Religious scholars have long attributed the tenets of Christian faith more to Paul\u2019s teachings than to those of Jesus.\u00a0 But as much as I would like to jump into that subject, I think it best to back up and take a quick, speculative look at the Old Testament.<\/p>\n
The Old Testament teaches that Jacob wrestled with God.\u00a0 In fact, the Old Testament records that Jacob not only wrestled with God, but that Jacob prevailed (Genesis 32:24-30).\u00a0 Now, bear in mind, we\u2019re talking about a tiny blob of protoplasm wrestling the Creator of a universe 240,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 miles in diameter, containing over a billion galaxies of which ours\u2014the Milky Way Galaxy\u2014is just one (and a small one, at that), and prevailing? \u00a0I\u2019m sorry, but someone was a couple pages short of a codex when they scribed that<\/i> passage.\u00a0 The point is, however, that this passage leaves us in a quandary.\u00a0 We either have to question the Jewish concept of God or accept their explanation that \u201cGod\u201d does not mean \u201cGod\u201d in the above verses, but rather it means either an angel or a man (which, in essence, means the Old Testament is not to be trusted).\u00a0 In fact, this textual difficulty has become so problematic that more recent Bibles have tried to cover it up by changing the translation from \u201cGod\u201d to \u201cman.\u201d \u00a0What they cannot change, however, is the foundational scripture from which the Jewish Bible is translated, and this continues to read \u201cGod.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unreliability is a recurring problem in the Old Testament, the most prominent example being the confusion between God and Satan! \u00a0II Samuel 24:1 reads:<\/p>\n
\u201cAgain the anger of the LORD<\/i> was aroused against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, \u2018Go, number Israel and Judah.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
However, I Chronicles 21:1 states: \u201cNow Satan<\/i> stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Uhhh, which was it? \u00a0The Lord, or Satan? \u00a0Both verses describe the same event in history, but one speaks of God and the other of Satan.\u00a0 There is a slight (like, total) difference.<\/p>\n
Christians would like to believe that the New Testament is free of such difficulties, but they are sadly deceived.\u00a0 In fact, there are so many contradictions that authors have devoted books to this subject.\u00a0 For example, Matthew 2:14 and Luke 2:39 differ over whether Jesus\u2019 family fled to Egypt or Nazareth.\u00a0 Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4 differ over the wording of the \u201cLord\u2019s Prayer.\u201d \u00a0Matthew 11:13-14, 17:11-13 and John 1:21 disagree over whether or not John the Baptist was Elijah.<\/p>\n
Things get worse when we enter the arena of the alleged crucifixion: Who carried the cross\u2014Simon (Luke 23:26, Matthew 27:32, Mark 15:21) or Jesus (John 19:17)? \u00a0Was Jesus dressed in a scarlet robe (Matthew 27:28) or a purple robe (John 19:2)? \u00a0Did the Roman soldiers put gall (Matthew 27:34) or myrrh (Mark 15:23) in his wine? \u00a0Was Jesus crucified before the third hour (Mark 15:25) or after the sixth hour (John 19:14-15)? \u00a0Did Jesus ascend the first day (Luke 23:43) or not (John 20:17)? \u00a0Were Jesus\u2019 last words, \u201cFather, \u2018into Your hands I commit my spirit\u2019\u201d (Luke 23:46), or were they \u201cIt is finished\u201d (John 19:30)?<\/p>\n
These are only a few of a long list of scriptural inconsistencies, and they underscore the difficulty in trusting the New Testament as scripture.\u00a0 Nonetheless, there are those who do<\/i> trust their salvation to the New Testament, and it is these Christians who need to answer the question, \u201cWhere is the \u2018Christ\u2019 in \u2018Christianity?\u2019\u00a0 \u201cThis, in fact, is a supremely fair question.\u00a0 On one hand we have a religion named after Jesus Christ, but on the other hand the tenets of orthodox Christianity, which is to say Trinitarian<\/i> Christianity, contradict virtually everything he taught.<\/p>\n
I know, I know\u2014those of you who aren\u2019t screaming \u201cHeretic!\u201d \u00a0are gathering firewood and planting a stake.\u00a0 But wait.\u00a0 Put down the high-powered rifle and listen.\u00a0 Trinitarian Christianity claims to base its doctrines on a combination of Jesus\u2019 and Paul\u2019s teachings.\u00a0 The problem is, these teachings are anything but complementary.\u00a0 In fact, they contradict one another.<\/p>\n
Take some examples: Jesus taught Old Testament Law; Paul negated it.\u00a0 Jesus preached orthodox Jewish creed; Paul preached mysteries of faith.\u00a0 Jesus spoke of accountability; Paul proposed justification by faith.\u00a0 Jesus described himself as an ethnic prophet; Paul defined him as a universal prophet.[1]<\/span><\/a> \u00a0Jesus taught prayer to God, Paul set Jesus up as intercessor.\u00a0 Jesus taught divine unity, Pauline theologians constructed the Trinity.<\/p>\n For these reasons, many scholars consider Paul the main corrupter of Apostolic Christianity and Jesus\u2019 teachings.\u00a0 Many early Christian sects held this view as well, including the second-century Christian sects known as \u201cadoptionists\u201d\u2013 \u201cIn particular, they considered Paul, one of the most prominent authors of our New Testament, to be an arch-heretic rather than an apostle.\u201d[2]<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Lehmann contributes:<\/p>\n \u201cWhat Paul proclaimed as \u2018Christianity\u2019 was sheer heresy which could not be based on the Jewish or Essene faith, or on the teaching of Rabbi Jesus.\u00a0 But, as Schonfield says, \u2018The Pauline heresy became the foundation of Christian orthodoxy and the legitimate church was disowned as heretical.\u2019 \u2026 Paul did something that Rabbi Jesus never did and refused to do.\u00a0 He extended God\u2019s promise of salvation to the Gentiles; he abolished the law of Moses, and he prevented direct access to God by introducing an intermediary.\u201d[3]<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Bart D. Ehrman, perhaps the most authoritative living scholar of textual criticism, comments:<\/p>\n \u201cPaul\u2019s view was not universally accepted or, one might argue, even widely accepted \u2026. Even more striking, Paul\u2019s own letters indicate that there were outspoken, sincere, and active Christian leaders who vehemently disagreed with him on this score and considered Paul\u2019s views to be a corruption of the true message of Christ \u2026.\u00a0 One should always bear in mind that in this very letter of Galatians Paul indicates that he confronted Peter over just such issues (Gal. 2:11-14).\u00a0 He disagreed, that is, even with Jesus\u2019 closest disciple on the matter.\u201d[4]<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Commenting on the views of some early Christians in the Pseudo-Clementine literature, Ehrman wrote:<\/p>\n \u201cPaul has corrupted the true faith based on a brief vision, which he has doubtless misconstrued.\u00a0 Paul is thus the enemy of the apostles, not the chief of them.\u00a0 He is outside the true faith, a heretic to be banned, not an apostle to be followed.\u201d[5]<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Others elevate Paul to sainthood.\u00a0 Joel Carmichael very clearly is not one of them:<\/p>\n \u201cWe are a universe away from Jesus.\u00a0 If Jesus came \u201conly to fulfill\u201d<\/b> the Law and the Prophets; If he thought that \u201cnot an iota, not a dot\u201d<\/b> would \u201c<\/b>pass from the Law,\u201d<\/b> that the cardinal commandment was \u201cHear, O Israel, the Lord Our God, the Lord is one,\u201d<\/b> and that \u201cno one was good but God\u201d\u2026.<\/b>What would he have thought of Paul\u2019s handiwork! Paul\u2019s triumph meant the final obliteration of the historic Jesus; he comes to us embalmed in Christianity like a fly in amber.\u201d[6]<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Dr. Johannes Weiss contributes:<\/p>\n \u201cHence the faith in Christ as held by the primitive churches and by Paul was something new in comparison with the preaching of Jesus; it was a new type of religion.\u201d[7]<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n A new type of religion, indeed. \u00a0And hence the question, \u201cWhere is the \u2018Christ\u2019 in \u2018Christianity?\u2019\u00a0 \u201cIf Christianity is the religion of Jesus Christ, where are the Old Testament laws and strict monotheism of the Rabbi Jesus\u2019 Orthodox Judaism? \u00a0Why does Christianity teach that Jesus is the son of God when Jesus called himself the \u201cson of Man\u201d eighty-eight times, and not once the \u201cson of God?\u201d \u00a0Why does Christianity endorse confession to priests and prayers to saints, Mary and Jesus when Jesus taught his followers:<\/p>\n \u201cIn this manner, therefore, pray: \u2018Our Father \u2026\u2019\u201d (Matthew 6:9)?<\/p>\n And who appointed a pope? \u00a0Certainly not Jesus. \u00a0True, he may have called Peter the rock upon which he would build his church (Matthew 16:18-19).\u00a0 However, a scant five verses later, he called Peter \u201cSatan\u201d and \u201can offense.\u201d \u00a0And let us not forget that this \u201crock\u201d thrice denied Jesus after Jesus\u2019 arrest\u2014poor testimony of Peter\u2019s commitment to the new church.<\/p>\n Is it possible that Christians have been denying Jesus ever since? \u00a0Transforming Jesus\u2019 strict monotheism to the Pauline theologians\u2019 Trinity, replacing Rabbi Jesus\u2019 Old Testament law with Paul\u2019s \u201cjustification by faith,\u201d substituting the concept of Jesus having atoned for the sins of mankind for the direct accountability Jesus taught, discarding Jesus\u2019 claim to humanity for Paul\u2019s concept of Jesus having been divine, we have to question in exactly what manner Christianity respects the teachings of its prophet.<\/p>\n A parallel issue is to define which religion does<\/i> respect Jesus\u2019 teachings.\u00a0 So let\u2019s see: Which religion honors Jesus Christ as a prophet but a man? \u00a0Which religion adheres to strict monotheism, God\u2019s laws, and the concept of direct accountability to God? \u00a0Which religion denies intermediaries between man and God?<\/p>\n If you answered, \u201cIslam,\u201d you would be right.\u00a0 And in this manner, we find the teachings of Jesus Christ better exemplified in the religion of Islam than in Christianity.\u00a0 This suggestion, however, is not meant to be a conclusion, but rather an introduction.\u00a0 Those who find their interest peaked by the above discussion need to take the issue seriously, open their minds and then \u2026 read on!<\/p>\n \n Copyright \u00a9 2007 Laurence B. Brown.<\/p>\n About the author: \n \n
\nLaurence B. Brown, MD, can be contacted at BrownL38@yahoo.com<\/a>. \u00a0He is the author of The First and Final Commandment<\/i> (Amana Publications) and Bearing True Witness<\/i> (Dar-us-Salam). \u00a0Forthcoming books are a historical thriller, The Eighth Scroll<\/i>, and a second edition of The First and Final Commandment<\/i>, rewritten and divided into MisGod’ed<\/i> and its sequel, God\u2019ed<\/i>.<\/p>\n
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