Another Joseph Smith...
Holding on to a myth feels good uh? I know.
Why not reverse things and believe on things that you are certain rather than find certainty on things you believe?
Did the Apostle Paul exist
by Unbrainwashed publisher1 18 Replies latest watchtower bible
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Giordano
Probably. But more important, at least to me, is that Paul is a perfect example of the failure of Christianity. No real agreement about anything, a bunch of whining believers with everyone making it up as they go along. The idea that one would read his writings and try to make sense of all the contradictions is staggering.The whole thing was like mud......... Its messy when moist and you can't get rid of it until it dries. Then it flacks off or blows away. That in a nut shell is Christian theology.
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Jeffro
There's less evidence that Jesus actually existed. In all likelihood, there may have been a particular 'Jesus' who was known as a teacher (of one of the many sects at the time). However, the Jesus character of the Bible was almost certainly a composite of various earlier stories (including miracles that are clearly borrowed from 'pagan' stories), and possibly including details of one or more contemporaneous teachers.
It is more likely (but not absolutely certain) that Paul existed as an actual person, and it seems that it may be Paul who came up with much of the basis of what is now known as 'Christianity'. However, I haven't seen any specific evidence that ratifies the specifics in the Bible.
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kurtbethel
I sometimes wonder if the writer(s) known as Paul ever read any of the gospels.
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Libelle
Jwffro beat me to it. There's more evidence that Paul(s) existed than a Jesus.
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Christ Alone
I wonder why the claim that nothing outside the nt verifies Paul continues, when I just gave 3 or 4 outside references?
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transhuman68
I wonder why the claim that nothing outside the nt verifies Paul continues
LOL, because they don't. Irenaeus...? He was in France... that's a long way away from Jerusalem. All the rest are just quoting Scripture.
Paul most probably died in 64 C.E in Rome, along with the rest of the Christians blamed for the fire that destroyed much of the city- too early in history for the people you quoted to have met him.
The 'church fathers' came from a later time, when Christianity was properly established, and had bishops, etc.
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Jeffro
I wonder why the claim that nothing outside the nt verifies Paul continues, when I just gave 3 or 4 outside references?
You provided a few non-contemporaneous references, separated by at least 3 decades from the time Paul was supposed to have lived. Though they lend some support to the idea that Paul actually existed, they don't verify his existence.
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ÁrbolesdeArabia
Great Work "Christ Alone", there's plenty of evidence in my opinion to believe Paul existed.
No amount of early writings is going to convince anyone who is unable to weigh the evidence without prejudice. How many websites exist that claim "Jesus of Nazareth" never existed? The sheer amount of mental acrobatics used to discredit Bibilical and secular sources, are nothing more than cheap attempts at sensationalism.
The same goes with the Apostle Paul, you can prepare a large amount of research "Christ Alone", but in the end, will it change anyone's mind who is infatuated by their first year college teachers who say the darnest things?