Paul-Apostle or Renegade?

Introduction

Paul of Tarsus has done more than any other person in history to influence and shape conceptions about the person and message of Jesus (PBUH). In this blog we are going to consider the question: Is Paul a reliable source of information about Jesus (PBUH)?

Difference of Ministries

Biblical Teachings of Jesus (PBUH)	Biblical Teachings of Paul
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them" (Matthew 5:17)	"Jesus abolished the law with all its commandments and regulations." (Ephesians 2:15)
"For truly, I say till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished" (Matthew 5:18)	"Christ is the end of the law, that everyone who has faith may be justified" (Romans 10:4)
"If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments." (Matthew 19:17)	"By works of the law, no human being will be justified." (Romans 3:20)
​"The Father is greater than I" (John 14:28)	Jesus is equal to the father.
"The Lord our God is one Lord" (Mark 12:29)	God exists as three persons.
"By myself, I can do nothing" (John 5:30)	Jesus is all-powerful
​"I ascend to my father and your father" (John 20:17)	Jesus is the only Son of God
Jesus preached repentance, faith and deeds as necessary for salvation (Matthew 25:31-46; Luke 10:25-37)	Paul based salvation on faith and belief without regard to good deeds. (Titus 3:5; Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 2:8-9; 2 Timothy 1:9)
The servant shall be over the master; the least shall be the greatest in heaven. (Matthew 20:27 & 23:11; Mark 9:35 and 10:44)	Paul supports slavery and encourages slaves to obey their masters. (Ephesians 6:5 and Titus 2:9-10)
Jesus permitted high levels of women involvement (Luke 8:2-3 and 10:38-42)	Paul insisted that women submit to husbands and be silent in churches (Ephesians 6:5 and Titus 2:9-10)
Jesus operated under the Mosaic law, preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom and had Jews only for his audience	Paul operated under grace and preached the Gospel of the Grace of God and had gentiles as his primary audience
Jesus defined the "Kingdom of Heaven" as Israel's prophetic early kingdom while presenting himself as Messiah and King of Jews (lost sheep of Israel)	Paul defined the "Kingdom of Heaven" as the heavenly portion of the Body of Christ while presenting Jesus as the Risen Lord, Head of the Body of Christ

Grand Claims

The early followers of Jesus (PBUH) were haunted and persecuted by Paul, who started out as a zealous enemy of Christianity. Then, one day, while on a sandy desert road to Damascus, Paul said he had a mystical encounter with a disembodied voice claiming to be Jesus (PBUH). From there, Paul went on to become a super evangelist, dedicating his life to spreading what he claimed was the message of Jesus (PBUH).

Paul's biggest claim to legitimacy as an apostle is the divine revelation which he said he received directly from Jesus (PBUH). For example, Paul wrote, “I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin, rather I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ”. (Galatians 1:11-12; The Bible)

Unfortunately, there is no way of independently verifying Paul's claims of mystical desert encounters with Jesus (PBUH). We just have to take him at his word. What we can do to test Paul's apostleship, is scrutinize his writings. He made repeated claims of divine inspiration and since God Almighty is all-knowing and all-wise, it stands to reason that Paul’s writings should be free of error.

A False Prophecy

In the following prophecy, Paul provided a timeline for the world's end. “We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52; The Bible) Sleep here is being used as a metaphor for death, so Paul seemed to be saying that not all the believers in his day would die before the return of Jesus (PBUH).

Obviously, this is a false prophecy as it has been nearly 2000 years since Paul wrote these words and the return of Jesus (PBUH) still has not taken place. In fact, many New Testament scholars and thinkers conclude that Paul and his followers expected the imminent end of the world.

For example, the distinguished New Testament scholar Professor CK Barrett wrote in his commentary on this prophecy: “Paul expects that at the Parousia (second coming of Jesus), he himself will not be among the dead (of whom he speaks in the third person), but among the living (of whom he speaks in the first person). He expected the Parousia within his own lifetime”. (First Epistle to the Corinthians, P.381)

A virtually identical end of World prophecy can be found in the Gospel of Mark (13:30; The Bible). The renowned Christian apologist CS Lewis wrote that it is “the most embarrassing verse in the Bible”. (The World’s Last Night and Other Essays, P.97)

Now some Christians tried to defend Paul by claiming that when he made the statement, we will not all sleep, he was not including the believers of his day among those who will not taste death, but rather he was referring to believers of some unspecified time in the future. So, what did Paul intend by his statement? Should we interpret it literally or figuratively? We can look to Paul’s related prophecies to help us arrive at the correct understanding.

In the following prophecy, Paul advised believers with regard to how they should conduct themselves going forward. “But those who marry will face many troubles in their life, and I want to spare you this. What I mean, brothers and sisters is that the time is short. From now on, those who have wives should live as if they do not; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy as if they were not; those who buy something as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.” (1 Corinthians 7:28-31; The Bible)

Note Paul’s statements about marriage, emotions, and materialism! Believers are told that all such activities are futile as time is short and the world is passing away. Believers are advised to avoid such things from now on, ie, with immediate effect going forward. This is clear proof that Paul genuinely believed that the world's end was imminent. Otherwise, his advice about living like a bachelor, not feeling human emotions, and being completely detached from material things is nonsensical, as Christians would have been unnecessarily going about life as celibate, emotionless ascetics for nearly 2000 years and counting.

This is highly problematic when we consider the standard that the Old Testament lays out for true divine inspiration. “If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken”. (Deuteronomy 18:22; The Bible) We can see that according to the Bible itself, anyone who makes a claim about the future which then fails to come true, cannot be inspired by God Almighty.

Misquoting Scripture

One of Paul's core teachings is the idea that salvation is achieved through faith in Jesus (PBUH) alone, and not any kind of works. As Paul informed us; “But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, it is in your mouth and in your heart,’ that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim. If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:8-10; The Bible)

Here Paul is quoting from the Old Testament to lend support to his theology that we are saved by faith alone and not works. Let's look at the original passage in the Book of Deuteronomy: “The word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.” (Deuteronomy 30:14; the Bible) Notice the problem. Paul has taken a quarter of its original context. He left out the part that states ‘so you may obey it’. In other words, Paul has omitted God's command to obey the Mosaic law. We can see that the original passage in the Old Testament establishes the opposite of what Paul intended. Works are indeed important.

Misinterpreting Scripture

Another of Paul’s core teachings is the idea that all of God's covenantal promises to Abraham (PBUH) were fulfilled by the coming of Jesus (PBUH). As Paul informed us: “The promises were spoken to Abraham and his seed. Scripture does not say ‘And to Seeds,’ meaning many people, but ‘And to Your Seed,’ meaning one person, who is Christ.” (Galatians 3:16) Here, Paul is making the argument that God’s promise to Abraham did not speak of ‘seeds’ in the plural but rather ‘seed’ in the singular and concludes that the single seed is a reference to one man, that is, Jesus (PBUH).

Let's look at the original passage in the book of Genesis; “And I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.” (Genesis 17:19; The Bible) The original Hebrew word used for seed is Zera, which is a collective noun that can be used to refer to both a single descendant and many descendants. It depends on the context in which it appears. This is just like the English language. For example, the word ‘sheep’ can mean one sheep or many sheep, depending on the context. So how should we interpret the mention of ‘seed’ in the Old Testament?

We find an answer in the same book of Genesis; “And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth; so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered”. (Genesis 13:16; the Bible) Here God promised Abraham that he would be blessed with a multitude of descendants, likening his seed to the dust of the earth. Therefore, we can see that the correct context for seed is not a single seed, as Paul incorrectly interpreted it, but rather, many.

Using Wrong Scripture

Paul taught the nation of Israel will be saved from its sins through Jesus (PBUH). “And in this way, all Israel will be saved. As it is written: ‘The deliverer will come from Zion; He will turn Godlessness away from Jacob’.” (Romans 11:26; The Bible) Here Paul has quoted from the Old Testament Book of Isaiah. “’ The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,’ declares the Lord”. (Isaiah 59:20; The Bible) Note the clear mismatch! Paul’s quote mentions that the Savior will remove sin from Israel, whereas the book of Isaiah states that their Saviour will come to Israel after it has repented from sin. Just what is going on here?

Paul may have been quoting from the Septuagint, a Greek version of the Old Testament. “And The deliverer shall come for Sion’s sake and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.” (Isaiah 59:20; The Bible) We can see that Paul's quote closely matches the Greek Septuagint. It turns out that there are two variant readings of the Old Testament: the one in Hebrew and the other in Greek Septuagint, which Paul seems to have quoted from.

There is in fact, strong evidence that the Greek Septuagint contains a later reading. This is because the Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest surviving manuscripts from the Old Testament, support the reading that is found in the Hebrew Scriptures. This means that when Paul chose to court from the Greek Septuagint, he unknowingly used the later incorrect reading. God Almighty obviously would not have inspired him to make such a mistake.

Distorting Scripture

Paul argued that nobody can achieve righteousness through the works of the Mosaic Law. “As it is written there is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. Their throats are open graves, their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. There is no fear of God before their eyes. Therefore, no one will be declared righteous in God's sight by the works of the law.” (Romans 3:10-20; The Bible)

What Paul quotes here is a compilation of the following six separate passages from the Old Testament Books of Psalms and Isaiah:

• “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.” (Psalm 14:2-3; The Bible)

• “Their throats are open graves, their tongues practice deceit”. (Psalm 5:9; The Bible)

• “The poison of vipers is on their lips.” (Psalm 140:3; The Bible)

• “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness”. (Psalm 10:7; The Bible)

• “Their feet are swift to shed blood.” (Isaiah 59:7-8; The Bible)

• "There is no fear of God before their eyes." (Psalm 36:1; The Bible)

He has strung them together to appear as one quote. Let's examine one of the passages that Paul references from Psalm 14. “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. Do all these evildoers know nothing? They devour my people as though eating bread; they never call on the Lord. But there they are, overwhelmed with dread, for God is present in the company of the righteous.” (Psalm 14:1-5; The Bible)

We can see that the original passage is talking about those who say ‘there is no God’. It is these people who are said to do no good. Such evil-doers are then contrasted with the second group of people referred to as ‘my people’ who are said to be in the company of the righteous. It turns out that Paul has distorted this passage. It does not say, as Paul quotes it, that no human being is righteous. Rather, it says that those who deny God are not righteous.

Contradicting Scripture

Paul offered the following reason as to why God revealed the Law to Moses and the Israelites: “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that (for this purpose), every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” (Romans 3:19; The Bible)

According to Paul, the law was revealed to make us realize that is impossible to keep, and that we are, therefore, all guilty before God. Let's compare this to what God Almighty has to say about the law in the Old Testament: "Now what I'm commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, so you may obey it.” (Deuteronomy 30:11-14; The Bible) We can see that God says very clearly that the law is not difficult to obey or beyond our reach, which is the opposite of what Paul claimed.

Paul even had some very negative things to say about the law here. He called it a curse: “For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse.” (Galatians 3:10; The Bible) Paul also had bad things to say about his past efforts to keep the law. Here, he referred to it as garbage. “As for righteousness based on the law, faultless. But whatever were gains to me, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. I consider them garbage.” (Philippians 3:5-8; The Bible)

Again, such negativity is at odds with what the Old Testament teaches. “For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to Him, and to keep His commands, decrees, and laws. Then, you will live on increase, and the Lord your God will bless you.” (Deuteronomy 30:16; The Bible) Here, God stated that obeying the law will bring one blessing and prosperity. We can see that Paul’s teachings about the law completely contradict the Old Testament on many points. So, Paul cannot have gotten his message from the same God Almighty who inspired the Old Testament.

Deception

The Bible informs us that towards the end of his ministerial career, Paul visited Jerusalem, which was home to thousands of Christians who zealously obeyed the Law of Moses. We're told that senior Christians directly confronted Paul about rumors that he was preaching against the Law of Moses.

“The next day, Paul and the rest of us went to see James and all the elders were present. Then they said to Paul; ‘You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law. They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs.” (Acts 21:18-21; The Bible)

If Paul was a genuine apostle, then we should expect him to be forthcoming about his true beliefs and teachings. Let's now see how Paul actually reacted. “What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come, so do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow. Take these men, join in their purification rites, and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved. Then, everyone will know there is no truth in these reports about you. The next day, Paul took the men and purified himself along with them”. (Acts 21:22-26; The Bible)

We can see that the senior Christians in Jerusalem commanded Paul to undergo a public head-shaving ritual that was derived from the Law of Moses (PBUH). Paul submissively complied with their command, thus denying the rumors that he preached against the Law of Moses (PBUH).

Summary

Now, in the previous section, we saw examples of Paul's negative attitude towards the Mosaic Law, labeling it a curse and describing efforts to obey it as garbage. By conducting himself in this manner, Paul was being two-faced, for he behaved in one way to the faces of senior Christians and another way in his writings. In the following examples, Paul wrote that Jews are the same as non-Jews and are no longer bound to keep any of the Mosaic laws:

• “There is neither Jew nor Greek.” (Galatians 3:27-28; The Bible)

• “We have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code”. (Romans 7:6; The Bible)

Hence, we see that Paul taught the very things he was accused of and deceptively denied.

Conclusion

In this blog, we examined several of Paul's writings and found many issues that seriously undermined his claims of apostleship and divine inspiration. A big problem that arises from this is the fact that Paul dominates the pages of the New Testament with over half of its books being attributed to him. So, when one reads the New Testament and takes it at face value, one is viewing Jesus (PBUH) through the lens of Paul who has been proven to be an unreliable source.

Sincere, truth-seeking Christians face the difficult task of peeling away layers of myth in order to try and arrive at the true historical Jesus (PBUH). God Almighty, out of his mercy for mankind, did not leave us in a state of confusion. The Quran was revealed and unraveled centuries of myth-making around Jesus. Muslims are the true followers of Jesus (PBUH) and thanks to the Holy Quran, we have access to and implement his original, undistorted message.

That will be all for now. Please stay tuned for our next blog. May God bless you always. Assalamalaikum!