Paul of Tarsus was not a follower of Jesus during Jesus’ lifetime. He never met Jesus, never heard him teach, never walked the roads of Galilee or Judea with him. Everything Paul knew about Jesus came to him second-hand—through hearsay, fragmented stories, and popular beliefs circulating after Jesus’ death. He likely heard that Jesus was executed by Rome as a political threat, and that his followers later claimed God had raised him from the dead. Paul’s own turning point came not through personal interaction with Jesus, but through a visionary experience which he interpreted as an encounter with the risen Christ.
This in itself need not have been a problem. Converts throughout history have become sincere and transformative leaders. But what happened next is the key issue. A new convert who never met Jesus ought to have humbly learned from those who actually walked with him—from Peter, James, John, and the Galilean disciples who knew Jesus’ voice, his character, his priorities, and his vision of the Kingdom of God.
Had Paul taken that path—had he listened first and spoken later—the entire story of Christianity might have unfolded differently. But this did not happen. Paul quickly developed his own interpretation of Jesus, and he defended it fiercely, often independently of, and even in tension with, the eyewitness disciples in Jerusalem.
Paul’s Foundational Mistake
Paul accepted without question the circulating belief that Jesus was the long-expected Mashiah (Messiah). But he did not pause to examine what Jesus himself said about this title. The Gospels often portray Jesus as redefining, resisting, or even avoiding the political messianic expectations of his time.
Instead of asking, What did Jesus teach? What did he actually proclaim as good news? Paul focused on a different question: What theological meaning does Jesus’ death and resurrection have?
This led him to develop a unique conclusion:
- that Jesus’ Messiahship began after his death,
- that the crucifixion was a predetermined divine plan,
and that salvation depended not on Jesus’ teachings but on believing in the saving power of his death and resurrection.
Paul called this message “the word of the cross.”
This shift—from Jesus’ proclamation to Paul’s proclamation—became the central pivot of Christian history.
The Consequences of Paul’s Interpretation
Whether one calls it a mistake, a misunderstanding, or a theological innovation, Paul’s reinterpretation of Jesus had enormous consequences. Jesus left no written record of his message. This absence allowed Paul’s letters—the earliest Christian writings we possess—to dominate the formation of Christian theology.
Because Paul lacked clear, reliable knowledge of Jesus’ own gospel, he effectively constructed one himself. He traveled the Roman Empire proclaiming his message, establishing communities, and writing letters that later became Christian Scripture—often given equal or greater authority than the words attributed directly to Jesus.
For nearly two millennia Christians have read Paul’s writings as the “true” interpretation of Jesus. Churches have preached Paul more than Jesus. Salvation has been defined according to Paul’s categories rather than Jesus’ kingdom-centered teachings.
This has shaped:
- the doctrines of atonement,
- the concept of original sin,
- the structure of the church,
- the exclusion of Torah-observant Jews,
- the moral teachings about the body and sexuality,
- the separation of faith from works,
- and the idea that belief in Jesus’ death is central, while Jesus’ own teachings are secondary.
Whether one admires Paul or criticizes him, it is undeniable that his voice became louder than Jesus’ own.
A Turning Point for Christianity Today
For the first time in history, a growing number of scholars and laypeople are recognizing that Paul’s gospel and Jesus’ gospel are not identical. Jesus spoke about the Kingdom of God—a transformed world, justice, mercy, reconciliation, and human transformation. Paul spoke about personal salvation through Christ’s sacrificial death.
Christianity, therefore, has largely been built not on Jesus’ message, but on Paul’s interpretation of Jesus.
Today, traditional Christianity is struggling worldwide—its credibility, moral authority, and unity are fracturing. Many see this crisis not as a threat but as an opportunity:
a chance to rebuild Christianity on the foundation of Jesus’ original teachings rather than Paul’s theological innovations.
If Christianity is to survive and remain meaningful in the future, it may need to recover the Gospel of Jesus, not merely the Gospel about Jesus.
That requires:
returning to the ethical and spiritual heart of Jesus’ message,
re-centering the Kingdom of God,
emphasizing transformation rather than dogma,
and recognizing that Paul’s voice, though powerful, should not drown out the voice of the teacher from Nazareth.
This recovery may finally free the world from a historical misunderstanding that has shaped two millennia of belief, conflict, and confusion—and reopen the path that Jesus himself intended.
No comments:
Post a Comment