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Brought up in a Protestant home and eagerly embracing fundamentalist Christianity, it was a shock to family and friends when I began to allow myself to question Paul. In my questioning, I had no desire to "throw out" any of the Christian Bible, but to allow for conspiracy within it. I felt that blind acceptance of everything said in the canonized books made it impossible to fully heed the wheat and tares message (Matt. 13:24-43) and the warning against those coming to steal the flock (John 10:1-16). Because of these nagging concerns, actually with me from childhood, I argue from the New Testament Scriptures alone that "Apostle Paul" is a self-proclaimed apostle and a liar.
Many warn that questioning Paul is a slippery slope; of first questioning parts of the New Testament and then throwing out all that is known to us as Christianity. I am continually faced with the question of how much of Christianity is a "sun worshipping" religion and how am I blind to this for having been brought up within Christianity. While a percentage of the questioners have taken the route of throwing out Messiah with the New Testament, I retain the understanding that YHWH came to earth in the flesh. While many cultures are seen having their gods come to earth in the form of a suffering Christ, I hold that this is a true desire of mankind, and that knowledge of the Messiah can be found in what we know today in the New Testament. That many false Christs are presented does not necessarily mean, in my understanding, that a true Messiah does not exist.
The basic question, as I see it, is whether Paul preached the true Messiah. The conflicts between Paul and the original apostles are presented in the New Testament primarily from Paul's side. He and his message seem to have gained the upper hand, certainly as far as Christian history is concerned. However, many voices arise in protest. One voice is other authors of the New Testament, if we allow them to speak, i.e., looking at the book of James as a rebuke of Paul. Another voice speaks from the Dead Sea Scroll manuscripts. Other voices come from the "Church fathers." Yet other voices come from those who search the Scriptures today, as the Bereans did when Paul presented an early message.
I am in the process of reading Jesus' Words Only, by Douglas Del Tondo, Esq. His background is Reformed Calvinist. He presents the clearest case I've seen yet that Paul is a False Apostle/False Prophet whose purpose is to test our allegiance to YHWH.
Deu 13:1 If there arise among you a prophet, or
a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
Deu 13:2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee,
saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve
them;
Deu 13:3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer
of dreams: for YHWH your God proveth you, to know whether ye love YHWH your God
with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deu 13:4 Ye shall walk after YHWH your God, and fear him, and keep his
commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.
Deu 13:5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death;
because he hath spoken to turn [you] away from YHWH your God, which brought you
out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to
thrust thee out of the way which the YHWH thy God commanded thee to walk in. So
shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.
Paul claimed that his "signs, and wonders" were a reason one should accept him as an apostle.
2Co 12:12 Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.
Yet, Christians in general do not even consider testing Paul to determine if he is indeed leading people astray from obedience to YHWH. I suggest you carefully study the Scriptures concerning the Gospel that Paul preached. Jesus' Words Only, I feel is a good place to start. This book is available on-line. Below are a number of additional articles and web sites questioning Paul and his message. They come from many points of view. Some of these articles question everything. Please bear with my attempt to group them into some semblance of order. It is difficult, for example, as many revisit and question the divide between Judaism and Christianity in the early centuries, to say which are Jewish and which are Christian. Any readers, please feel free to suggest additional sites.
My articles
Articles by other authors posted on this web site
New 2/1/06 How the true church of Jesus Christ was stolen, Brother Theodore Three Bears
The Issue of Apostleship and Widows, Thomas Cossette
Revelation of Daniel, I appreciate Holly Pitcher for sharing this article with me.
Christianity!? Paul Battig
Doing the twist with Paul, Ethienne. Discussion on the 2 Peter reference to Paul.
Keep whose commands? Tony Aguilar (Spain)
Paul The Benyamite, article comparing
Paul with King Saul, by Tom Moniz
Web sites questioning Paul
