What, exactly, is "Paulianity"? Who preaches it, and what's their agenda (if any)?

Question

Okay ... I've picked up on a bit here and a bit there, in some comments on YA and other forums, alluding to some pretty interesting (for lack of a better word) perceptions about the apostle Paul and his epistles.

The gist of it, from what I can figure out, has something to do with Paul setting up the Christian church he wanted to see instead of what Christ intended -- and somehow being so very clever about it that generations upon generations have been fooled (of course, one assumes, until great minds in the present day figured it out.)

Is this a weird fringe thing, or something more? I have seen no cogent, informative posts; they're more like little "anti-Paul bombs", for lack of a better term. In fact, the actual word "Paulianity" is something I just came across today. Taken together, it's all just a little ... odd.

I'd especially appreciate an informative link to a neutral, unbiased site, if possible. But at this point any info at all will do.

Wow. Quite an eye-opener. I do so appreciate the good information so far.

Answer 1

Paulianity is the theological bent that basically says that Christianity was hijacked by Paul. One website that was Muslim in nature posits that Paul took bits and pieces of older religions and molded it into his view of Christianity and concludes the following:

CONCLUSION
"In this, they (Christians and Jews) imitate what the unbeleivers of old used to say.” The Holy Qur'an 9:30-31
Most of the above cults were prevalent in the Mediterranean long before Jesus was born. With the help of Paul, all of these myths became cumulated and were melded into one and are now called 'Christianity'. All of the above have absolutely nothing to do with God's plan for us. It's all just made up. We strongly urge you to give up these erroneous beliefs and find out what God really wants for you.
http://www.angelfire.com/ca/Paulianity/

You will find this line on thought validated on many atheist websites. As far as neutral links I did not find any. Everything I found points to this anti-Paul position.

Another site posits that the true Christianity was being conducted through the church in Jerusalem and that Paul faced down Peter there and thus his brand of Christianity prevailed. It further says that Christ’s ministry was much more socially oriented and benevolent based on works.

“This leads us to another point. The life and ministry of Jesus was socially oriented.”
http://www.theologica.net/paul.html

It has been around for a long time but today’s postmodern relativity with its malleable and moldable Jesus seems to be bringing it back into vogue.

To believe in and pursue this rationality you have to remove all of the Pauline epistles from the NT canon. Something I am certainly not ready to do.

Blessings

Answer 2

Well it's hard to deny that Paul had a huge influence on Christianity. He made the mission to the Gentiles work, he developed the beginnings of a uniquely Christian system of ethics, a start of Christian theology, and the idea that Christianity is a religion of itself rather than a form of Judaism. I do agree with James that people probably project their own ideas into whatever was pre-Pauline Christianity. Fact is we have no idea what was before Paul, since his letters were actually written before the gospels and have probably influenced them.
I think Lutheranism, and to an extent all protestantism, is almost exclusively Paul. Justification by faith is Paul's idea, not Jesus'. But as to which things are Jesus' ideas we can only speculate. It's a bit like Socrates and Plato, many opinions which were long ascribed to Socrates are obviously Plato's, Plato only put them in Socrates's mouth to give them more weight. We'll never know what Socrates thought because it is impossible to seperate him from Plato. And at least Plato knew Socrates...

Answer 3

i asked about this a while back, and i still don't get it. from what i gather though, the people who are saying these things, for the most part, aren't christian. they're out to ''debunk'' christianity by putting doubt in the minds of others.

the ones who DO believe in God, but still buy into the lies that have been spread about the apostle paul, are just not mature in their faith. there's the argument that paul never ''met'' Jesus. he never met our Lord in the flesh, but to me, that's crucial. that tells us that we can know Christ even better than the disciples. if you read about the things that happened after the resurrection, you'll notice that the disciples didn't recognize Jesus, because He was in His new, spiritually perfected body. paul knew Jesus even better than the disciples, and that's good news! that means that WE too can know Jesus, even moreso than the disciples themselves.

other people don't like the pauline letters because they ''lay down the law.'' people don't realize that there isn't much to gain when you constantly ask the question ''what about me?'' they don't realize that there is no success without sacrifice, or that peronal beliefs may or may not have anything to do with the will of God. it was difficult for me to accept some of the things that the apostle paul wrote when i converted, until i came to understand them better (''the woman should submit herself'' sounds a little bit sexist until you have an understanding of what it actually means). now that i've accepted ALL of the bible, and i can understand the FULL message, my faith has grown in leaps and bounds, and continues to do so.

Answer 4

Paul taught things which on the face of it seem to contradict the Law of Moses. People who feel this way call themselves Christians, and believe they are free to sin, and will be saved by faith alone.
Those who use the terms Paulianity and Paulism, are sometimes Jews or Islamists, who argue that Pauls writtings do not belong in canon (sciptures)
The truth is somewhere else however: Peter says towards the end of his second Epistle, that Paul was indeed given the gospel directly from Yahushua, but that shallow and misguided people where trying to distort what he teaches.
So, love Yahuwah (the father) and his Law (10 commandments) keeping them and doing what is right. Not for salvations sake, but out of gratitude and love for the salvation he gave us through the death of his son Yahushua (Yahuwah saves). Circumsision is not required to become a member of the church. You will be welcomed in so long as you abstain from fornication, things which have their blood in them, and from things strangled etc. As a member you will attend the synagogs on Sabbath, and hear the words of Moses. The Holy Spirit will guide you as to whether or not you should be circumsised and when. It is not for brothers and sisters in the church to judge each other on any matter of faith, but to exhort (encourage) and uplift each other with wisdom, love and prayer etc.

BTW: You see I use names like Yahushua and Yahuwah rather than the names printed in your bible. This is why:
"Jesus" in latin means "he is [a] pig" in Greek it means "Hail Zeus" and in Hebrew, "ha soos" means "the horse".
God is an English translation of the name of a pagan deity from Germanic regions who was first known as "Gott". The name "Ba'al" litteraly means Lord, so who do you address when you say "Lord"? All of those who call upon the name of Yahuwah will be saved. By no other name can anyone be saved (Yahushua means "Yahuwah saves"). How can anyone say that they love him, and yet call him a pig? The anti-christ will have a name when he comes, those who have pondered this and who know the truth about the names of Yahuwah and Yahushua feel that his name might well turn out to be "Jesus".
Yahushua Shalom
Stephen

Answer 5

God directed Paul to go to the gentiles !!! Being a devout jew that was not an easy task for him !!! We believe since his writings are apart of the canon that what he wrote was also inspired therefore we have now the growth of the gentile believers in the grafted tree of Israel so that we are partakers with messianic jews who have come to faith. There are those who are christians now seeking to follow the mosiac laws and don't want to recognize Paul as an influence. Also some seek to totally replace the Jew altogether. Hence the furor begins !!! Just be aware as you already are !!!

Answer 6

Yes,what Serena said is true.
Some people want to get rid of Jesus as God Incarnate Who is worshiped by a "Gentile Church founded by Paul of Tarsus". These people want to get rid of all the theology of much of the Pauline Letters and they usually want to get rid of "Johanine accretions" in John's Gospels and Epistles(not to mention the theology of John of Patmos in Revelation). These folks see Historic Christianity as an aberration and a development from "Paulinity". IMHO, they are full of themelves and are merely projecting their own heresies onto a "Pre-Pauline" fantasy.

Answer 7

Paul has proven to be a wonderful friend to me.
I have followed his teachings concerning His Lord, Jesus Christ, and come into a great measure of peace and understanding in my life.

He said this:
"For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake."
II Corinthians 4:5

Peter tells us this about Paul:

"So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction."
II Peter 3:14-16

Answer 8

There is no 'Paulianity'.It is a perjorative term used by opponents of Paul,and those that believe that Christianity has too much Pauline influence.