Paul and the Gospel

Ijaz Ahmad (in response to Samuel Greens Hand Out)

Introduction
Every knowledgeable Christian concedes that the real founder of Christianity is St.
Paul and not Jesus Christ (peace be upon him). In any event, if there is any
division between a Muslim and a Christian on the grounds of dogma, belief, ethics
or morality, then the cause of such conflict could be traced to an utterance of
Paul found in his books ... in the Bible. (Ahmed Deedat, Crucifixion or Cruci-
Fiction?, ch. 1, pp. 1-2)
This view is accepted by much of the Christian community. Leading Dead Sea Scrolls scholar
and former Chair of the Religious Studies Department at UNC Charlotte has stated:
This book is a historical investigation of the origins of this particular way of
defining and understanding Christianity. As we shall see, such an understanding of
the Christian faith, confessed by millions each week in church services all over the
world, originates from the experiences and ideas of one man Saul of Tarsus,
better known as the apostle Paul not from Jesus himself, or from Peter, John, or
James, or any of the original apostles that Jesus chose in his lifetime. And further,
I maintain that there was a version of Christianity before Paul, affirmed by both
Jesus and his original followers, with tenets and affirmations quite opposite to
these of Paul. (Tabor, James D. Paul and Jesus (Kindle Locations 82-87). Simon &
Schuster, Inc.. Kindle Edition.)
As you progress through this handout, references about Pauls incompetence have been taken
from famous exegetes and scholars of the Christian faith. I have not relied on what Muslim
leaders or speakers have said to prove what Muslims understand of Paul, instead I have gone
to the Christian scholars and quoted their own words about him.





Paul and the Bible
While the current Christian canon includes the Old Testament, the majority of Christian beliefs
are found in the New Testament. Of the 27 books of the New Testament, 14 are attributed to
Paul which would mean that 51% of the New Testaments teachings are Pauline. Some may
claim that Pauls writings are only 7% of the entire Bible (Old and New Testaments combined),
and while that may be true, it should be noted that a vast majority of the Old Testament deals
with the history of the Jewish people inclusive of the 613 Mitzvot (commandments) which
Christians disregard and no longer practice. Psalm 119:160 clearly states that Gods righteous
laws are eternal, whereas Paul in Romans 10:4 claims that the Christ is the end of the law, thus
they present two contrasting view points and are not in harmony with each other.
While Christians may read the works attributed to the Prophets, Muslim practice what the
Prophets taught. Beliefs like the Oneness of God and obedience to Gods laws such as fasting,
sanitary rituals before praying, sanitary rituals before touching scripture and diet restrictions
are both emphasized in the Jewish faith and the Islamic faith, yet ignored and ceased by the
Pauline Church. At this point, Islam and Judaism are very different to Christianity, while
Christianity depends on one mans interpretation of Jewish teachings, the Pauline
understanding of the law, both Islam and Judaism adhere to the practice and teachings of the
Prophets. As EP Sanders says of Paul and the Law of the Prophets:
The proposal of the present monograph is that the different things which Paul
said about the law depend on the question asked or the problem posed. Each
answer has its own logic and springs from one of his central concerns; but the
diverse answers, when set alongside one another, do not form a logical whole, as
might have been expected had he set out to discuss the problem of law as such.
(E. P. Sanders. Paul, the Law, and the Jewish People (p. 4). Kindle Edition.)
If Pauls own consistency does not form a logical whole by itself according to one of the
greatest Christian scholars of the 20
th
century, then how can it form a whole with the Old
Testament and by extension with the Prophets?



Paul and the Prophets #1

Some may mistakenly claim that Paul commanded the early Christians to read the Hebrew
Bible (Old Testament) by referencing 2 Timothy 3:16, this despite the lack of any manuscript of
2 Timothy prior to the 3
rd
century CE, some 250 years after Pauls alleged authorship. It is easy
to state that Paul did not turn anyone away from the Prophets, yet the purpose of the
Prophets works were to encourage the Israelites to obey Gods mitzvot (law, commandments)
which Paul directly stated had come to an end as indicated above. I do believe that there is a
marked difference between merely reading what the Prophets may have written while
ignoring their teachings, and with adhering to strict monotheism, disdain for polytheism, ritual
fasting and praying. While the Prophets and Islam teach that obeying the law brings peace
with God:
Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to
you. Job 22:21.
Paul (and by extension Christianity) teaches that the law from God is a burden which enslaves
those who obey it:
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let
yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1.
Paul knowingly contradicts himself overwhelmingly when trying to appeal to the Jews by
disregarding one of his most preached beliefs, salvation by faith in Christ, we read:
Even at the point at which Paul may most obviously be charged with true
incoherence, the statements in Romans 2 that the sole basis of salvation is
fulfillment of the law, we can see that he has been led to make use of material
which is contrary to one of his central convictions (salvation by faith in Jesus
Christ) by the desire to assert another one (the equality which is contrary to one
of his central convictions (salvation by faith in Jesus Christ) by the desire to assert
another one (the equality of Jew and Gentile). Nevertheless Romans 2 remains
the instance in which Paul goes beyond inconsistency or variety of argument and
explanation to true self-contradiction. (E. P. Sanders. Paul, the Law, and the
Jewish People (p. 147). Kindle Edition.)
Therefore, when someone claims that Pauls views were consistent with the Prophets, we
have to ask, where do the soteriological views of the Prophets align consistently with that of
Pauls when he could not be consistent with himself?
Paul and the Prophets #2

What the apostle taught not only disagrees with the Torah, the Prophets, the Psalms and Jesus
but he also disagrees with himself on one occasion as highlighted below:
Torah Prophets Psalms Jesus Paul
One God,
(Not Triune)
Deu. 6:4 Isaiah 45:5 Psalm 50:1 Mark 12:29 -
Images of God
are Sinful,
(Pray only to God
in Heaven)

Deu. 7:25 Isaiah 21:9 Psalm
106:20
Matthew 6:9 Romans 1:23
(Agrees)
1 Cor. 11:7
(Men are Gods
image, women
are not &
Disagrees)
God Literally has
Sons
- - - - Rom. 1:1-7
(Agrees)
God Literally
Dwells on Earth
Law of
Agency,
(Disagrees)
Law of
Agency,
(Disagrees)
Law of
Agency,
(Disagrees)
Matthew 6:9

(Disagrees)
Eph. 2:22

(Agrees)
God Accepts a
Human Sacrifice
for Sin
Exodus 12



(Disagrees)
Isaiah 1:11-5



(Disagrees)
- Matt. 9:13
Matt. 12:7
Matt. 26:17

(Disagrees)
Rom. 3:25



(Agrees)
Obeying Gods
Laws Bring Peace
Deu. 28:1-14

(Agrees)
Job 22:21

(Agrees)
Psalm
119:165
(Agrees)
Matt.
5:17-19
(Agrees)
Gal. 5:1

(Disagrees)

A brother has compiled a list with numerous examples of Pauls misquoting of Old Testament
verses, playing with verses and misinterpreting verses. His website is Many Prophets One
Message and it is excellent. Click this link here to go to the relevant article.
Did Paul Change the Message of Jesus?
Some have claimed that Muslims believe Jesus came to reaffirm the laws of Moses and it was
Paul who changed this objective, we read from Samuel Greens handout:

Jesus stressed to his followers that his mission did not cancel the laws received by
Prophet Moses. As the prophets who came after Moses maintained the law, so
did Jesus. ... However, Paul, who claimed to be a disciple ofJesus, systematically
cancelled the laws. (Bilal Philips, The True Message of Jesus, Rabwah: IPC, 2007,
pp. 73-74)
Following this claim, they have gone on to state that this is an inconsistency in the Islamic
belief as the Quraan states that Jesus brought laws which differed with the Torah:
And [I (Jesus) have come] confirming what was before me of the Torah and to
make lawful for you some of what was forbidden to you. (Quran 3:50, Saheeh In.)
This however, is not an inconsistency. Jesus did affirm the obedience to Gods law and with
the changes he brought, he still affirmed obedience to Gods law, Jesus did not absolve anyone
from their responsibility to obey Gods commandments. Paul on the other hand, quite clearly
absolves them of this responsibility to God and refers to it as a burden, while preaching a
humans murder satisfies the Old Testament teaching of sacrificing a lamb (Exodus 12); a belief
not taught anywhere in the Torah, Prophets, Psalms or by Jesus.









Jesus and his Apostles
Jesus allegedly says of himself:
"If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. John 5:31

This is at odds with Paul who claims Jesus appointed him as an apostle and offers no other
witness. The only other writings in the New Testament which claim Paul did meet the disciples
of Christ and received their blessing are from Paul himself or Pauls amanuenses (scribes).
Therefore if we are to judge Paul by Jesus standard, Pauls testimony must be rejected and it
is not true. Many Christian sects also claimed to have been given their beliefs by the disciples,
Paul is not unique in this regard. One such example is from Basilides, another would be
contained in the Nag Hammadi Scrolls.
There are many occasions where Paul claims one thing of himself, and another of everyone
else, thus contradicting himself whereby making his testimony unreliable. For example in one
instance he says:
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23
Yet, he also claims that he has followed the law perfectly, he is faultless by it and thus he has
not fallen short of the glory of God:
If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have
more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of
Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal,
persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.
Philippians 3:4-6
If Paul cannot be trusted to be consistent with his own testimony, how can we expect his
testimony of others to be accurate? As we will see later on, Paul becomes possessed by a
Messenger of Satan which he claims Jesus sent to him. If the Messenger is from Satan and he
claims Jesus sent the Messenger, then wouldnt that mean Jesus is Satan?




A Beautiful Reading from Paul
I hope you will put up with me in a little foolishness. Yes, please put up with me! I
am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I do not think I am in the least inferior to
those super-apostles. I may indeed be untrained as a speaker, but I do have

knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way. I robbed other
churches by receiving support from them so as to serve you. I repeat: Let no one
take me for a fool. But if you do, then tolerate me just as you would a fool, so that
I may do a little boasting. In this self-confident boasting I am not talking as the
Lord would, but as a fool. Since many are boasting in the way the world does, I
too will boast. You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! (2 Corinthians
11:1, 5-6, 8, 16-19.)
A Prayer from Paul
Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be
speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is
warranted by what I do or say, or because of these surpassingly great revelations.
Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in
my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the
Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you,
for my power is made perfect in weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:6-9)
Read more on what the famous exegetes state about Pauls demon possession.








Conclusion
Muslim leaders representation of Paul are in keeping with Christian scholarship of the highest
degree and based on Pauls own words and testimony. Modern Christianity is based upon Paul
in many ways, especially when it comes to their soteriological beliefs (doctrine of salvation),
their views on scripture (Christians canonized their popular writings in 393 and 397 CE

alongside the Hebrew Testament), the practice of the law, Gods Absolute Oneness, etc.
Perhaps we can close this document off with a quote from the famous exegete in regard to
early Pauline Christianity:
In presenting the Christian gospel to the Greek world, Christian leaders in the
first century were more and more embarrassed by the fact that the Jewish
people, among whom the new faith had arisen, did not in any large numbers
accept it. Christianity seems to have failed in its first campaign. Its first field was
obviously the Jewish people among whom it had arisen; Jesus was their Messiah,
foretold by their prophets. But his own people had refused him. What did it
mean? The prophets had been full of pictures of the redeemed nation. The
coming of the Messiah was to release a new program of spiritual glory for Israel.
In the cherished messianic drama his appearance was to be the cue for the nation
to take the stage. But the nation had not responded. The Christians joyfully
accepted the Jewish scriptures as their Bible, but the prophetic program seemed
to be breaking down.
Yet Christianity was not failing. It was winning an amazing success, but in the
Greek, not in the Jewish, world. Christianity was, in fact, rapidly becoming a Greek
religion. But this success of Christianity in the Greek world only increased the
difficulty of the problem. It was nothing like what the prophets had said would
happen when the Messiah came. (An Introduction to the New Testament, by
Edgar J. Godspeed, Matthew, page 158 159.)





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Created: 18.09.2014

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