I surprised to read of the incredibly ignorant comments of some that presume to think that they have the qualifications and standing to judge the Apostle Paul for basing his ministry on his own revelations rather than on the secondhand testimonies of Christ’s Apostles. Here are a few excerpts with relevant annotations. Please let me know what you think.
Earburner wrote:Dan,
Since you are bent and determined to convince all that Paul's conversion was of Satan, you need to know that you have picked the wrong Christian to discuss this with.
A number of years ago, I was an atheistic, pagan with no regular or specific "church" upbringing. As a younger person then, I was attracted to all that paranormal stuff of which also is known as witchcraft. Having limited to no specific church teaching or Bible knowledge whatsoever, I was pretty much wild at heart.
It wasn't until my early 20's when I began to search, I mean, REALLY search out what the meaning of life was. Though I had all kinds of paranormal books to read, a book case full, nothing was meeting my thirst. It was then, because of near ruination of my marriage, that I cried out to God for help. Even though I did not know of His existence, I had enough faith to believe that He must be, and if so, then would He please let me know.
The answer came in a VISION, whereby I was given a book the size of a "Time magazine" with the words "1 TIMOTHY" written in Gold on the cover. From there, the Lord was not done, for in that vision, He told me to "read this, but do not read any further". After the vision, I had no prior knowledge of the book called 1 Timothy and because I hadn't heard of it, I guessed that it might be in the Bible. So I went to my wife's Bible (I never had one), to the table of contents and there it was. I opened it up and did read! For the very first time, through those words, PAULS WORDS, God spoke to me and revealed everything that I had been doing with my life up until then.
Would you like to know what He said to me?? You can read it also, for I believe they are words for you to hear too!!
1 Timothy 4:1-2
May God Bless,
EB
Rockroller wrote:Wow, How interesting! In 1985 I too had a vision, not a dream, but an honest goodness vision. I was talking to people about debts and stuff and that night while lying in bed in my new home, all of a sudden the wind blew the shades like crazy, the walls shook and then a large bible the size of a sheet of plywood broke out in such a bright light with it's pages burning with fire I just knew the house was going to burn up. It's pages begin to turn one by one by the wind until it stopped on Romans 10:4 "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes."
Mind you, I could not move or get my breath, but then I let out in a loud scream: "In the name of Jesus Christ, Satan, get out of here!" And guess what? It was gone in a flash!
Before this, while at a healing meeting at a sabbath keeping church in Palm Springs, the preacher was 'in the spirit' talking in words no one could hear. He called for people to come foreward to be healed and he put his hand on them and they fell over backward (having someone catch them). I sat in the back with friends thinking this was nuts, when the preacher pointed at me and told me to come up. I didn't and sat there, but suddenly I was thrown onto the floor and a feeling hot and wonderful like an orgasm came over me and I started rolling around and laughing out loud like crazy! Then I got my senses and said out loud, "In the name of Jesus, Satan, leave me along"! I stopped, got back on my feet and sat down. The preacher said I had been 'hit' by the Holy Ghost, but it was NOT the Holy Spirit, it was the evil Spirit.
So don't kid yourself, it happened to Saul and it can happen to anyone! Satan is not called the great deceiver for nothing!
So, if this every happens to anyone, just yell out, "In the name of Jesus, Satan, get out of here and leave me alone!"
I can't get over Rockroller's audacity and stubbornness in refusing to be instructed by God in what I believe was a true vision from God. Sadly, Rockroller believed his 1985 experience was a victory only because his vision ended instantly and he was never troubled by supernatural manifestations ever again after arrogantly and confidently addressing the Giver of the revelation as Satan.
Danno wrote:Historical Quotes About Paul And His Doctrine From Historians, Philosophers, And Theologians
Bishop John S. Spong (Episcopal Bishop of Newark)
"Paul's words are not the Words of God. They are the words of Paul- a vast difference."(Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism, p. 104, Harper San Francisco, 1991).
Thomas Jefferson
"Paul was the first corrupter of the doctrines of Jesus." (All references not listed here, can be found in Christianity Betrayed)
Carl Sagan (Scientist; Author)
"My long-time view about Christianity is that it represents an amalgam of two seemingly immiscible parts--the religion of Jesus and the religion of Paul. Thomas Jefferson attempted to excise the Pauline parts of the New Testament. There wasn't much left when he was done, but it was an inspiring document." (Letter to Ken Schei [author of Christianity Betrayed])
Albert Schweitzer
"Where possible Paul avoids quoting the teaching of Jesus, in fact even mentioning it. If we had to rely on Paul, we should not know that Jesus taught in parables, had delivered the Sermon on the Mount, and had taught His disciples the 'Our Father.' Even where they are specially relevant, Paul passes over the words of the Lord."
Wil Durant (Philosopher)
"Paul created a theology of which none but the vaguest warrants can be found in the words of Christ."
"Fundamentalism is the triumph of Paul over Christ."
Walter Kaufmann (Professor of Philosophy, Princeton)
"Paul substituted faith in Christ for the Christlike life."
George Bernard Shaw
"No sooner had Jesus knocked over the dragon of superstition than Paul boldly set it on its legs again in the name of Jesus."
Thomas Hardy
"The New Testament was less a Christiad than a Pauliad."
Hyam Maccoby (Talmudic Scholar)
"As we have seen, the purposes of the book of Acts is to minimize the conflict between Paul and the leaders of the Jerusalem Church, James and Peter. Peter and Paul, in later Christian tradition, became twin saints, brothers in faith, and the idea that they were historically bitter opponents standing for irreconcilable religious standpoints would have been repudiated with horror. The work of the author of Acts was well done; he rescued Christianity from the imputation of being the individual creation of Paul, and instead gave it a respectable pedigree, as a doctrine with the authority of the so-called Jerusalem Church, conceived as continuous in spirit with the Pauline Gentile Church of Rome. Yet, for all his efforts, the truth of the matter is not hard to recover, if we examine the New Testament evidence with an eye to tell-tale inconsistencies and confusions, rather than with the determination to gloss over and harmonize all difficulties in the interests of an orthodox interpretation." (The Mythmaker, p.139,Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1986)
Jeremy Bentham (English Philosopher)
"If Christianity needed an Anti-Christ, they needed look no farther than Paul." (Paraphrased. Looking for a copy of "Not Paul, but Jesus" in order to retrieve the exact quote.)
Danno wrote: Walter Kaufmann (Professor of Philosophy, Princeton)
"Paul substituted faith in Christ for the Christlike life."
That's one mighty ignorant professor of philosophy. What's his excuse (and yours) for not comprehending the New Testament?
John 3:16
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
1 John 3:23
"And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us."