The Cult of Paul

Contrast #19: Paul's manipulation of Scripture and Jesus' use thereof...

While it is true that both Paul and Jesus used external sources^{(Including the Hebrew Bible, today known by many as the Old Testament.)} to illustrate their teachings and emphasize their sermons, it is just as true that they did so in very different ways for very different reasons. Whereas Paul was fond of quoting contemporary philosophers and poets as if they were the holy Word of God,^{(See Acts 17:28, where Paul cites Platonic philosopher Posidonious' in him we live and move and have our being and Greek poet Aratus' for we too are his offspring; 1 Corinthians 2:9, where Paul cites a non-canincal Jewish writing as if it is Scripture;14 1 Corinthians 4:6, where Paul quite ironically cites the well-known proverb nothing beyond what is written; 1 Corinthians 15:33, where Paul quotes the Greek poet Menander's bad company ruins good morals; and 2 Corinthians 12:2-4, where Paul references a popular Jewish mysticism found nowhere else in the Scriptures.)} Jesus was not. Intriguingly, Paul even goes a dramatic step further with this form of scriptural abuse by having Jesus himself quote from non-canonical sources - claiming that Jesus uttered the statement It is more blessed to give than to receive^{Acts 20:35, a saying found nowhere in the Gospels-- indeed, one found nowhere else in the entire Bible.15} and having Jesus apparently reference a common Greek proverb.^{(Acts 26:14's It hurts to kick against the goad, ironically telling Paul therewith that the more he resisted the teachings of Christ, the more he and others would suffer.)} In addition, Paul can regularly be seen manipulating Old Testament scriptures to fit his own self-created^{(and thoroughly heretical - rejecting as he does both the traditional pro-Law beliefs of the Jews and the reformed pro-Love-via—selfless-deeds spirituality of Jesus Christ)} theological agenda - combining the words of Psalm 116:11 with Psalm 51:4 to make his own Scripture in Romans 3:4, combining the words of Psalm 14, Psalm 53, Psalm 5, Psalm 140, Psalm 10, Psalm 36 with Proverbs 1:16 and Isaiah 59:7—8 to create his own Scripture in Romans 3:10-18, molding Psalm 143:2 into an entirely new context in Romans 3:20, altering the intended focus of Isaiah 28:16 in Romans 9:33, falsely refuting Leviticus 18:5 with Deuteronomy 30:13-14 in Romans 10:5-8,^{(When those two verses are actually in complete harmony with one another.)} inverting the effective context of Isaiah 52:15 in Romans 15:21, paraphrasing^{(and indeed altering)} Isaiah 28:9-12 as if he is quoting the same in 1 Corinthians 14:21, and combining and manipulating the words of Leviticus 26:12, Ezekiel 37:27, Isaiah 52:11, 2 Samuel 7:14, Isaiah 43:6 to make completely new Scripture in 2 Corinthians 6:16—18.

^{"Paul has audaciously substituted a mere faith in Jesus for living a Christlike life... Neither I nor anyone else I know have been able to follow the supposed wisdom of the supposedly blessed and glorious Paul... Paul's words are not the Words of God. They are the words of Paul - and there is a vast difference between the two." - Walter Kaufman, John Spong, and Bishop Polycarp(one of the earliest of the Church Fathers; a. man who scholars suppose learned about Jesus Christ directly from John the apostle himself)}

In marked contrast, while it is true that Jesus also occasionally combined words from different Old Testament Verses to illustrate his teachings^{(See him seemingly composing his own Scripture by intermingling the words of seven different verses from the books of Isaiah, Ezekiel and Joel in Mark 13:24—25, seemingly adjusting the context of Micah 7:6 while paraphrasing it in Luke 12:53, seemingly composing his own Scripture by combining several words from Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11 in Luke 19:46, and seemingly composing his own Scripture once more by combining Isaiah 61:1—2 and 58:6 in Luke 4:18-19.)} and while it is also the case that he is at least once seen apparently citing a non-canonical text as though it were Scripture,^{(See Luke 11:49, where he appears to quote from The Wisdom of God.)} he is far more often than not seen accurately alluding to the ancient Old Testament texts¹⁶ or directly quoting from the Hebrew Scriptures¹⁷ instead of twisting or manipulating the same - doing so not to reject the Law, but rather to "fulfill" the same.^{(See Matthew 5:17-18, where the Greek word often translated as "fulfill" is plerosai, Strong's #4137; a word that actually means "to hone", "to perfect", "to cleanse", or "to make whole"; something Jesus does with shocking regularity throughout the Gospels. See also Matthew 7:15-20, 13:18-23, 52, John 5:39—40, 15:1-17.)}

14: NOTE that Paul's use of "as it is written" in this verse is not present in Jude 1:9-14 where similar words are intoned. While it is admittedly possible that Paul is here once more piecing together various verses from the Old Testament^{(In this case Isaiah 62:15, 64:4, and 65:17 from the Septuagint.)} in order to create a "holy word" more persuasive to his unique intentions, using the phrase "as it is written" -- a phrase that clearly implies that the words mentioned thereafter are found wholly intact within the ancient texts - is intentionally misleading at the very least.

15: While the Gospel of Thomas 95's do not lend at interest, but rather give to him from whom you will not receive in return and Deuteronomy 15:10-11's give liberally open your hands to the poor and the needy neighbor in your land both reflect the same wisdom Paul cites in Acts 20:35, those two sources are actually far more reminiscent of the statements Jesus made in Matthew 5:42, Luke 6:35, 14:12-14.

16: Wherein we see Jesus alluding to:

• Psalm 1:1 and Isaiah 61:2 in the Beatitudes of Matthew 5:3-11,
• Psalm 72:2 in Matthew 5:6-10,
• Psalm 24:4 and 51:10 in Matthew 5:8,
• 1 Kings 19:10 and Nehemiah 9:26 in Matthew 5:12,
• the "Prayer of David" in 2 Samuel 7:18-29 as well as Leviticus 19:18 in Matthew 5:44,
• Ezekiel 22:27 and Zephaniah 3:3 in Matthew 7:15,
• Jeremiah 14:14 in Matthew 7:22,
• Isaiah 62:5 in Matthew 9:15-17,
• Isaiah 29:18-19, 35:5—6, 42:18 and 61:1 in Matthew 11:4-6,
• Isaiah 40:3 in Matthew 11:10,
• Numbers 28:9—10 in Matthew 12:5-6,
• Ezekiel 17:23 in Matthew 13:31-32,
• Exodus 3:14 - along with the numerous "have no fear" verses in Isaiah 40—55 - in Matthew 14:27,
• Isaiah 22:22 in Matthew 16:19,
• alluding to Deuteronomy 19:15 in Matthew 18:16,
• Isaiah 56:3-5 in Matthew 19:12,
• Isaiah 51: 17 and Lamentations 4:21 in Matthew 20:22,
• Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18 in Matthew 22:37-40, Mark 12:30—31, Luke 10:27,
• the "gnats" of Leviticus 11:20-23 and the "camels" of Leviticus 11:4 in Matthew 23:24,
• Leviticus 19:14 in Matthew 24:10,
• Daniel 9:27, 11:31 and 12:11 in Matthew 24:15,
• Daniel 12:1 and Joel 2:2 in Matthew 24:21,
• Daniel 7 in Matthew 24:27,^{NOTE: when it comes to understanding the deeper implications of what Jesus meant by the term "Son of Man", it is crucial to start by comparing and contrasting Daniel 7:13-14 with Matthew 4: 1-11 and 26:64.}
• Ezekiel 32:7 in Matthew 24:29,
• Daniel 12:2 in Matthew 25:46,
• Daniel 7: 13 and Psalm 110:1 in Matthew 26:64,
• Isaiah 66:24 in Mark 9:44-46,
• Leviticus 2:16 and Ezekiel 43:24 in Mark 9:49,
• Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and Joshua 22:5 in Mark 12:29-30,
• Isaiah 6910 in Luke 8:10,
• Isaiah 53:12 in Luke 22:37,
• Hosea 10:8 in Luke 23:30,
• Psalm 31:5 in Luke 23:46,
• Isaiah 54:13 in John 6:45,
• Psalm 82:6 in John 10:34,
• Psalm 41:9 in John 13:18,
• and Psalm 69:4 in John 15:25.

17: Wherein Jesus is quoting:

• Deuteronomy 6:13, 16, 8:3, 10:20 to rebuke Satan in Matthew 4:4-10 and Luke 4:4—11,
• Psalm 37:11 in Matthew 5:5,
• Isaiah 66:1 and Psalm 48:2 in Matthew 5:35,
• Proverbs 7:27, 15:24 and Jeremiah 21:8 in Matthew 7:13-14,
• Psalm 6:8 in Matthew 7:22,
• Hosea 6:6 in Matthew 9:13, 12:7,
• Micah 7:6 in Matthew 10:35-36,
• Malachi 3:1 in Matthew 11:10, Mark 1:2, Luke 7:27,
• Isaiah 42:1-4 in Matthew 12:18-21,
• Isaiah 6:9-10 in Matthew 13:14-15, Mark 4:12, Luke 8:10, John 12:40,
• Exodus 20:12 and Deuteronomy 5:16 in Matthew 15:4, Mark 7:10,
• Isaiah 29:13 in Matthew 15:8-9,
• Isaiah 60:21 in Matthew 15:13,
• Genesis 2:24 in Matthew 19:5, Mark 10:7-8,
• Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11 in Matthew 21:13, Mark 11:17,
• Psalm 8:2 in Matthew 21:16,
• Psalm 118:22-23 in Matthew 21:42, Mark 12:10-11, Luke 20: 17,
• Exodus 3:6 in Matthew 22:32, Mark 12:26,
• Psalm 110:1 in Matthew 22:44, Mark 12:36, Luke 20:42-43,
• Psalm 118:26 in Matthew 23:39,
• Isaiah 13:10 in Matthew 24:29,
• Daniel 7:13 in Matthew 24:30,
• Isaiah 27:13 and Zechariah 2:6 in Matthew 24:31,
• Zechariah 13:7 in Matthew 26:31, Mark 14:27,
• Psalm 22:1 in Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34,
• and Jeremiah 5:21 and Ezekiel 12:2 in Mark 8:18.