Questions about Paul

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Mirror, Mirror

Through the years, My wife and I have butted heads on several topics from the Bible. She would state something and I would state the opposite. We would both pull out our Bibles to support our claim and it turned out that we both were right or both of us were wrong. The Bible contradicted itself.

Through these disagreements brought me to an interesting conclusion, it was Paul. I also found out that this Paul problem was not new. The early Christians rejected Paul and some of the most famous people in history also rejected Paul. Thomas Jefferson, who was an American founding father and third President of the United States also rejected the Apostle Paul. He disliked Paul so much, he even created a bible that did not included any of Paul’s writings in the Jefferson bible.

The problems that stem from Paul are his conversion on the road to Damascus. Each time it is recorded, it seems to change. Acts 9:3-7 say’s hearing but not seeing and Acts 22:9 says seeing but not hearing. If the Books of the Bible are the words of God, Why would God allow this? The God I worship is perfect does not allow mistakes.

People with Big Ego’s get on my nerves more quickly than others. Paul had an enormous ego problem. It was all about me, myself and I with him. No other author of the books of the bible was so full of himself and used so many personal pronouns as Paul. Paul refers to himself as me, myself and I 175 times in 1st Corinthians, 103 times in 2nd Corinthians, in the short book of Galatians an outstanding 69 times. I just wonder if Paul had a mirror how many times a day he would gleam at himself. To himself, Paul was the greatest Apostle that ever lived. He even rebuked Peter to his face once in Galatians 2:11.

Ask yourself these questions.

  1. Why did Paul not accept what the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 had said?

  2. Paul says in Galatians 2:16 that we are saved by faith only. Then why does James refute this by calling the author of this doctrine a “vain man” in James 2:20?

  3. Why in 1st Corinthians 10:27?

  4. Why does Paul say, “as it is written” in Romans 3:10 and piece together sentences from six different places in the Old Testament?

  5. If no one is righteous as he claims in Romans 3:9-20, why in Luke 1:6 claim that the parents of John the Baptist as “righteous before God”?

  6. If Paul is not the one that Revelation 2:2 speaks of, why does Paul say in 2nd Timothy 1:15 that everyone in Asia had turned away from him? The church of Ephesus was in Asia.

  7. How can Paul be a 13th apostle when Revelation 21:14 says that there are only twelve? How about Matthew 19:28?

  8. Paul in Ephesians 1:1 address them as an apostle, is he the one guilty in Revelation 2:2?

  9. If Paul says in Ephesians 6:19 of making the “mystery of the gospel” known, why didn’t Jesus share this mystery with the twelve that had spent 3 years with Him in His earthly ministry?

  10. In Philippians 2:7, Paul says that Jesus came in the likeness of men, In Romans 8:3, Paul says Jesus was the “likeness of sinful flesh”. But in 1st John 4:2-4 in KJV, (the NIV omits it), John says anyone who denies that Jesus did not come in the flesh is part of the spirit of the anti Christ. Does this make Paul the anti Christ?

  11. Who authorized Paul to give us new commandments in 1st Thessalonians 4:2?

  12. In 2nd Thessalonians 3:14, who gave the authority to Paul demanding people to obey? Should I be ashamed for not believing Paul?

  13. Does Paul have the authority to judge and deliver people over to Satan as he does in 1st Timothy 1:20? This has Catholicism written all over it.

  14. Why was Paul looking for a prophet to endorse him in 1st Corinthians 14:37?

  15. Why did Jesus not mention Paul in Matthew 28:18-20?

  16. Why did Jesus say in Matthew 28:19 “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:” and then take it away from them in Galatians 2:7?

  17. Why did Paul in Acts 21:21 teach the Jews to forsake the law of Moses, when Jesus said in Matthew 5:18, “Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”?

  18. Why did Paul tell in 1st Corinthians 8:8 it was OK to eat idol meat when the Council of Jerusalem said not to in Acts 15:29?

  19. If the “other Gospel” in Galatians 1:6 was not the very one taught by the original Apostles John, Peter and John, why does Paul attack their character in Galatians 2?

  20. Why did Paul accuse Peter for acting Jewish around Jews and acting gentile around gentiles in Galatians 2:14, when Paul claims to do the same thing in 1st Corinthians 9:20-22?

  21. Compare Galatians 2:7 to Acts 15:7, who was the one that was to spread the Gospel to the gentiles?

  22. When Paul had Timothy circumcised in Acts 16:1-3, and then tell Him that he did it to profit nothing and He was now in debt to the entire law and he had fallen from grace as in Galatians 5:2-4?

  23. If Jesus had abolished the law as Paul claims in Ephesians 2:15, then why did Jesus lie in Matthew 5:17? Has Heaven and Earth passed away?

  24. In Acts 23:6 Paul claims to be a Pharisee, Jesus says in Luke 12:1 to beware of Pharisees. Was Jesus referring to Paul?

  25. Did Paul allow us to change the Sabbath in Colossians 2:13-16? Compared to Matthew 5:17-19

It’s all confusion when you study Paul and compare his words to other scripture in the Bible. Do we follow Paul or do we follow Jesus? I chose to follow Jesus’ Red words and the men who was actually there with Jesus. John, James, Luke, Matthew, Mark and Peter. Not Paul and his companions

.Mirror Mirror

8 thoughts on “Questions about Paul”

  1. Thank you for your post on my blog. You have posed some very thoughtful questions in your quest for the Truth. I can’t pretend to be a theologian or Biblical scholar, but I can offer some suggestions on how you can approach your pursuit. From my perspective, I try to approach my studies with humility, recognizing that “At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.” So, given this self-knowledge, I try to remember these things:
    1. If there appears to be a contradiction, I ask myself if I truly understand the verses. Do the verses contradict, or is there another construction, meaning or understanding of the verses that clarify the contradiction?
    2. Am I taking the verse out of context?
    3. Are the verses open to alternative meanings than the one I read in them?
    4. What does the Church, as empowered by Christ through the Holy Spirit, construe the verses?

    Reply

    • How can I clarify the contradiction between Acts 16:3, “Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek.” and Galatians 5:2-4, “Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.

      Why did Paul have Timothy circumcised if it profited nothing and would make him a debtor to the entire law?

      or

      explain the contradictions with the different accounts of Paul conversion on the road to Damascus? When in Acts 9:3-7 the witnesses Heard the Voice but did not see the light compared to Acts 22:9 where it was the exact opposite, where the witnesses saw the light but did not hear the voice?

      I have asked all four of your questions for years now and how not been able to clarify them.

      Now I ask your question back to you, Are the verses open to alternative meanings than the one I read in them?

      Reply

      • On the first question: You probably have already heard this analysis before. From my nascent perspective, I think it is helpful to read Romans 14. In that chapter Paul is discussing whether food is unclean. Paul advises that, even if no food is unclean, “If your brother is being hurt by what you eat, your conduct is no longer in accord with love. Do not because of your food destroy him for whom Christ died. So do not let your good be reviled.” Because of this, “it is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.” In the same way, Paul had Timothy circumcised “On account of the Jews of that region.” In other words, rather than make the Faithful of Jewish upbringing stumble, Paul had Timothy circumcised. I am not the first to have this observation. See this (http://www.usccb.org/bible/acts/16#52016003-1 ) (commentary and here (http://www.ncregister.com/site/article/in_all_things_charity/) and here (http://www.cofec.org/christmas_1.html).
        On the other hand, in Galatians 5, I believe that Paul is addressing whether one is saved by faith or the law. In this case, circumcision is a synecdoche representing the whole of the Law, and Paul seems to be saying that if you observe the Law in order to attain salvation, who better do it the utmost and completely. (Go here: http://www.usccb.org/bible/gal/5:3#56005001-1)
        On the second question there seem to be a variety of responses. One source (http://www.usccb.org/bible/acts/9:7#52009001-1) attributes the variance to the different sources Luke uses in each account. Another source (https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en&fromgroups=#!topic/ccsm1/wDa6GFYBD9E) explains that each account describes the companions’ observations, positions and actions at different points of the encounter. A third source (http://www.cofcnet.org/?q=bible_studies/new_testament/acts/church_judea_and_samaria_acts_8_5_12) offers another explanation.
        I think the question to ask is this: What is the relevance of apparent factual contradictions in the light of the Truth intended to be conveyed? Which requires asking this: What was the Truth intended to be conveyed?
        As a Catholic, I believe the Bible is inerrant in conveying the Truth, but that doesn’t mean it conveys scientifically provable facts. As the Catechism (http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__PP.HTM) instructs, “the books of Scripture firmly, faithfully, and without error teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the Sacred Scriptures.” It is inerrant to the extent it teaches the Truth relevant to salvation. One source (http://www.ignatiusinsight.com/features2005/hahn_mitch_ss_aug05.asp) explains it this way:
        “The guarantee of inerrancy does not mean, however, that the Bible is an all-purpose encyclopedia of information covering every field of study. The Bible is not, for example, a textbook in the empirical sciences, and it should not be treated as one. When biblical authors relate facts of the natural order, we can be sure they are speaking in a purely descriptive and “phenomenological” way, according to the way things appeared to their senses.”

        Reply

    • 2 Peter is considered a forgery by many, simply based on the fact that the Name Peter is mis-spelled among others. Even Martin Luther and John Calvin disputed the Second Book of Peter. Lots of the ancient Christians were also suspicious of Second Peter.

      Reply

  4. Great questions. You’ve really searched the Scriptures about these things. It’s always good to use the Bible to interpret the Bible. It’s also good to ask the Lord Himself these questions as well in your personal time with Him. I won’t attempt to answer them all at one time, however to begin with, I’d like to point you to a free study Bible that has helped answer my questions. It’s called the Recovery Version and is available through a non-profit Christian organization called Bibles for America.

    Here’s the link: http://biblesforamerica.org/free-bible/

    Even though it’s called the “Recovery Version” it’s not for recovering addicts. Once you go to that link, it also has an explanation of why this is a helpful study Bible. I suggest ordering this Bible and reading the footnotes that correspond with each of the verse references you cited above. It may help answer these questions you have.

    They also have free Christian literature on various topics that you can order online:
    http://biblesforamerica.org/free-bible-and-christian-books/

    I have no affiliation with Bibles for America other than the fact that I’ve personally benefited from their free study Bible and Christian literature and it has answered all my questions and more!

    Reply

    • Got my Recovery Version of the Bible today, It was interesting to see the words, “Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, as well as Judaism, having become an organization of Satan as his tool to damage God’s economy.”

      Reply

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