compounded from the Halcyon Mysteries a religious system fully beyond the comprehension of humankind, one of which the greatest ethical reformer of the Jews, were he to return to Earth today, would not recognize a single feature." - Thomas Jefferson}

^{"Paul 's soul is not the soul of a truly free man. He speaks rarely of Jesus' life, nor does he repeat his recorded words or reflect his championed teachings. Indeed, Paul strikes boldly — actually recklessly, and often blindly — with his own chipped hammer upon the Anvil of Truth; doing so in the name of one he clearly does not know and indeed never once even met." - Kahlil Gibran}

And now we come to the crux of the matter. For just because the Bible clearly shows that Jesus and Paul had very different upbringings and led very different lives — and just because the Bible just as clearly shows that these two men exuded very different personalities and effectuated very different preaching styles, does not necessarily require that their spiritual philosophies contradict. That having been said, just because Paul repeatedly says that he is a follower of Jesus Christ and a proponent of Jesus' Way does not mean that he actually was the same.²⁴ Paul was fond of saying that God had appointed apostles and prophets and teachers,^{1 Corinthians 12:28} that he was one of the aforementioned appointed,^{(Romans 1:1, 1 Corinthians 1:1, Galatians 1:1, Colossians 1:1.)} and that his followers should imitate me, as I am in Christ.^{1 Corinthians 11:1. See also 1 Corinthians 4:16, Galatians 1:2} And yet Jesus himself made it equally clear that Many will come in my name, saying that I am the Messiah^{Matthew 24:5} and that you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students.^{Matthew 23:8} And in truth, all sincere students of the Scriptures can readily see that Jesus warned his followers of those who preach like Paul, if not even specifically of Paul himself — telling all to beware the yeast of the Pharisees^{Matthew 15:13-14, Mark 7:6-8, Luke 12:1} when Paul was a self-professed Pharisee,^{(Acts 23:6, 26:5, Galatians 1:14, Philippians 3:4-5.)} warning that a false prophet(s) would come in their own name^{John 5:43} when Paul did just that — not only altering his name from Saul to Paul depending upon his audience^{(Acts 13:9.)} but also preaching his own unique Gospel^{(Romans 10:9, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4.)} for his own self-aggrandizing ends.^{(Romans 2:16, 16:25, 1 Corinthians 4:16, 2 Corinthians 11:5-10, Galatians 1:8, 24, Philippians 1:7, 1 Thessalonians 1:6.)} Jesus also foretold of a deceiver in the wilderness^{(Matthew 24:24-26, like the obviously false "Jesus" who spoke to Paul on the Road to Damascus in Acts 9.)} who would Speak personally and privately.^{(As in Galatians 1:11—12, where Paul claimed that his personal "revelation" did precisely that.)} Just as intriguing, the Bible shows that Paul himself^{(albeit inadvertently)} warned others against his own false teachings, nowhere more notably than in 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 when he warns of boasters^{(Which he himself openly boasted of being. Romans 5:3, 11:13, 15:17, 1 Corinthians 4:9-13, 9:15, 15:10, 2 Corinthians 1:8-9, 6:4-10, 11:16-33, Galatians 1:24, Colossians 1:24, 1 Thessalonians 2:2.)} who both disguise themselves as apostles of Christ^{(Which he himself did far more than anyone else in the Scriptures. See Romans 1:1, 1 Corinthians 1:1, Galatians 1:1, Colossians 1:1.)} and disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness.^{(Like he himself unabashedly did in 1 Corinthians 3:10.)}

Of course all this evidence means nothing if the theologies of the two men are in fact somehow in harmony; if they do not in fact contradict one another. And yet contradict each other they do — both fully and quite dramatically. As proof thereof, please consider well the following exhaustively researched examples of conflict between them.

24: To be fair to Paul, while the vast majority of his writings and teachings do indeed directly contradict those of Jesus found in the Gospels, there are several verses sprinkled throughout Paul's biblical epistles that do seem to^{(though in all likelihood inadvertently)} reflect The Way of Christ.^{(Among them Romans 2:1, 2:13-15, 8:5-6, 8:14—16, 12:10, 12:14-21, 13:8-10, 14:4, 14:13-14, 14:19, 14:22, 1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:17, 10:24, 13:2, 13:8, 16:14, 2 Corinthians 3:18, Galatians 5:6b, 5:14, Philippians 2:4-5, 4:5a, Colossians 2:20, 3:12—14, and 1 Thessalonians 5:15-18.)}