Did Paul Distort the Message of Christ? (2021-08-04) ​

0:00:05 paul of tarsus has done more than any
0:00:07 other person in history to influence and
0:00:10 shape conceptions about the person and
0:00:12 message of jesus
0:00:14 in this video we are going to consider
0:00:16 the question is paul a reliable source
0:00:18 of information about jesus
0:00:25 the early followers of jesus were hunted
0:00:27 and persecuted by paul who started out
0:00:29 as a zealous enemy of christianity
0:00:32 then one day while on a sandy desert
0:00:34 road to damascus paul said they had a
0:00:36 mystical encounter with a disembodied
0:00:39 voice claiming to be jesus
0:00:41 from there paul went on to become a
0:00:43 super evangelist dedicating his life to
0:00:45 spreading what he claimed was the
0:00:47 message of jesus
0:00:49 paul's biggest claim to legitimacy as an
0:00:51 apostle is the divine revelation which
0:00:53 he said he received directly from jesus
0:00:56 for example paul wrote i want you to
0:00:59 know brothers and sisters that the
0:01:01 gospel i preached is not of human origin
0:01:04 rather i received it by revelation from
0:01:06 jesus christ
0:01:08 unfortunately there is no way of
0:01:10 independently verifying paul's claims of
0:01:13 mystical desert encounters with jesus we
0:01:15 just have to take him at his word
0:01:17 what we can do to test paul's
0:01:19 apostleship is to scrutinize his
0:01:21 writings
0:01:22 he made repeated claims of divine
0:01:24 inspiration and since god is all-knowing
0:01:26 and all-wise it stands to reason that
0:01:28 paul's writings should be free of error
0:01:36 in the following prophecy paul provided
0:01:38 a timeline for the world's end
0:01:41 we will not all sleep but we will all be
0:01:43 changed in a flash in the twinkling of
0:01:45 an eye at the last trumpet
0:01:48 for the trumpet will sound the dead will
0:01:50 be raised imperishable and we will be
0:01:52 changed
0:01:53 sleep here is being used as a metaphor
0:01:55 for death so paul seems to be saying
0:01:57 that not all of the believers in his day
0:01:59 would die before the return of jesus
0:02:02 obviously this is a false prophecy as it
0:02:04 has been nearly 2 000 years since paul
0:02:07 wrote these words and the return of
0:02:09 jesus still has not taken place
0:02:12 in fact many new testament scholars and
0:02:14 thinkers conclude that paul and his
0:02:16 followers expected the imminent end of
0:02:18 the world
0:02:19 for example the distinguished new
0:02:20 testament scholar professor c k barrett
0:02:23 wrote in his commentary on this prophecy
0:02:25 paul expects that at the parousia second
0:02:28 coming of jesus he himself will not be
0:02:30 among the dead of whom he speaks in the
0:02:32 third person but among the living of
0:02:35 whom he speaks in the first person he
0:02:37 expected the parousia within his own
0:02:39 lifetime
0:02:40 a virtually identical end-of-world
0:02:42 prophecy can be found in the gospel of
0:02:44 mark the renowned christian apologist c
0:02:47 s lewis wrote that it is the most
0:02:50 embarrassing verse in the bible
0:02:52 now some christians try to defend paul
0:02:54 by claiming that when he made the
0:02:56 statement we will not all sleep he was
0:02:58 not including the believers of his day
0:03:00 among those who will not taste death but
0:03:03 rather he was referring to believers at
0:03:05 some unspecified time in the future
0:03:07 so what did paul intend by a statement
0:03:10 shall we interpret it literally or
0:03:11 figuratively
0:03:12 we can look to paul's related prophecies
0:03:15 to help us arrive at the correct
0:03:16 understanding
0:03:17 in the following prophecy paul advised
0:03:19 believers with regards to how they
0:03:21 should conduct themselves going forward
0:03:24 but those who marry will face many
0:03:25 troubles in this life and i want to
0:03:27 spare you this what i mean brothers and
0:03:29 sisters is that the time is short from
0:03:32 now on those who have wives should live
0:03:34 as if they do not
0:03:36 those who mourn as if they did not
0:03:38 those who are happy as if they were not
0:03:41 those who buy something as if it were
0:03:43 not theirs to keep
0:03:44 those who use the things of the world as
0:03:46 if not engrossed in them for this world
0:03:48 in its present form is passing away
0:03:51 note paul's statements about marriage
0:03:53 emotions and materialism
0:03:55 believers are told that all such
0:03:56 activities are futile as time is short
0:03:59 and the world is passing away believers
0:04:01 are advised to avoid such things from
0:04:03 now on i.e with immediate effect going
0:04:06 forward
0:04:06 this is clear proof that paul genuinely
0:04:09 believed that the world's end was
0:04:10 imminent otherwise his advice about
0:04:12 living as bachelors not feeling human
0:04:14 emotions and being completely detached
0:04:16 from material things is nonsensical as
0:04:19 christians would have been unnecessarily
0:04:21 going about life as celibate emotionless
0:04:23 ascetics for nearly 2 000 years and
0:04:25 counting
0:04:26 this is highly problematic when we
0:04:28 consider the standard that the old
0:04:29 testament lays out for true divine
0:04:31 inspiration
0:04:32 if what a prophet proclaims in the name
0:04:34 of the lord does not take place or come
0:04:36 true that is a message the lord has not
0:04:39 spoken
0:04:40 we can see that according to the bible
0:04:42 itself anyone who makes a claim about
0:04:44 the future which then fails to come true
0:04:46 cannot be inspired by god
0:04:54 one of paul's core teachings is the idea
0:04:56 that salvation is achieved through faith
0:04:58 in jesus alone and not any kind of works
0:05:01 as paul informed us but what does it say
0:05:04 the word is near you it is in your mouth
0:05:07 and in your heart
0:05:08 that is the message concerning faith
0:05:10 that we proclaim
0:05:12 if you declare with your mouth jesus is
0:05:14 lord and believe in your heart that god
0:05:16 raised him from the dead you will be
0:05:17 saved
0:05:19 here paul is quoting from the old
0:05:20 testament in order to lend support to
0:05:22 his theology that we are saved by faith
0:05:24 alone and not works
0:05:26 let's take a look at the original
0:05:27 passage in the book of deuteronomy
0:05:30 the word is very near you it is in your
0:05:32 mouth and in your heart so you may obey
0:05:34 it
0:05:35 notice the problem paul has taken the
0:05:38 quarter of its original context he left
0:05:40 out the part that states so you may obey
0:05:42 it
0:05:43 in other words paul has omitted god's
0:05:45 command to obey the mosaic law
0:05:48 we can see that the original passage in
0:05:49 the old testament actually establishes
0:05:51 the opposite of what paul intended works
0:05:53 are indeed important
0:06:01 another of paul's core teachings is the
0:06:03 idea that all of god's covenantal
0:06:05 promises to abraham were fulfilled by
0:06:07 the coming of jesus as paul informed us
0:06:11 the promises were spoken to abraham and
0:06:13 to his seed scripture does not say
0:06:16 antecedes meaning many people but unto
0:06:19 your seed meaning one person who is
0:06:21 christ
0:06:23 here paul is making the argument that
0:06:25 god's promise to abraham did not speak
0:06:27 of seeds in the plural but rather seed
0:06:29 in the singular and concludes that the
0:06:31 single seed is a reference to one man
0:06:33 i.e jesus
0:06:35 let's take a look at the original
0:06:37 passage in the book of genesis
0:06:39 and i will establish my covenant with
0:06:41 him for an everlasting covenant and with
0:06:43 his seed after him
0:06:45 the original hebrew word used for seed
0:06:47 is zera which is a collective noun that
0:06:49 can be used to refer to both a single
0:06:51 descendant or many descendants it
0:06:53 depends on the context in which it
0:06:55 appears this is just like the english
0:06:57 language for example the word sheep can
0:06:59 mean one sheep or many depending on the
0:07:01 context
0:07:03 so how should we interpret the mention
0:07:04 of seed in the old testament we find an
0:07:07 answer in the same book of genesis
0:07:09 and i will make thy seed as the dust of
0:07:11 the earth so that if a man can number
0:07:14 the dust of the earth then shall thy
0:07:16 seed also be numbered
0:07:18 here god promised abraham that he will
0:07:19 be blessed with a multitude of
0:07:21 descendants
0:07:22 likening his seed to the dust of the
0:07:24 earth
0:07:25 therefore we can see that the correct
0:07:26 context for seed is not a single seed as
0:07:29 paul incorrectly interpreted it but
0:07:31 rather many
0:07:38 paul taught that the nation of israel
0:07:40 will be saved from its sins through
0:07:41 jesus as paul informed us and in this
0:07:44 way all israel will be saved as it is
0:07:47 written the deliverer will come from
0:07:49 zion he will turn godlessness away from
0:07:51 jacob
0:07:52 here paul has quoted from the old
0:07:54 testament book of isaiah
0:07:56 the redeemer will come to zion to those
0:07:58 in jacob who repent of their sins
0:08:00 declares the lord
0:08:02 note the clear mismatch paul's quote
0:08:04 mentions that the savior will remove sin
0:08:06 from israel whereas the book of isaiah
0:08:08 states that their savior will come to
0:08:10 israel after is repented from sin
0:08:13 just what is going on here
0:08:15 paul may have been quoting from the
0:08:16 septuagint a greek version of the old
0:08:18 testament
0:08:19 and the deliverer shall come for sion's
0:08:21 sake and shall turn away ungodliness
0:08:23 from jacob
0:08:25 we can see that paul's quote closely
0:08:27 matches the greek septuagint
0:08:29 it turns out that there are two variant
0:08:31 readings of the old testament the one in
0:08:33 hebrew and the greek septuagint that
0:08:35 paul seems to have quoted from
0:08:37 there is in fact strong evidence that
0:08:39 the greek septuagint contains a later
0:08:41 reading this is because the dead sea
0:08:43 scrolls the oldest surviving manuscripts
0:08:45 for the old testament support the
0:08:47 reading that is found in the hebrew
0:08:48 scriptures
0:08:49 this means that when paul chose to quote
0:08:51 from the greek septuagint he unknowingly
0:08:53 used the later incorrect reading god
0:08:56 obviously would not have inspired him to
0:08:57 make such a mistake
0:09:04 paul argued that nobody can achieve
0:09:06 righteousness through the works of the
0:09:08 mosaic law as paul informed us as it is
0:09:11 written there is no unrighteous not even
0:09:14 one there is no one who understands
0:09:16 there is no one who seeks god
0:09:18 their throats are open graves their
0:09:20 tongues practice deceit
0:09:22 the poison of vipers is on their lips
0:09:25 their mouths are full of cursing and
0:09:26 bitterness
0:09:28 their feet are swift to shed blood
0:09:30 there is no fear of god before their
0:09:32 eyes
0:09:33 therefore no one will be declared
0:09:35 righteous in god's sight by the works of
0:09:36 the law
0:09:38 what paul quotes here is a compilation
0:09:40 of six separate passages from the old
0:09:41 testament book of psalms and isaiah he
0:09:44 has strung them together to appear as
0:09:46 one quote
0:09:47 let's examine one of the passages that
0:09:49 paul referenced from psalm 14
0:09:52 the fool says in his heart there is no
0:09:54 god they are corrupt their deeds are
0:09:56 vile there is no one who does good
0:09:59 do all these evildoers know nothing
0:10:01 they devour my people as though eating
0:10:03 bread
0:10:04 they never call on the lord but there
0:10:06 they are overwhelmed with dread for god
0:10:09 is present in the company of the
0:10:10 righteous
0:10:11 we can see that the original passage is
0:10:13 talking about those who say there is no
0:10:15 god
0:10:16 it is these people who are said to do no
0:10:18 good such evildoers are then contrasted
0:10:20 with a second group of people referred
0:10:22 to as my people who are said to be the
0:10:24 company of the righteous
0:10:26 it turns out that paul has distorted
0:10:28 this passage it does not say as paul
0:10:31 quotes it that no human being is
0:10:33 righteous rather it says that those who
0:10:35 deny god are not righteous
0:10:42 paul offered the following reason as to
0:10:44 why god revealed the law to moses and
0:10:46 the israelites
0:10:48 now we know that whatever the law says
0:10:50 it says to those who are under the law
0:10:52 that for this purpose every mouth may be
0:10:54 stopped and all the world may become
0:10:56 guilty before god
0:10:58 according to paul the law was revealed
0:11:00 to make us realize that it is impossible
0:11:02 to keep and that we are therefore all
0:11:04 guilty before god
0:11:06 let's compare this to what god has to
0:11:08 say about the law in the old testament
0:11:10 now what i am commanding you today is
0:11:12 not too difficult for you or beyond your
0:11:14 reach no the word is very near you it is
0:11:17 in your mouth and in your heart so you
0:11:19 may obey it
0:11:20 we can see that god says very clearly
0:11:22 that the law is not too difficult to
0:11:24 obey or beyond our reach which is the
0:11:26 complete opposite of what paul claimed
0:11:29 paul even had some very negative things
0:11:30 to say about the law here he called it a
0:11:33 curse
0:11:34 for as many as are of the works of the
0:11:36 law are under a curse
0:11:38 paul also had bad things to say about
0:11:40 his past efforts of keeping the law
0:11:42 here he referred to it as garbage as for
0:11:44 righteousness based on the law faultless
0:11:47 but whatever word gains to me i now
0:11:49 consider loss for the sake of christ i
0:11:51 consider them garbage
0:11:53 again such negativity is at odds with
0:11:55 what the old testament teaches for i
0:11:57 command you today to love the lord your
0:11:59 god to walk in obedience to him and to
0:12:02 keep his commands decrees and laws
0:12:05 then you will live and increase and the
0:12:07 lord your god will bless you
0:12:09 here god stated that obeying the law
0:12:11 will bring one blessing and prosperity
0:12:14 we can see that paul's teachings about
0:12:15 the law completely contradict the old
0:12:17 testament on many points so paul cannot
0:12:20 have gotten his message from the same
0:12:21 god that inspired the old testament
0:12:29 the bible informs us that towards the
0:12:31 end of his ministerial career paul
0:12:33 visited jerusalem which was home to
0:12:35 thousands of christians who zealously
0:12:37 obeyed the law of moses we are told that
0:12:39 senior christians directly confronted
0:12:41 paul about rumors that he was preaching
0:12:43 against the law of moses
0:12:45 the next day paul and the rest of us
0:12:47 went to see james and all the elders
0:12:49 were present
0:12:50 then they said to paul you see brother
0:12:53 how many thousands of jews have believed
0:12:55 and all of them are zealous for the law
0:12:57 they have been informed that you teach
0:12:59 all the jews who live among the gentiles
0:13:01 to turn away from moses telling them not
0:13:03 to circumcise their children or live
0:13:05 according to our customs
0:13:07 if paul was a genuine apostle then we
0:13:09 should expect him to be forthcoming
0:13:11 about his true beliefs and teachings
0:13:13 let's now see how paul actually reacted
0:13:16 what shall we do they will certainly
0:13:18 hear that you have come so do what we
0:13:20 tell you
0:13:21 there are four men with us who have made
0:13:23 a vow
0:13:24 take these men
0:13:26 joining their purification rights and
0:13:28 paid their expenses so that they can
0:13:30 have their heads shaved
0:13:31 then everyone will know there is no
0:13:34 truth in these reports about you
0:13:36 the next day paul took the men and
0:13:38 purified himself along with them
0:13:40 we can see that the senior christians in
0:13:42 jerusalem commanded paul to undergo a
0:13:45 public head shaving ritual that was
0:13:47 derived from the law of moses
0:13:49 paul submissively complied with their
0:13:51 command thus denying the rumors that he
0:13:53 preached against the law of moses
0:13:56 now in the previous section we saw
0:13:57 examples of paul's negative attitude
0:13:59 towards a mosaic law labeling it a curse
0:14:02 and describing efforts to obey it as
0:14:04 garbage
0:14:05 by conducting himself in this manner
0:14:07 paul was being two-faced for he behaved
0:14:09 in one way to the faces of senior
0:14:11 christians and another way in his
0:14:13 writings
0:14:14 in the following examples paul wrote
0:14:16 that jews are the same as non-jews and
0:14:19 no longer bound to keep any of the
0:14:20 mosaic law
0:14:22 there is neither jew nor greek
0:14:25 we have been released from the law so
0:14:26 that we serve in the new way of the
0:14:28 spirit and not in the old way of the
0:14:30 written code
0:14:32 we can see that paul taught the very
0:14:33 things he was accused of and deceptively
0:14:35 denied
0:14:42 in this video we've examined a number of
0:14:44 paul's writings and found many issues
0:14:47 which seriously undermine his claims of
0:14:49 apostleship and divine inspiration
0:14:51 a big problem which arises from this
0:14:54 is the fact that paul dominates the
0:14:56 pages of the new testament with over
0:14:58 half of its books being attributed to
0:14:59 him
0:15:00 so when one reads new testament and
0:15:02 takes it at face value you are viewing
0:15:04 jesus through the lens of paul who has
0:15:06 been proven to be an unreliable source
0:15:08 sincere truth-seeking christians faced
0:15:11 the difficult task of peeling away
0:15:13 layers of myth in order to try and
0:15:15 arrive at the true historical jesus
0:15:18 god out of his mercy for mankind did not
0:15:20 leave us in a state of confusion
0:15:22 the quran was revealed and unravels
0:15:24 centuries of myth-making around jesus
0:15:27 muslims are the true followers of jesus
0:15:30 as thanks to the quran we have access to
0:15:32 and implement his original undistorted
0:15:34 message
0:15:37 to learn more about the true message of
0:15:39 jesus please download your free copy of
0:15:41 the book jesus man messenger messiah
0:15:44 from the link below