If anybody wants to run down to Barnes and Noble and pick up a copy of Talmudic Scholar Hyam Maccoby's book THE MYTHMAKER, Paul and the Invention of Christianity you will find the $9 you spend to be an embaressment of riches.
By taking the classical Jewish rabbinical view of things into the study of how the Jerusalem congregation dealt with Paul the teachings of the Watchtower Society regarding blood fall by the wayside.
There were two methods of salvation for Gentiles in Pharisee thinking; either by full conversion to Judaism, in which case the convert would become a full Jew and participate in the covenant with israel; or by adherence to the Noahide Laws which constittued a covenant and a Torah for Gentiles as revealed by God to Noah, the patriarch of the Gentiles.
In the case of Paul vs the brothers in Jerusalem, the Gentiles he was preaching to would not wish to become full-fledged Jews since their salvation by Jesus was sufficient. The Jews would, therefore, insist they abide by the Nohide laws if they were going to allow them association in worship.
Consequently, the argument that the Jews regarded Gentiles as doomed to destruction unless they became Jews is nonsense. Paul, who neither read nor spoke nor wrote Hebrew was raised a Gentile by his Gentile parents. His efforts to become a Pharisee failed. It is psychologically necessary for Paul to figure out a salvation for himself that is SUPERIOR to those who rejected him. The Ebionite account of Paul is most illuminating. (Ebionites were a gnostic sect (writings in the Dead Sea Scrolls) who shed further light on who Paul was.
Paul's claims about himself are never challenged by modern day Christianity and least of all the Watchtower Society. An honest investigation of all available historical evidence puts Paul's self-claims to the test.
The fact is Paul's theories about Jesus and his place in religious history was a self-serving and elevating attempt at self-aggrandizement. His writings were FIRST between 50 c.e. and 60 c.e. By the time the gospel accounts began to be written down decades of Paul's version had a chance to influence prevailing viewpoints. The gospels date from 70 c.e. to 110 c.e.
The editors of orthodoxy preferred Paul's version and eliminated everything that didn't fit his theory from finding its way into the canonized version of the Bible. As a result, the Apostles are portrayed as little more than dumb boobs who understood nothing. Jesus' own brother, James, is hardly mentioned at all! Yet, who led the congregation in Jerusalem after Jesus' death?
Stepping outside of mainstream thought requires a lot of work. It requires taking all ancient writings into evidence and weighing the balance between them. When contradictions start clearing up, the picture often makes more logical sense than the sanitised official view so dear to the hearts of the powerbroker religious institutions.
My friend, Johnny, simply never entertains any thought that don't originate from Brooklyn N.Y.
He said yesterday, more than once, "I HAVE TO BELIEVE....."
Desperate!
