The Apostle Paul:

[Overcomer]

I have seen this topic come up in a variety of conversations and decided that it deserved a thread of its own. Some people think that what Paul wrote and taught had nothing to do with Jesus and that, therefore, Christianity is his making. I think that, in investigating this claim, the following should be considered:

Doctrine: Atonement by death on the cross:

First taught by Isaiah (Is. 53:5-12).
Taught by Jesus (Matt. 10:38;16:24, 26:28, Mark 8:34, 14:24, Luke 9:23, 14:27, 22:20, John 12:32-332)
Taught by Paul (1 Corinthians 1:18, 11:25, Ephesians 2:8, 16, Colossians 1:20, 2:14)
Taught by others (John 1:29, 36, Acts 8:32, 1 Peter 1:18-19, 2:24, Revelation 5:12-14, 7:14)

Believe in Jesus for eternal life:

First taught by Job (Job 19:25-26)
Taught by Jesus (Matthew 19:29, Mark 10:29-30, Luke 9:24, John 3:16)
Taught by Paul (Romans 5:21, 6:23, 1 Timothy 1:16, Jude 1:21)
Taught by others (Acts 11:17-18, 1 John 5:11)

Righteousness by faith:

First taught by Moses (Genesis 15:6) and Habakkuk (Habakkuk 2:4).
Taught by Jesus (Mark 11:22, Luke 7:50)
Taught by Paul (Romans 1:17, 3:22, 3:25-26, 4:3, 9, 11, 13, 5:17, 9:30, 10:4, 10, Galatians 3:6, 11, Philippians 3:9)
Taught by others (Hebrews 11:4, 7, 2 Peter 1:11).

Justification by faith:

First taught by Moses (Genesis 15:6, Isaiah 53:11)
Taught by Jesus (Luke 7:50, 8:12 Mark 16:16, John 3:18, 5:24)
Taught by Paul (Romans 3:28, 30, 5:1, 18, Galatians 2:16, 3:8, 24)
Taught by James (James 2:23)

Forgiveness of sin through faith

First taught by David (2 Chronicles 7:14, Psalm 86:5, Jeremiah 31:33-34)
Taught by Jesus (Matthew 9:2, 6, 26:27-28, Mark 2:5, 10-11, Luke 5:20, 24, Acts 26:18)
Taught by Paul (Acts 26:18, Ephesians 1:7, 4:32, Colossians 1:13-14, 2:13, 3:13)
Taught by others (Luke 1:76-77, Acts 2:38, 5:31, 10:43, 13:38, Hebrews 10:18-20, James 5:15, 1 John 1:7-9, 2:12)

Repentance

First taught by Isaiah (Isaiah 1:27, 30:15, Ezekiel 18:32)
Taught by Jesus (Matthew 4:17, Mark 1:15, Luke 5:32, 13:3, 24:46-47)
Taught by Paul (Romans 2:4, 2 Corinthians 7:9-10)
Taught by others (Matthew 3:2, Mark 1:4, Luke 3:3, Acts 2:38, 17:30, 20:21, 2 Peter 3:9)

Those are a lot of verses to look up. For your convenience, you can read them all at the end of the article at this link:

http://www.godandscience.org/apologetic ... anity.html

I have listed just the core doctrines of Christianity as they first appeared in the Old Testament, then as Jesus taught them, then as Paul taught them and, finally, as others such as Matthew, Peter, John and Luke, for example, taught them to show how all of them are connected throughout the entire Bible.

There are also other teachings of Jesus such as the parable of the sower and topics such as divorce, the Lord's Supper and paying taxes to authorities, just to name a few. They can be found at the above link.

Paul also notes that he teaches "what he received", that is, "that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures and he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve" (1 Cor. 15:3-6). He received the teaching from the Holy Spirit and Christ's apostles.

Here is a synopsis of Paul's teachings showing how they came directly from Jesus:

https://www.biola.edu/blogs/good-book-b ... ristianity

So Paul is not the creator of Christianity. All he did was take what Jesus said and explain it to others. As such, it is better to call him the midwife of Christianity in that he helped birth it, but did not make it himself.

Given all of this, why do some people say that Paul created Christianity and that what he taught has nothing to do with the teachings of Jesus, that he made it all up himself?

[earl]

Overcomer,
On the atonement-A lawer confronted Jesus as to how to have eternal life.Lu.10.25.
There was no atonement so that the lawyer can have eternal life right then.
Sin transference is another obstacle.see Ez.18.
On the church
Paul provided doctrine to organize a church and it's conduct.
Jesus said on this rock i will build my assembly. Mt.16.18. Rotherham bible.Jesus said assemble yourselves together.He gave no specific guidelines for how.
Predestiny,
Paul believed in predestiny and taught it.
Paul's gospel,
Paul admits his gospel,"my gospel"
Paul also states ,"this is not by commandment",Or "I have no commandment" ,or Speak by permission "and goes on to teach others his .

[Checkpoint]

[Replying to post 1 by Overcomer]

Some people think that what Paul wrote and taught had nothing to do with Jesus and that, therefore, Christianity is his making.

Christianity came from its founder, Jesus Christ.

It was this same Jesus who called Paul to proclaim and spread his kingdom message that became Christianity.

[brianbbs67]

Overcomer,
On the atonement-A lawer confronted Jesus as to how to have eternal life.Lu.10.25.
There was no atonement so that the lawyer can have eternal life right then.
Sin transference is another obstacle.see Ez.18.
On the church
Paul provided doctrine to organize a church and it's conduct.
Jesus said on this rock i will build my assembly. Mt.16.18. Rotherham bible.Jesus said assemble yourselves together.He gave no specific guidelines for how.
Predestiny,
Paul believed in predestiny and taught it.
Paul's gospel,
Paul admits his gospel,"my gospel"
Paul also states ,"this is not by commandment",Or "I have no commandment" ,or Speak by permission "and goes on to teach others his .

The Way didn't have to have it explained. They were devout Judahians. Jesus taught Moses without the traditions of men preventing the following of God's law. The early church worshipped with the Jews in Synagogues. 2nd peter 3:14-17 sums up peoples misunderstandings of Paul

[Checkpoint]

[Replying to post 1 by Overcomer]

why do some people say that Paul created Christianity and that what he taught has nothing to do with the teachings of Jesus, that he made it all up himself?

Why indeed. Who knows.

Maybe if you give some an inch they will take a mile, or make it into one.

Perhaps they for some reason don't trust, or don't like, Paul.

It is then easy to make a mountain out of a molehill.

[Elijah John]

[Replying to post 1 by Overcomer]

Why didn't Jesus even mention "the blood" in his essential model prayer, the Lord's Prayer? Yet he mentions forgiveness there and in all of the following:

Why didn't Jesus go around preaching "the blood"? Where is there any mention, for example of "the blood" in the Sermon on the Mount?

Where is there any mention of "the blood" in the Beattitudes?

Where is there any mention of "the blood" in the Parables?

Those things represent the bulk of Jesus teachings, and in those places there is talk of repentance and forgiveness, and the Father's mercy, but no mention of "the blood".

Why is that?

Also Jesus never mentioned the necessity of "believing in your heart that God raised him (will raise me) from the dead" as a condition for salvation. That is Paul, preaching his own "different Gospel". Not what Jesus preached.

And Jesus never taught that he had a name "above every other". To Jesus, (as suggested in the Lord's prayer) there is only one name above every other, and that is the name of the Father which we know is YHVH. Every good Jew knew that, are you denying Jesus was a Jew?

And where in the Tanakh is it ever stated that the Messiah has (or will have) a "name above every other"?

It is Paul and others who put Jesus name above every other. And that is another essential difference in the teaching of Paul vs. Jesus.

[Elijah John]

Paul peached "Christ and him crucified".

Jesus preached repentance, the Kingdom of God, and the Father's mercy.

Jesus preached the Father, Paul preached Jesus. Big difference, at least in emphasis.

And I would ask any JW why do you give any credibility to Paul when instead of preaching Jehovah and the importance of his name (Psalm 79.9), he preached "Christ"?

[Elijah John]

[Replying to post 1 by Overcomer]

Some people think that what Paul wrote and taught had nothing to do with Jesus and that, therefore, Christianity is his making.

Christianity came from its founder, Jesus Christ.

It was this same Jesus who called Paul to proclaim and spread his kingdom message that became Christianity.

So says Paul. Did Jesus ever mention that he would be appoint Paul from the sky? As far as I know, he only mentioned the arrival of the Comforter. Not Paul, not Mohammed.

It can be argued that Jesus did mention Paul, when he warned against "false prophets".

[Checkpoint]

Paul peached "Christ and him crucified".

Jesus preached repentance, the Kingdom of God, and the Father's mercy.

Jesus preached the Father, Paul preached Jesus. Big difference, at least in emphasis.

And I would ask any JW why do you give any credibility to Paul when instead of preaching Jehovah and the importance of his name (Psalm 79.9), he preached "Christ"?

Jesus also preached himself, and Paul also preached/wrote of, the Father.

The Father preached His Son.

[PinSeeker]

Great OP, Overcomer. I would add that Jesus said -- on many occasions -- that Moses and all the prophets (a reference to the entirety of the Old Testament) wrote of Him.

* Jesus said, in His parable: "But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And (the dead rich man) said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ (Abraham) said to (the dead rich man), ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ �[Luke 16:29-31]

* To the two men on the way to Emmaus after His resurrection Jesus said, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?� And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

* "Then he said to (His disciples), 'These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.' Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, 'Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things." [Luke 24:44-48]

* "For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me." [John 5:46]

Luke, in Acts, continues this narrative concerning the entire Old Testament being about Jesus (7:37, 26:22, and 28:23).

Leviticus, for example, is all about Jesus, the Lamb without blemish, and redemption through His blood; the book of Leviticus has rightly been called "The ABCs of Redemption."

And, in Hebrews 11, we see that all mankind are saved -- if in fact they are saved -- the same way, by faith. "By faith Abraham... Abel... Enoch... Noah... Moses... the people who crossed the Red Sea on dry land... Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets..." Every single one of them.

Jesus did not found Christianity when He walked the earth, but rather "in the beginning." All things are from Him and through Him and to Him. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.

Grace and peace to all.