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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Author: context Ordered by Date |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Why has the Bible not been added to? | Bible general Archive 2 | context | 108672 | ||
Because there are no known writings from Jesus, the actual Apostles, or anyone that actually knew Him in the flesh (other then perhaps James), most of what He taught is lost forever. The beginning of Christianity stands two figures: Jesus and Paul. Jesus is regarded by Christians as the founder of their religion, in that the events of his life comprise the foundation story of Christianity; but Paul is regarded as the great interpreter of Jesus' mission, who explained, in a way that Jesus himself never did, how Jesus' life and death fitted into a cosmic scheme of salvation, stretching from the creation of Adam to the end of time. The doctrines of Christianity come mostly from the teaching or influence of Paul, a Pharisee(?) who rejected his Pharisaic Judaism and converted to Christ. Paul would later be placed over his Jewish-Christian rivals by a Gnostic heretic named Marcion. Neither Jesus himself nor his disciples had any intention of founding a new religion. The need for a semblance of continuity between Christianity and Judaism, and between Gentile and Jewish Christianity, led to a playing-down of Paul's creative role. The split that took place between Paul and the Jerusalem Church is minimized in the Paulinist book of Acts, which contrasts with Paul's earlier and more authentic account in Galatians 2.Paul's originality lies in his conception of the death of Jesus as saving mankind from sin. Instead of seeing Jesus as a messiah of the Jewish type human saviour from political bondage he saw him as a salvation-deity whose atoning death by violence was necessary to release his devotees for immortal life. This view of Jesus' death seems to have come to Paul in his Damascus vision. Its roots lie not in Judaism, but in mystery-religion, with which Paul was acquainted in Tarsus. The violent deaths of Osiris, Attis, Adonis, and Dionysus brought divinization to their initiates. Paul, as founder of the new Christian mystery, initiated the Eucharist, echoing the communion meal of the mystery religions. The awkward insertion of eucharistic material based on I Corinthians 11:23-26 into the Last Supper accounts in the Gospels cannot disguise this, especially as the evidence is that the Jerusalem Church did not practise the Eucharist. Paul's new religion had the advantage over other salvation-cults of being attached to the Hebrew Scriptures, which Paul now reinterpreted as forecasting the salvation-death of Jesus. This gave Pauline Christianity an awesome authority that proved attractive to Gentiles thirsting for salvation. Paul's new doctrine, however, met with disapproval from the Jewish-Christians of the Jerusalem Church, who regarded the substitution of Jesus' atoning death for the observance of the Torah as a lapse into paganism. Paul was summoned to Jerusalem by the leaders James (Jesus' brother), Peter, and John to explain his doctrine (c.50). At the ensuing conference, agreement was reached that Paul's Gentile converts did not need to observe the Torah. This was not a revolutionary decision, since Judaism had never insisted on full conversion to Judaism for Gentiles. But Paul on this occasion concealed his belief that the Torah was no longer valid for Jews either. He was thus confirmed in the role of "apostle to the Gentiles," with full permission to enroll Gentiles in the messianic movement without requiring full conversion to Judaism. It was when Peter visited him in Antioch and became aware of the full extent of Paul's views that a serious rift began between Pauline and Jewish Christianity. At a second conference in Jerusalem (c.55), Paul was accused by James of teaching Jews "to turn their backs on Moses" (Acts 21:21). Again, however, Paul evaded the charge by concealing his views, and he agreed to undergo a test of his own observance of the Torah. His deception, however, was detected by a group of "Asian Jews" (probably Jewish Christians) who were aware of his real teaching. A stormy protest ensued in which Paul feared for his life and was rescued by the Roman police, to whom he declared for his protection that he was a Roman citizen. This surprising announcement was the end of Paul's association with the Jerusalem Church, to whom the Romans were the chief enemy. Paul's authentic voice is found in his Epistles. Here he appears as an eloquent writer, skilled in asserting his authority over his converts as their inspired teacher. Paul's letters belong to Greek literature and have affinity to Stoic and Cynic literature. His knowledge of the Scriptures is confined to their Greek translation, the Septuagint. Paul was a religious genius, who invested Greek mystery-religion with the historical sweep and authority of the Jewish Bible.If one is interested in the Ebionites, the true followers of Jesus and His Message, you can visit their website at http://www.ebionite.org/ |
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2 | Why has the Bible not been added to? | Bible general Archive 2 | context | 108631 | ||
Yet again you speak without knowledge on this issue. Paul rebukes Peter in Antioch. Soon after the Jerusalem Conference mentioned in Act 15:1-35, Paul chastised Peter (Cephas) in Antioch for his hypocrisy. At the time both Peter and Paul had been in Antioch, and both Peter and Paul had been eating together with the Gentiles, which was contrary to Jewish law but consistent with Christian justification by living faith rather than justification by ritual acts. When the disciples of James (Jesus' brother) arrived in Antioch, Peter disassociated himself from his earlier unprejudiced acceptance of the Gentiles of the Antioch church. In Gal 2:12 Paul said that Peter "drew back and would not eat with the Gentiles, because he was afraid" of the more Jewish-oriented followers of James who favored circumcision and strict adherence to Jewish law. Paul then publicly rebuked Peter for his hypocrisy. As Paul stated in Gal 2::11 (TEV), "I opposed him in public, because he was clearly wrong." In Gal 2:13 (TEV) Paul also expressed disappointment that "even Barnabas was swept along by their cowardly action." | ||||||
3 | Why has the Bible not been added to? | Bible general Archive 2 | context | 108622 | ||
You state:"Public Revelation ended with the death of the last of Apostles who were eye witnesses to Jesus Christ who is the Rvelation of God." For your information this is not true. Mark was an apostle of Peter and never met Christ. Luke never met Christ and was not one of the original Twelve he was a desciple of Pauls. Most importantly the majority of "orthodox" thought is based upon the words of Paul,a man who claimed a vision and wrote his views via letters to already established churches. Paul came some time after Christ death and was never truly accepted by the 12. Paul and Peter were in considerable conflict on many issues the major being the law and subsequently grace. |
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