Is the Bible interpretation meshed with the Word of just the Word? Then can you please explain Paul?

Question

I know St. Paul had done most of the proselytizing and if it wasnt for him Christianity wouldnt be so widely known.

So when one reads the Bible...does one come across Pauls personal thoughts meshed with that of Jesus: i.e. interpretation vs Gods word

or is it all Gods word to Christians?

Answer 1

Paul always makes the delineation between if it is his words or God's.He does it several times.Since God chose him out of all the Apostles I take his words very seriously,but somethings are from the customs of the day and time.

Answer 2

Paul does in certain areas give his own opinion on things -see 1 Corinthians 7:25- but as a whole Christians believe unless other wise stated by the author that the Bible is God's word to man. It's called Divine Inspiration. God gave the writers of the Bible the thoughts and the writer put them in his own words, which is why you still have individual writing styles(compare the books of Luke and Acts to some of Paul's letters for example). It wasn't like God was dictating to secretaries what to write, if that was the case all the books of the Bible would all have the same tone and writing style, and they obviously don't.

Answer 3

Rod C is correct, but also Christianity still would have been so widely known because of the amount of people that were martyred for their faith. People were being persecuted and killed just after the start of the Christian church. I remember reading an account of a Roman general who was so frustrated by the fact that eventhough he was slaughtering many Christians they just kept appearing in great numbers.

There is also archaelogical evidence that Christianity had spread fast and far. Way beyond the areas Paul and any of the apostles were preaching. Paul and the other apostles were catalysts, yes, but it was in the every day lives of the "normal" Christians that many lives were changed

Answer 4

Paul adds A LOT that Jesus never talked about. Like homosexuality and the lowly status of women. Therefore, it cannot be said that he was merely interpreting what Jesus said. Paul is responsible for many (most) of the doctrines and dogmas Christians follow today.

So, Paul talked about things Jesus never talked about, and he emphasized things that Jesus never emphasized. I don't see how Paul has any authority at all. After all, Paul never met Jesus during his ministry. In fact, he seems to be completely unaware of ANYTHING Jesus did or said prior to the crucifixion. Paul claims to have had a vision of Jesus. How do we know Paul is telling the truth? Because it is in the Bible. How do we know the Bible is true? Because it says it is! Who wrote about Paul in the Bible? Paul did! That kind of circular testimony would never stand up in even a kangaroo court.

NOTE TO cinderella920200: Don't be so sure about your martyr theory. The Gnostics were widely martyred for their faith BY Christians. Christianity just got lucky and won the support of Constintine as a way to unify the Roman empire. After that other religions were martyred for not converting to Christianity. Ever heard of the inquisition or the crusades?

Oh and speaking of kangaroo courts, The Case for Christ by Lee Stroebel is a completely biased joke.