reblogged from Nazam’s facebook page 

By trying to understand the Pauline school scriptures (the whole N.T), you really are shooting yourself in the foot. We’re talking about the same scriptures which have two letters by Peter, both of which are pseudonymous (Paul always had it in for Peter, it’s strange). Yet it has not been able to escape from cracks which actually emphasise different Christianities from even the earliest ‘recorded’ times.

Paul mentions those who are preaching a different gospel. There are Jewish Christians who uphold the Law, this flies in the face of what Paul believes. He is no slave to the law anymore because the law died with Christ. Paul made clear these Jewish Christians are actually those who follow James. Jewish Christians were mad thinking that Paul taught that they don’t need to eat kosher meat for example. The disciples told Paul to prove what they’re saying is wrong, unbeknown to them that we actually have Paul’s letters. Paul then deceives the disciples by performing the sacrifices (which go completely against the very pillar of Paul’s faith) – that right there was the moment of truth. This shows that the Jewish Christians did believe that you still *had* to eat kosher meat AND that the disciples as well as the Jewish Christians felt that there was no ultimate atoning sacrifice…otherwise the disciples themselves wouldn’t have been sacrificing at all either.

If James’ followers knew and were in staunch opposition to ‘faith alone’ justification, do you think maybe that James said something to them about this? If yes, then that puts things on very shaky grounds for you. If no, then that raises a problem because it appears that in Christian history, even the closest followers of disciples can form a different view without even blinking. It’s this very ‘closeness’ that Christians appeal to to strengthen their claims. The logic ‘because it’s made it to the cannon, it’s inspired’ is also put onto shaky grounds.

Categories: Bible, Biblical scholarship, Christianity, History, Judaism, Recommended Reading