Paul

[Bro. Hex]

(quote)

And Noah's family only had his word it was time to build a boat. The Jews had only Moses word that he was told by God to lead them out of Egypt. We have only John of Patmos word for the entire book of Revelation. You have only my word that I was given a Divine Revelation when I was 12 for which I was called a heritic and told to never repeat that again. That revelation is now widely accepted by most Christian denominations.

I can understand reluctance in believing in divine revelation if you have never experienced such a thing. It was actually years later when the Church started accepting what I had said (not because of me but because God had given the same revelation to others also) that I began to realize I had been given a revelation from God.

(unquote)

You make a very good point Rev Dave.

BTW, I don't believe in any of these other "happenings" either, so you point is well taken.

I don't find Paul's supposed conversation with Jesus to be the least bit more credible

than a lovely children's story about a boat full of exotic animals saving the world !

Edited April 18, 2013 by Bro. Hex

[Ex Nihilo]

I'm late to this thread so this may have already been addressed, but if Paul's writings were the earliest of the new testament, then how can we know that his message was a deviation from the message of Christ as spelled out in the later gospels and not the other way around? Maybe the conspiracy lies with Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John who decided that Paul's version of Christ needed revamping. If we are going to ignore the traditional understanding that the Holy Spirit inspired the bible writers to write all things truthfully, then it would seem to me that the texts closest to the time of Christ's earthly ministry would be the most authentic. After all, most "scholars" believe that at least some of the Paul's letters were actually written by him, whereas there has never been a clear consensus on who actually wrote any of the Gospels. But then maybe I'm wrong.

[Reverend V]

Maybe Paul's writings were the first because he, not Jesus, was the founder of Christianity. Its just a thought. †?†

[Ex Nihilo]

....whoa...warn me next time before you pull the rug out like that V

[Reverend V]

I just finished reading a great book. It is called Paul and Jesus: How the Apostle Transformed Christianity. It was written by James Tabor who is Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. This book is a must for anyone curious about Paul and his impact on Christianity. †?†

[Pete]

I was in a bookshop yesterday and discovered a growing number of books on this topic. At a glance, most refer to the Jewish history and culture and the context in which Jesus and Paul fitted into. They also focus on the absence of which Paul mentions so little of the life of Jesus, his teachings, the places he went, or the parables he taught and Paul's concentration mostly on the three days of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection and what this meant to Paul. They focus on Jesus' mission to teach the message of God and the kingdom of God from a Jewish perspective and Paul's teaching of salvation by the blood and body of Jesus. It is often questioned as to whether Paul not only never met Jesus but did not know much of what Jesus is reported to have taught.

They also talk about the Pagan perspectives of the time, like virgin births, walking on water, death and resurrections, sharing of blood to participate in the divinity of their Gods and so on.

Most believe Paul and not Jesus to be the founder of the Christianity we have today.

[Cornelius]

One should not discount Constantine in the creation of christianity. While it may have been Paul's ideas and writings that formed the basis it was surely the pagan emperor who used them to his own devices and gain.