Was Paul of Tarsus actually an agent provocateur sent to corrupt Christian theology with nonjewish ideas?

Question

In so many places within bibles Paul clearly contradicts jesus.Paul also contradicts many jewish laws. For example, he tells his groupies to ignore the dietary laws, tells them to ignore the sabbath day, and says to obey the rulers of the land.

YET, jesus says"obey no man". He also says, when asked if he came to change the laws,"Not one tittle."
Compare that with Paul's words!

Answer 1

Christ was not the saviour of the Jews but the saviour of all whom the Lord chooses to save - both Jews and Gentiles. The Jewish laws and customs were no longer necessary because Christ, the person upon whom those laws and customs were based, came unto the world and therefore made those laws and customs obsolete.

Answer 2

No.

Paul felt that Christianity should be extended to Gentiles or non-Jews and not be limited to those in the Jewish community. That is why he contradicts many Jewish laws.

Jesus was very much a renegade, just as Paul was. He also preached ideas that contradicted traditional Jewish laws.

Paul enabled Christianity to spread beyond Jewish communities. Something that Jesus never accomplished.

One could say that Jesus was the prophet and Paul played an instrumental role in organizing the ideas of the early Christian church. Keep in mind also that Paul's epistles were only made official in Christendom decades after he died. There were other interpretations of Jesus and of Christian theology that were circulating and Paul's ideas were only one among a number of them at that time.

Answer 3

A) Paul's preaching was primarily to Gentiles, ie NON-Jews.

B) He and Peter argued this very question.

C) Peter was given a dream of many creatures being offered as food to him and a voice telling him to eat. Read ACTS 10:10-16. Eventually he came to understand that Jewish dietary laws were no longer applicable. He and Paul agreed on that as well as on the release from the Jewish necessity of circumcision for all male converts.

D) Both Peter and Paul understood that what they were teaching was NOT just another Jewish sect, but a whole new faith.

E) ALL the Apostles came to believe that like they and Peter, Paul spoke the words of the Lord. And in obeying him, you were obeying Christ. Now either they were mistaken, in which case Jesus lied about their not falling into error, or they understood correctly that Paul too was an Apostle with the same authority they possessed under Peter and his words were therefore to be respected as originating from Christ.

Answer 4

NO

What Paul was trying to tell people then and now, is that performing any of these rituals was no longer needed.

Jesus was here, he paid the debt for our sins, and we have now went into a new period in our history, called the age of Grace.

Grace is giving us what we do not deserve, Mercy is not giving us what we deserve.

Jesus did not change the law and Paul knew that, but the law was no longer punishable by death. Jesus paid the price of death for our sins, all of them.

Now, all was allowed, but not all was good for us.

As a believer, you would no longer face eternal death for failing to follow all the laws, you would receive Mercy and Grace.

To show that Paul was not contradicting Jesus, you can read that Paul was willing to follow the cleansing and shaving ritual inside the temple, all the while knowing that it was no longer needed as a method of salvation. He did it because others around him were still so attached to the idea of doing this, that they were uncomfortable not doing it.

Answer 5

Peter was the one who was told by God that all meat was clean to eat. Paul later preached it. Jesus, told people that He was the Lord of the Sabbath when the Jews wanted to kill him for breaking Sabbath law... Jesus revoked the Sabbath law. Paul says a few things that are his own opinion and he says "Not Gods words but mine" and also, even though he and Peter didnt agree on everything (Peter was still keeping up with Jewish traditions) Paul said not to judge a man by whether they do or dont. If Paul was teaching a currupt form of Christianity, Peter would have rebuked him and he didnt. So in answer to your question.... No.

Answer 6

Paul doesn't say to ignore the Sabbath or any of the other laws.

He simply says that obeying such laws, while having a proper place in human and societal conduct, will not get us into Heaven.

Answer 7

Well, Jesus said this about Paul:

Act 9:15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:

A strange thing for him to say about someone who was going to be contradicting him, "many" times.

Peter had an interesting comment about Paul:

2 Peter 3:15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; 16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

Answer 8

NO, Paul was simply bringing Christianity AWAY from its Jewish roots. Jesus said he was the fulfilment of the Law (which he was), so therefore, they no longer needed to follow the JEWISH dietery restrictions since they were no longer Jews, but Israelites who were now Christians. Judaism is the religion, not the people. At first, there were no churches, they went to synogogues and temples to preach, only near the end of the first century did they make Churches and and separate from their roots completely. Making themselves Christians in thought and action. It was because of trailblazers like Paul (Saul) that this was accomplished. It was the Holy Spirit sent by God HIMSELF that pulled the scales from Sauls eyes, allowing him to see the truth of Jesus' teachings and accepting him as his lord and Christ (annointed savoir). At first the early christians were terrified of Paul becuase he was their worst enemy, he had caused many of them to be put to death, but he PROVED himself worthy to both God and his fellow christians by his love for them and God and Gods son, Jesus, the Christ. Paul was faithful until the end.

Answer 9

That theory can be extrapolated to demonstrate the differences in doctrines, YES...

It stands all the more reason as to why Saul's/Paul's Epistles or letters to the Gentile churches, as well as the major role that he seemed to have played in Acts of the Apostles --all according to his faithful scribe Luke, the physician-- were DEEMED to be more RELEVANT to the early compilers [RCC] of the NT of the Bible RATHER THAN the writings and gospels of the actual Apostles and Disciples themselves were...

Apparently, the scriptures of the Apostles and disciples [i.e., the ACTUAL WITNESSES themselves] subsequently became known as 'Gnostic Gospels' and were deemed to be 'heretical' --a newly invented word then-- by the RC Church, and such writings or doctrines DID NOT sit well or coincide with the thinking or agenda of the early founders of the RCC at that time of its formation, in circa 325-ish AD.

To which, in my own estimation and in retrospect, one could label such scriptures as the "Pauline Doctrine", and consider its followers as "Paulinians" rather than "Christians" as many claim to be today.

Peace be with you!

Answer 10

NO Way. Everyone falls short...Jesus is th only way. You can't exalt law above Jesus' sacrifice. Now tht doesn't say we have license to sin... The good book is clear about it. Sometimes the Bible is confusing to unbelievers. Ask Jesus for guidance and he will give it.