Does The Bible Contradict Itself And Did Paul Invent Christianity?

Christianity continues to grow and thrive throughout the world and remains the largest of all religions on Earth.

The life of Jesus is the fundamental event of Scripture and is told from different perspectives. The central theme of the Bible is that God has provided redemption and forgiveness through the Messiah, Jesus Christ. That message is simple to understand by anyone. However, the Bible states that some of what is written within can be difficult or perplexing to understand, which can challenge the thinking of the most ardent Disciple (1 Corinthians 13:12; 2 Peter 2:16). To obtain a deeper understanding often requires prayer and diligent study, which leaves the reader with advanced knowledge and a greater appreciation of the Bible.

It is simply arrogant naiveté for a person to proclaim they 'don't need anyone to teach them because the Holy Spirit is my only Teacher.' God has given teachers, commentators, and Scholars to the Church who have sacrificed their lives to diligently study God's Word for the spiritual benefit and edification of others. Each of them is acutely aware that it is better to have "a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea" than to cause anyone to stumble and sin (Matthew 18:6 ESV).

People did not write the New Testament for scholars. It was written in the language of the day by people who had personal experiences with Jesus and shared their eyewitness accounts of those experiences. Each writer gave their perspective of events, which would naturally vary from other accounts, while guided by the Holy Spirit, who brought it back to memory. The similarities of each account are unmistakable. The writers placed much more emphasis on what Jesus did rather than when He did. Variations are not contradictions.

The writers lived in poverty and suffered tremendous persecution by the two most powerful cultures of the day. They willingly endured political disgrace, beatings, stoning, imprisonment, and execution about the claims of Jesus and what He did while boldly insisting to their last dying breath that they had physically seen Jesus bodily raised from the dead.

The Bible implores everyone who reads its words to "Study to show yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15 ESV).

The Bible is not a textbook about science or mathematics. It is about the heart of God, and the person who studies it must have a genuine desire and determination to understand and comprehend spiritual things.

The Bible is unique among all books and cannot be treated similarly. Since day one, Born-Again Christians have accepted the authority of Scriptures as God's Word based on precedent that follows its acceptance of the teachings and example of Jesus Christ and the Apostles. Scripture is normative and determinative for a correct understanding of all Christian doctrine, including the nature of the Scriptures.

DID THE APOSTLE PAUL CHANGE THE TEACHINGS OF THE BIBLE?

Critics of the Bible claim that the Apostle Paul, rather than Jesus, was the founder of Christianity because he did away with the 613 Old Testament Laws and changed the teachings of Jesus.

The Bible says Jesus specifically chose Paul to be His messenger to the world, and is recorded in the Book of Acts, which Luke wrote (Acts 9:1-9). Not only did Jesus choose Paul to be His messenger to the world, but He also personally taught Paul the message of the Gospel (Gal 1:11-17). Paul emphasized that the Gospel was not of human origin but was taught to him by Jesus. He didn't claim to originate anything. That is backed up by Peter, who wrote that Paul's writings were authoritative Scripture and confirmed his position within the Church (2 Peter 3:15-16).

The Book of Acts chronicles the birth and rise of the early Church and devotes the last half to the ministry of Paul (Acts 15:23-26). It also includes numerous passages in which all the Apostles accepted his authority as an Apostle. Paul would have never been recognized as a leader in the Church if he preached a different Jesus. The idea that Paul changed the teachings of Jesus and invented the beliefs of Christianity has no basis whatsoever in reality because there is zero historical evidence that he conjured up the following essential foundational teachings of Christianity:

- Must become Born-Again to enter into the Kingdom of God (John 3:3-7; 1 Peter 1:23; 1 Cor 15:8)

- Justification by faith, the idea of atonement, and that Jesus gave his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45; Luke 18:13-14; Rom 3:28; 5:1,6-8; Gal 2:16; 3:24).

- Jesus is God and asserted He had the right to forgive sins and claimed identity with God as a member of the Trinity (Matt 9:2-6,28:19; John 8:54-59, 10:27-30; 2 Cor 13:14; Phil 2:6; Titus 2:13; Rom 9:5)