The Cult of Paul

Contrast #18: Paul's loyalty to allies and Jesus' devotion to strangers...

It makes easy sense that relatively cowardly individuals with low self-esteem^{(See Contrast #09 and #14.)} would tend to gravitate towards speaking to gatherings of people who are either already well-known and/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 and/or writing to the "believers" in already-established churches^{(Acts 13:1, 14:20-28, 15:3-4, 30-35, 41, 18:22-23, 20:2-3, 17, 21:7, 15-17, 28:14-15. See especially 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 the biblical epistles Paul penned to the congregations in Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Philippi, Colossae and Thessalonica.)} and/or entering and preaching in pre-established synagogues.^{13(Acts 9:20, 13:5, 14-16, 14:1, 17:1-2, 10, 17, 18:4, 19, 19:8. All this despite Paul's proclamation that he had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised.Galatians 2:7)} Paul also goes out of his way to laud those of like mind and/or like faith,^{(Acts 13:17, Romans 1:6-7, 3:22, 4:13, 8:1, 27—30, 1 Corinthians 1:2, Galatians 1:15, 6:10, Philippians 1:3-5, 2:15, Colossians 1:12, 26-28, 1 Thessalonians 3:11-13, 4:9-10, 5:2-5.)} to denigrate those who believe differently than he does and/or who aren't in his comfortable circle of friends,^{(Romans 1:18-21, 28-32, 10:2-3, 16:17—18, 1 Corinthians 2:14, 5:9-13, 6:9—10, 2 Corinthians 6:14, 11:4-15, Galatians 1:6-9, 3:1-3, 4:30-31, 10-12, Philippians 3:2, 17, Colossians 2:8, 3:5-6, 1 Thessalonians 2:14-15.)} and to coddle or bow down to those who had political power and/or influence.^{(Acts 16:40, 18:1-4, 7-8, 20:3-4, 22:25—28, 23:5, 16-32, 24:22—23, 25:10-11, 27:3, 28:16. See 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.)}

Jesus Christ, on the other hand, maintained a very different style of affiliating with others. First and 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.^{(Matthew 4:25, 5:1-7:29, 8 1-5, 18, 9:9, 27-32, 11:7, 12:15, 13:1-3, 14:13, 34-36, 15:10, 30, 19:2, 16, 20:29, Mark 1:32-33, 2:1-2, 13, 3:7-8, 20, 4:1, 5:21-24, 6:33-34, 54-55, 7:24, 8:1, 22, 9:15, 10:1, 13—17, 46, Luke 4:42, 5:1-3, 11, 15-19, 6:17-18, 7:11, 8:4, 40, 9:11, 37, 12:1, 14:25, 15:1-2, 17:11-12, 18:15, John 4:45, 6:2-5, 24-25, 10:41, 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,^{(Matthew 8:3, Mark 1:41, Luke 5:13.)} being kind to centurions,^{(Matthew 8:5-13, Luke 711-9.)} forgiving prostitutes,^{(Luke 7:37-50, John 8:3-11.)} honoring Samaritans,^{(Luke 17:11-19, John 4:7-40. See also Acts 1:8, Luke 10:29-37.)} dining with Pharisees,^{(Luke 7:36, 11:37-54, 14:1-24.)} and openly associating with "tax collectors and sinners".^{(Matthew 9:10-12, Luke 15:1-3, 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^{(Matthew 26:63—64, 27:11, Mark 14:61—62, 15:2, John 18:6.)} or unwavering silence.^{(Matthew 26:62, 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." - Chuck Palahnuik and Lenny Bruce}

13: 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.