The Cult of Paul

Contrast #10: Paul's arrogance and Jesus' humility...

There is possibly no greater - nor more telling - difference in character between Paul and Jesus than the jittery arrogance of the former and the assured humility of the latter. Indeed, Paul^{(no less than a self-proclaimed "apostle" of Jesus Christ - see Romans 1:1, 1 Corinthians 1:1, 2 Corinthians 1:1, Galatians 1:1, Colossians 1:1.)} has the repetitive gall to openly glorify his own ministry,^{(Romans 11:13.)} to publicly claim that his ministry is given directly from God,^{(2 Corinthians 3:5, 10:17-18.)} to harshly condemn his religious opponents,^{(Galatians 1:7-8.)} to judge the readiness of his followers,^{(1 Corinthians 3:2)} to laud his own efforts as being better than and/or more worthy than those of all others,^{(1 Corinthians 15:10, 2 Corinthians 10:8.)} and to demand that his readers be imitators of me^{1 Corinthians 4:16, 11:1, Philippians 3:17} and maintain the traditions just as I have handed them on to you...^{1 Corinthians 11:2}

Jesus Christ, on the other hand - despite the Bible's clear portrayal of him as a bona fide embodiment of the Divine, is shown repeatedly humbling himself before others: I am among you as the one who serves.^{Luke 22:27} First and foremost, Jesus always places God above and beyond himself.^{8(Matthew 4:1-10, 23:8—9, 26:37-39, Mark 10:18, John 5:41, 6:38, 8:50-54, 12:44-50.)} Second, Jesus is shown regularly and repeatedly associating with the downtrodden and others considered to be "undesirable".^{(e. g. lepers in Matthew 8:2-3, Mark 1:41, Luke 5:13, prostitutes in Luke 7:37, John 8:3-11, Samaritans in Luke 17:11-19, John 4:7-40, Pharisees in Luke 7:36, and tax collectors in Luke 15:1, 19:7-10)} Third, Jesus frequently demands that others not treat him as holy or announce him as the Messiah^{(Matthew 16:13-20, Mark 1:21-25, 40-44, 7:32-36, 8:27-30, 9:1-9, Luke 5:12-14, 8:49-56, 9:18-21, John 6:15, 13:5.)} Finally, in his teachings Jesus places humility above all other virtues;^{(Matthew 11:29, 20:27, 23:11-12, Luke 9:48, 14:7-11, 22:26, John 13:14.)} even making it a direct requirement for one's personal Salvation.^{(Matthew 18:3-4 - also John 14:12.)}

8: It is true that Jesus seems to claim divinity in a number of "I am" verses in the New Testament - most notably where he seems to answer [Yes] I am when asked if he was the Messiah.^{Mark 14:62} Of course, when we look to the Greek texts of this and all his other similar "I am" verses,^{(including John 8:58)} we can clearly see that Jesus does not ever say eimi - which could indeed be correctly translated as "Yes, I am." Instead, the texts show him saying ego eimi, a phrase which is literally translated as "I, I am" - and which contextually means "I am the essence of I Am" or "I am an embodiment of the Child of God within."^{(See also John 14:12, 14:20.)}