Does Paul preach a fundamentally different religion than Jesus?

by Yesu Kristo Bwana Wangu 26 Replies latest watchtower bible

  • Yesu Kristo Bwana Wangu
    Yesu Kristo Bwana Wangu
    Controversy has arisen regarding Jesus versus Paul as scholars debate the different emphases and messages of Jesus and Paul.1 Jesus preached the kingdom of heaven. Paul did not. Paul preached justification by faith alone. Jesus did not. What are we to make of this? Can the two be reconciled? The answer depends on what is meant by reconciliation.

    "Let us be clear from the outset. The messages of Jesus and Paul were fundamentally different. Reconciliation of their messages cannot be done by harmonization. This is a fact we must accept. No one is helped by attempts to lessen the differences by declaring that the gospel is a salvation story for both Jesus and Paul. The differences remain. No benefit comes from theological gibberish that the gospel is the kingdom and the kingdom is the gospel. No light comes from attempts to show that Paul “betrayed” Jesus or “perverted” His message.

    No benefit comes from those who maintain Jesus and Paul contradicted or disagreed with one another. Such offerings of strange fire move us further from the text and sound theology. Instead, we must seek a biblical understanding of the Scriptures for reconciliation."

    I read this, and have not yet done much research about this topic, but I think this is interesting.

    the question to all is:

    Does Paul preach a fundamentally different religion than Jesus?

    I never really thought about that

  • Crazyguy
    Crazyguy

    Oh yeah, Jesus and Paul are each pushing new ideas. Jesus contradicts Yahweh and Paul contradicts both of them.

  • cofty
    cofty
    Jesus contradicts Yahweh

    I'm not convinced about that.

    Yes I think the differences between Paul and Jesus of the gospels are profound. Jesus was a Jewish Rabbi. He was absolutely wedded to the centrality of keeping the Law. His genius was to grasp the principles behind the Law.

    Paul's assertion that Jew and Gentile were saved by faith alone, apart from Law, is not of Jesus of the gospels.

  • careful
    careful

    So Paul did not peach the kingdom of God? Hmmm...

    So when Paul told the Thessalonians "God ... calls you to his kingdom and glory" (1 Th 2:12) and then later to the same people,"you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God" (2 Th 1:5), or in his frequent warnings about sins that would mean his converts would not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor 6:9, 19; Gal 5:21; Eph 5:5), he was not speaking of the kingdom of God that Jesus spoke of? Are you serious?

  • schnell
    schnell

    @careful, there is reason to believe 2 Thessalonians wasn't written by Paul.

  • Saename
    Saename

    And Ephesians.

  • schnell
    schnell

    And 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus.

  • tor1500
    tor1500

    Hi,

    I don't feel so, Paul preached a different religion than the JW's. Paul preached about Jesus and how we should preach about Jesus...about the resurrection. Before Paul was converted he was a killed and tortured Christians that were not like him. So one day, Jesus ask why has Paul persecuted him...then blinds him then opens his eyes....so if you were blind, who would you preach about certainly it would be the one who performed this miracle...he no doubt knew about God otherwise he wouldn't kill other Christians that did not worship like him...but he just witnessed a miracle....if you read all of the books written by Paul, he speaks of God but he is a witness for Jesus, even Jehovah said if you believe this is my son...

    The JW's are so busy trying to dust off Jehovah's name, as if God needs someone to protect his name, Jesus is a second thought....

    You could be right but what I see Paul preaching about is so different from the organization...

    Tor

  • Sanchy
    Sanchy
    I bet Paul and Tony Morris III would have much in common. I can see them sharing a symposium talk regarding gays and tight pants.
  • careful
    careful

    That's why I quoted 1 Th, 1 Cor, and Gal. I could have quoted more passages from the supposedly genuine Paulines as well. The OP was not about the debate regarding the disputed Pauline letters but about the kingdom in Paul—nothing like going off on a tangent. What about the matter in the OP?

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