Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Would Saint Paul have accepted Jesus if he met him in the flesh?

While Christians refuse to believe that Jesus' did not exist, there is no argument about Paul's historicity. We have his epistles from Romans to Philemon to confirm that fact. By searching through the epistles to find out what Paul knew about Jesus, we find that he knew hardly anything. He didn't know about: (1) virgin birth (2) place of birth (3) time of birth (4) parents names (5) childhood (6) John the Baptist (7) Jesus' baptism (8) the devil's temptation (9) moral teachings (10) miracles (11) apocalyptic views (12) transfiguration (13) Judas (14) Peter's denial (15) his arrest and trial (16) twelve disciples (17) the women who came to his tomb (18) Son of Man (19) travels (20) parables. I may have left something out, but that covers most of the gospels.
Some apologists argue that Paul had no need to go into the details of Jesus' life because they were commonly understood. No so! Paul positively renounced any knowledge of Jesus through human sources.
Gal. 1:11-12
For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not man's gospel.
For I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
He felt unique in having been set apart through grace to have Christ revealed to him.
But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and had called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia; and again I returned to Damascus. (Gal. 1:15-17)
He was placing his bets on the unseen because, to him, they are eternal. Things that can be seen are transient. -It is fair to say that if there had been a walking talking Jesus, Paul would not have accepted him.
For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?
But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. (Rom. 8:24-25)
Because we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Cor. 4:18)

So if there had been a walking talking real life Jesus would Paul have accepted him?

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