But then Saul had his revelation. Jesus had died to rid man of sin. He had taken on the sins of the world, from Adam's fall to the present day, to redeem mankind so that humans might gain eternal life. Jesus was the end of God's covenant with Abraham; the testing of Abraham and the binding of Isaac was God ensuring that a descendent of Abraham would be a willing sacrifice to redeem mankind. By willingly taking the world's sin to death, Jesus had regained for humanity the perfect state lost by Adam & Eve. Through Adam's life we gained death; through Jesus' death we gain eternal life. Jesus' resurrection marked the beginning of the end of this world; soon he would return and take the faithful to the clouds. The Law of Moses no longer mattered: it had been put in place by angels to ensure the survival of Abraham's lineage until the coming of Jesus. Only faith, and focussing not on the material world but on the unseen world to come, mattered now. Saul, who changed his name to Paul, had been prenatally chosen by God to preach this good news.
Paul's teachings were not well received by Jews or Jewish Christians. They thought him insane; God dictated the laws directly to Moses; God says over twenty times in the Torah that his laws are supposed to be followed forever; 'Are they saying that any of Mosaic laws are no longer necessary?' was one of the first questions a Jew was supposed to ask when trying to determine whether someone was a false prophet. Unpopular with the Jews, Paul turned to the non-Jews: the Gentiles of the Roman Empire.
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| Saul receives his revelation. |
Many Gentiles, unfamiliar with Jewish scripture or traditions, were impressed by Paul's teachings. He travelled the Empire, founding churches across Europe and Asia. His followers spread the teachings further. He amassed quite a following amongst the Gentiles, and this irritated the pagan authorities: his teachings denied the existence of the gods of Rome; his followers refused to worship them. This was atheism, and it was not on.
Called heretics by Jews (including the Jewish Christians) and atheists by pagans, Paul's Christians had a tough time. They were beaten, ostracised, imprisoned, tortured, stoned, whipped, and more. But they continued to spread the word, and knew to keep to their own communities as much as possible, living quietly, awaiting the imminent return of Jesus at the End of Time.
After 17 years of trying to stop him preaching, the Jewish Christians made an alliance with Paul's churches. They accepted that Paul had been sent to preach to the Gentiles, but saw his teachings as an intermediary step for Gentiles to become true Christians: in order for them to become true Christians, true followers of the Jewish Jesus, they needed to become Jewish. The Jewish Christians, whose beliefs were based on the teachings of the the apostles who had hung around with Jesus while he was alive, thought that Paul's Gentile Christians needed to follow the Mosaic law and be circumcised.
This angered Paul. The Jewish Christians, led by Peter (Jesus' favourite apostle) and James (Jesus' brother), saw Jesus as the Jewish Messianic prophet who would restore Israel to glory and fix the universe when he returned from Heaven. To Paul, God's favouritism of the Jews had ended with Jesus' death; the old covenant with the children of Israel was over: now there was a new covenant, a reboot. Jesus would be coming back, but he wouldn't be judging people based on observance to the Mosaic law: he would judge primarily on whether people had acknowledged his sacrifice for their sins. The Jewish Christians just didn't get this.
The popularity of Pauline Christianity among Gentiles continued to grow. Paul was a busy chap. Tradition has it that Paul went to Rome after writing his final letter (Romans) and died there, along with Peter, after Nero decided it would be a great idea to blame the Christians for the Great Fire of Rome and kill loads of them. Paul's teachings continued to spread, and developed into the Trinitarian doctrine that became the official religion of the Roman Empire.
The Jewish Christians, on the other hand, decreased in numbers. During the Jewish Revolt, an attempt to declare Judea independent of Roman rule, the Romans slaughtered tens of thousands of Jews and destroyed the Temple of Jerusalem. Roman Anti-Semitism increased; the Jews were not popular. The Gentile Christians saw the destruction of the Temple as God's rejection of the Jewish people, and confirmation that his covenant with them was over. The Gentile Christians were God's favourites now. After another failed revolt by the Jews, the Romans were sick of Jewish rebellions. They raised Jerusalem to the ground and slaughtered their way through Judea. Most of the Jews joined the diaspora, scattered across the Empire. Judea was renamed Palestine.
Some Jewish Christians survived. Their doctrine changed over the centuries. Jesus was no longer seen as the final prophet preceding the apocalypse; maybe he hadn't even been crucified; his teachings had been lost in the turmoil of time.
Along came the Prophet Muhammad.
Islam spread and supplanted the Christian churches of the East. Christianity in the West, Islam in the East. The conflict between the Pauline and Jewish visions of Jesus had returned with a vengeance.
Sources
Zealot by Reza Aslan
Omens of Millennium by Harold Bloom
Introduction to the Talmud by Moses Maimonides
Beyond Belief by Elaine Pagels
1 Thessalonians, Galatians, 1 Corinthians, Philemon, Philippians, 2 Corinthians, and Romans by Paul the Apostle
Christian Beginnings by Geza Vermes
Called heretics by Jews (including the Jewish Christians) and atheists by pagans, Paul's Christians had a tough time. They were beaten, ostracised, imprisoned, tortured, stoned, whipped, and more. But they continued to spread the word, and knew to keep to their own communities as much as possible, living quietly, awaiting the imminent return of Jesus at the End of Time.
After 17 years of trying to stop him preaching, the Jewish Christians made an alliance with Paul's churches. They accepted that Paul had been sent to preach to the Gentiles, but saw his teachings as an intermediary step for Gentiles to become true Christians: in order for them to become true Christians, true followers of the Jewish Jesus, they needed to become Jewish. The Jewish Christians, whose beliefs were based on the teachings of the the apostles who had hung around with Jesus while he was alive, thought that Paul's Gentile Christians needed to follow the Mosaic law and be circumcised.
This angered Paul. The Jewish Christians, led by Peter (Jesus' favourite apostle) and James (Jesus' brother), saw Jesus as the Jewish Messianic prophet who would restore Israel to glory and fix the universe when he returned from Heaven. To Paul, God's favouritism of the Jews had ended with Jesus' death; the old covenant with the children of Israel was over: now there was a new covenant, a reboot. Jesus would be coming back, but he wouldn't be judging people based on observance to the Mosaic law: he would judge primarily on whether people had acknowledged his sacrifice for their sins. The Jewish Christians just didn't get this.
The popularity of Pauline Christianity among Gentiles continued to grow. Paul was a busy chap. Tradition has it that Paul went to Rome after writing his final letter (Romans) and died there, along with Peter, after Nero decided it would be a great idea to blame the Christians for the Great Fire of Rome and kill loads of them. Paul's teachings continued to spread, and developed into the Trinitarian doctrine that became the official religion of the Roman Empire.
The Jewish Christians, on the other hand, decreased in numbers. During the Jewish Revolt, an attempt to declare Judea independent of Roman rule, the Romans slaughtered tens of thousands of Jews and destroyed the Temple of Jerusalem. Roman Anti-Semitism increased; the Jews were not popular. The Gentile Christians saw the destruction of the Temple as God's rejection of the Jewish people, and confirmation that his covenant with them was over. The Gentile Christians were God's favourites now. After another failed revolt by the Jews, the Romans were sick of Jewish rebellions. They raised Jerusalem to the ground and slaughtered their way through Judea. Most of the Jews joined the diaspora, scattered across the Empire. Judea was renamed Palestine.
Some Jewish Christians survived. Their doctrine changed over the centuries. Jesus was no longer seen as the final prophet preceding the apocalypse; maybe he hadn't even been crucified; his teachings had been lost in the turmoil of time.
Along came the Prophet Muhammad.
Islam spread and supplanted the Christian churches of the East. Christianity in the West, Islam in the East. The conflict between the Pauline and Jewish visions of Jesus had returned with a vengeance.
Sources
Zealot by Reza Aslan
Omens of Millennium by Harold Bloom
Introduction to the Talmud by Moses Maimonides
Beyond Belief by Elaine Pagels
1 Thessalonians, Galatians, 1 Corinthians, Philemon, Philippians, 2 Corinthians, and Romans by Paul the Apostle
Christian Beginnings by Geza Vermes
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