Do Christians agree with these statements about Paul?

Question

Carl Sagan (Scientist; Author)

"My long-time view about Christianity is that it represents an amalgam of two seemingly
immiscible parts--the religion of Jesus and the religion of Paul. Thomas Jefferson attempted to
excise the Pauline parts of the New Testament. There wasn't much left when he was done, but it
was an inspiring document." (Letter to Ken Schei [author of Christianity Betrayed])


Thomas Jefferson

"Paul was the first corrupter of the doctrines of Jesus." (All references not listed here, can be
found in Christianity Betrayed)


Albert Schweitzer

"Where possible Paul avoids quoting the teaching of Jesus, in fact even mentioning it. If we had
to rely on Paul, we should not know that Jesus taught in parables, had delivered the sermon on
the mount, and had taught His disciples the 'Our Father.' Even where they are specially
relevant, Paul passes over the words of the Lord."


Wil Durant (Philosopher)

"Paul created a theology of which none but the vaguest warrants can be found in the words of
Christ."
"Fundamentalism is the triumph of Paul over Christ."


Walter Kaufmann (Professor of Philosophy, Princeton)

"Paul substituted faith in Christ for the Christlike life."


George Bernard Shaw

"No sooner had Jesus knocked over the dragon of superstition than Paul boldly set it on its
legs again in the name of Jesus."


Thomas Hardy
"The new testament was less a Christiad than a Pauliad."

Hyam Maccoby (Talmudic Scholar)

"As we have seen, the purposes of the book of Acts is to minimize the conflict between Paul and
the leaders of the Jerusalem Church, James and Peter. Peter and Paul, in later Christian
tradition, became twin saints, brothers in faith, and the idea that they were historically bitter
opponents standing for irreconcilable religious standpoints would have been repudiated with
horror. The work of the author of Acts was well done; he rescued Christianity from the
imputation of being the individual creation of Paul, and instead gave it a respectable pedigree,
as a doctrine with the authority of the so-called Jerusalem Church, conceived as continuous in
spirit with the Pauline Gentile Church of Rome. Yet, for all his efforts, the truth of the matter is
not hard to recover, if we examine the New Testament evidence with an eye to tell-tale
inconsistencies and confusions, rather than with the determination to gloss over and harmonize all difficulties in the interests of an orthodox interpretation." (The Mythmaker, p. 139,Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1986)


Jeremy Bentham (English Philosopher)

"If Christianity needed an Anti-Christ, they needed look no farther than Paul." (Paraphrased. Looking for a copy of "Not Paul, but Jesus" in order to retrieve the exact quote.)

Carl Jung (Psychologist)

"Paul hardly ever allows the real Jesus of Nazareth to get a word in." (U.S. News and World
Report, April 22, 1991, p. 55)


Bishop John S. Spong (Episcopal Bishop of Newark)

"Paul's words are not the Words of God. They are the words of Paul- a vast difference."
(Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism, p. 104, Harper San Francisco, 1991).

Answer 1

Paul was not an eye-witness. He never heard the Sermon on the Mount, or the Lord's Prayer, or any of the parables. He didn't see the 5,000 fed, or the paralytic healed, or Lazarus raised from the dead, or any of the miracles Jesus did.
He obviously was not there when Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well, or the woman who washed His feet with her tears, or Mary Magdalene, or the women who followed Him along with His disciples, and supported Him with their own money.
Paul was a Pharisee's Pharisee, and when he started out, he totally HATED all things Christian. His purpose was to destroy the young church...he dragged innocent people from their homes and slaughtered them because they trusted in Christ.
He was on his way to Damascus, with letters from the Sanhedrin, giving him authority to do the same to Christians he might find there...but Jesus evidently had other plans for him.
If you keep all of this in mind when you read his letters, he won't throw you off balance so badly.
Every Christian does need to understand, however, that Paul is speaking from his own limited experience...
His letters do contain some valuable advice, but they should NEVER be taken above the Words of Jesus, Himself.

Anyway, that is this Christian's opinion...

Answer 2

You know, when I look through that source list, I'm seeing a lot of philosophers, scientists, and Jewish writers....and one very, very liberal bishop from an increasingly liberal denomination. What I don't see is a lot of people that have devoted a lot of their time to studying and understanding Scripture.

Paul was one of the first theologians of the Christian church, and many of his letters are addressing particular problems within local communities of faith. In none of his letters does Paul really lay out the gospel message, but rather, the implications of the message that he preached to that community. Now, one exception would be the letter to the Romans. Paul had never been to Rome, and what you find in Romans is Paul's theology, Paul's understanding of the implications of Christ - not the gospel message itself.

And Paul does allude to the teachings of Jesus in several places. He may not be directly quoting the words found in the gospels, but he is certainly well versed in Jesus' teaching.

So, to answer your question, I would say that most Christians do NOT agree with the above statements.

Answer 3

Friend Paul did not teach anything contrary then what Jesus Christ taught. I don't care what book you may read & by whom, Let's see what the Bible says, This is only one verse out of many verses I can use. Let read 1st. Cor. 1:1 Paul, called to be an Apostle of Jesus Christ, through the will of God-----All through Pauls writings at each book, for instance in Titus 1:1 Paul a servent of God & an apostle of Jesus Christ-------- Now does that sound as if Paul taught anything contrary to what Jesus taught, No.

Answer 4

It constantly humbles me and amazes me how some extremely brilliant people, all in a higher league than I am in mentally and in education, can be so persuaded as to not understand both Jesus and Paul. Would they say the same things about James? I don't know, but you didn't show any quotes about James.

So no, I would not agree with those quotes. Paul understood more than what the other Apostles showed, and he was right in what he said about Jesus Christ.

So what these people were doing is revealing the lack of understanding they had of Jesus Himself.

Answer 5

Didn't you mean the writers of Paul? After all, he only wrote about 2-3 of the letters attributed to him. That's why he appears to contradict himself on every page. I think the real Paul taught exactly the same as the real Jesus. And who can possibly know what Jesus really taught? Still I think neither the gospels nor the epistles are the real teachings of Jesus.

Answer 6

So you are saying there is a difference. Sure there is and it is God wisdom. To whom He wish to reveal and of course it is His called one, that is the children of God.

Did He preach a different doctrine or are you implying He preach His doctrine, the gospel of Paul. If so, How sad that you fall to this kind of deceiving propaganda.

You portray yourself as a person who finds the truth and believes that your finding support it as fact. I leave that for your understanding and will not contend with your acceptance of PEOPLE findings ( not your own ). But what have you really prove to us ? Are you not talking to the wall? Do you have the slightest idea of the person you mention. Are they your fan or an inspiration ? Are they men of God ?

What is your motive here ? Are we fools in your eyes or you are the Savior to us. Or you want us to help you out of this confusion ? I don't understand your question, maybe I am slow here. If I am not mistaken you are saying that we have been taken for a ride. Are we or is it you. Point a finger at us and four is pointing at your direction.

Answer 7

I have a real relationship with GOD through Jesus Christ. The Bible is a wonderful owners manual for that relationship. The words of Paul have been a source of strength and understanding as much as the 4 Gospels have. Paul goes into detail about our walk with Jesus and that steps on the toes of people who want to make it up as they go.

I seek to approach GOD on GOD's terms. So far, GOD has honored that.

Answer 8

a house divided against itself will fall. Every greeting in every letter is blessing the city, town or person in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I'm not trying to slam YOU, but I have a friend that is always trying to find little in and outs of the bible, and he's a believer of 30 yrs. If people would spend the time WITNESSING THE GOSPEL instead of talking themselves into a new religion, they would have the peace to get over these questions when they come.

Don't get me wrong, questioning your faith, THRU PRAYER, only makes it stronger. Just remember who the final authority is.

Answer 9

Interesting quotes, but all of them lack one simple understanding ... Paul did not have the words of Jesus in written form. He preached what he heard from the other disciples and what God put into his heart.

Answer 10

I don't agree that Paul's words are apart from God's words.
Actually, in all of Paul's epistles in the bible, in his salutation for the readers, he wrote these words:
"Paul, an APOSTLE of Jesus Christ" or "Paul, a SERVANT of Jesus Christ" (Romans 1:1, 1 Cor.1:1, 2 Cor. 1:1, Eph. 1:1, Gal. 1:1, Col. 1:1, 1 Timothy 1:1, etc)

Also, Paul claims that this ministry was given to him by God and not by men. As what stated in Galatians 1:11,12:
"...I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man, for neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ." See also Colossians 1:25,26; 1 Tim. 2:5-7, Titus 1:2,3.

Paul's ministry is unique in the sense that he was sent to minister the gentiles (non-Jewish), not God's chosen people, the Israelites.

Christ's ministry as well as the 12 disciples' ministry was directed toward Israel. As what Christ said in Matthew 15:24 "...I am not sent but unto the LOST SHEEP OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL." Also, He commanded his disciples to "go not into the way of the gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: BUT GO RATHER TO THE LOST SHEEP OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL".

During those times, God's program was based on the promises made to Abraham and amplified by the prophets. The Old Testament abounds with promises and prophesies that salvation would go to the ends of the earth through redeemed Israel (Gen. 22:17, 18; Isaiah 60:1-3; Zech. 8:13, etc). This is why our Lord confined His earthly ministry exclusively to the nation Israel. They were the chosen channel of blessing to the nations.

But, even though God chose them (Israel), they became bitter against Him, they turned away from Him from time to time. And the last chance the Lord gave them was during Acts 28. During the Acts period, the disciples were given powers to perform miracles so that by seeing those things, Israel will turn to God again.

Paul, during those times (the acts period) was also ministering to Israel, as stated in Acts 28:23 "...to whom he expounded & testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening..." But not all of them believed. That's why Paul concluded in Acts 28:27 that "the heart of this people (Israel) is waxed gross and their ears are dull of hearing and their eyes have they closed; ..."

And so, finally, after giving Israel much time (hundreds of years maybe, from the Old testament to Acts) to repent, God finally postponed their program and put in a whole new program, (a program wherein there is no more Jew or Gentile) which started from acts 28:28. It says "Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it".

From that day until now, we're under that "special" program, wherein we, the gentiles, were given spiritual blessing from God directly, not through Israel anymore (actually, there are a lot more about this new program; just read Ephesians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Tim, Titus, Philemon, Philippians)...

And it was Paul that was used as a minister to preach to the gentiles this good news.