📢 Did Paul Hijack Christianity?
The Apostle Who Never Met Jesus

This is Faith Uncovered, where we dig beneath the surface of religion’s biggest questions.
Stick around to the end, because this episode could radically shift how you see the roots of Christianity.

⛪️ Part 1: Before Paul – The Original Jesus Movement

Before Paul entered the scene, Jesus’ earliest followers were based in Jerusalem, led by James the Just, the brother of Jesus. Scholars like E.P. Sanders and Geza Vermes describe this group as a Jewish reform movement — not a new religion.

They believed:

  • Jesus was the Messiah, but not divine

  • The Torah still applied — including Sabbath, kosher laws, and circumcision

  • God’s Kingdom was coming soon, possibly within their lifetimes (Mark 9:1, Matthew 10:23)

They emphasized behavioral transformation, community ethics, and social justice — consistent with Second Temple Judaism.

As historian Paula Fredriksen explains, Jesus' message was apocalyptic, not theological. He wasn’t starting a new religion — he was warning of God’s imminent intervention.

🧍‍♂️ Part 2: Who Was Paul?

Paul of Tarsus was not a disciple. He never met Jesus.
He claims his authority came from a vision (Galatians 1:11–12), not eyewitness testimony.

According to Acts 9, he persecuted the church before converting. But Paul’s own letters never describe this story in detail. Many scholars, including Richard Pervo and Robert Price, argue the Acts narrative is historical fiction written to reconcile Paul with the Jerusalem apostles.

Paul’s Jesus is mystical and heavenly. For example:

“Though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we do so no longer.” — 2 Corinthians 5:16

In other words, Paul wasn’t interested in Jesus the man — only in the spiritual Christ revealed through visions and scripture.

🔥 Part 3: Conflict with the Jerusalem Church

Paul had major theological disagreements with the apostles.
In Galatians 2, Paul describes a confrontation in Antioch, where he “opposed Peter to his face” over the treatment of Gentile converts.

Why? Because Peter was still following Jewish customs. Paul saw that as a betrayal of the gospel of faith without law.

Paul writes:

“If righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died in vain.” — Galatians 2:21

This was a direct contradiction of James and the Jerusalem church, who believed faith and works were necessary (see James 2:24).

Paul’s gospel was radically inclusive, allowing Gentiles to enter without converting to Judaism. But it also severed Christianity from its Jewish roots.

As James Tabor puts it:

“Paul’s gospel was not the gospel of Jesus. It was a reinterpretation designed for a Greco-Roman world.”

📚 Part 4: A New Religion Emerges

Paul’s letters are the earliest Christian writings — 20 to 30 years before the Gospels.

And Paul’s version of Christianity won.

Why?

  • He framed Jesus as a cosmic savior (Philippians 2:6–11)

  • He redefined sin and salvation in individual terms

  • He spoke the language of the Roman world — redemption, blood sacrifice, divine sonship

As scholar Hyam Maccoby argues, Paul took Jewish symbols and grafted them onto pagan salvation theology. In Maccoby’s view, Christianity is essentially a Gentile mystery religion wearing Jewish clothes.

Paul’s Jesus:

  • Dies for your sins

  • Rises spiritually

  • Offers salvation through belief, not obedience

Compare that to Jesus of Nazareth:

  • Preaches the Kingdom of God is near (Mark 1:15)

  • Commands moral action (Matthew 5–7)

  • Warns of judgment, not promises of heavenly bliss

These are two very different messages.

🔄 Part 5: Did Paul “Hijack” Christianity?

That word — hijack — implies taking something over and steering it in a new direction.

Did Paul do that?

Let’s look at the evidence:

  • Paul barely quotes Jesus. No parables. No healings. No birth or trial stories.

  • He reinterprets the crucifixion — not as a tragedy, but as a cosmic plan (Romans 5:8–11)

  • He treats the Torah as obsolete (Galatians 3:10–13)

  • He barely mentions Jesus' family, even though James was the leader of the Jerusalem church.

As scholar Robert Eisenman notes, Paul de-Judaized the message of Jesus.
He transformed a Jewish reform movement into a universal spiritual philosophy.

Eisenman even goes so far as to say that Paul’s conflict with James mirrors the Dead Sea Scrolls’ “Wicked Priest” and “Teacher of Righteousness” — possibly code for this very schism.

🧠 Scholar Perspectives

Richard Carrier argues that Paul’s Jesus may have never existed on Earth, but was a celestial figure crucified in the heavens and revealed through scripture.

John Dominic Crossan sees Paul as an innovator who misunderstood Jesus’ mission:

“Paul turned a life lived into a death interpreted.”

Bart Ehrman believes Paul was sincere — but emphasizes that Paul’s theology would have been unrecognizable to Jesus’ original followers.

🎬 Final Thought

Was Paul the genius who globalized Christianity, or the hijacker who buried its founder’s real message?

Without Paul, Christianity may have remained a small Jewish sect.
With Paul, it became a world religion — but one that may bear little resemblance to Jesus' own teachings.

So we ask again:
Did Paul hijack Christianity? Or did he invent it?

Let us know what you think in the comments.

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