Was James the Leader of Christianity before Peter and Apostle Paul? | James Tabor | MythVision TV

Frequently Asked Questions

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1.Why did Apostle Paul preach a new religion?

When Rome adopted Christianity with the conversion of the Roman Emperor (4th Century) and his official campaign to repress anyone who refused to conform; to kill those Christians who refused to follow Romes 'Trinitarian Christianity'.
Paul knew that the victors wrote history and in order to win 'he had to be all things to all men' (I Corinthians 9:24-27).
Those who dig their heels in 'beat the air' and refused to compromise any detail of the true faith ended their days as martyrs.

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2.What did early Jewish-Christians think of Apostle Paul?

Paul's popularity was in decline between 55-66 CE because missionaries from the Church of Jerusalem publicly rejected his innovation and claim to be an Apostle.

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3.How did Saul become Apostle Paul?

A young man named Saul was bent on murdering all the Christians he could. He was a Jew, a Pharisee (well-versed in the Law of Moses), a man of knowledge, letters and spirit.

Following a dramatic experience, where according to Saul, Jesus Christ appeared to him on the road to Damascus.

Saul converted to Christianity and now became the beloved apostle, saint, evangelist, theologian, and pastor we call Paul.

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4.How was Apostle Paul's message different to Jesus?

Paul played an important role in the development of Christianity. In opposition to Jesus, Paul maintained Judaism was inadequate; and Paul taught a different theology to Jesus:

* Jesus was more than the long-awaited Messiah; he was divine incarnation.
* Jesus' crucifixion was not a political martyrdom, but a cosmic sacrifice intended as salvation from evil.
* The actual life of Jesus, his political persuasions and religious teachings were irrelevant and not important.

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5.How did Apostle Paul view Jesus?

According to Paul:

* Jesus was the 'image of the invisible God'
* The first-born of all creation
* In him were all things created in Heaven and Earth
* He is before all things and in him all things hold together
* He is the begining, the first-born from the dead
* In him, the fullness of God was pleased to dwell
* Through him reconcile all things in Heave and Earth
(Colossians 1:15-20)

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6.How did the Jews view Apostle Paul?

Paul's salvation theory was considered blasphemy by faithful Jews. The Jews knew Pauls teachings ridiculed all previous revelations from God as expressed through the Torah.

The Jews after all, were the one race of people in the world who were taught God was One, without form or substance, and did not bear the likeness of anything in the universe.

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7.How did Apostle Paul become the authority?

Initially, Paul violently opposed the growing Jewish-Christian movement right up to his dramatic conversion. After his dramatic conversion, Paul believed he had the authority to speak on behalf of God.

He preached that God's grace depended on believing that Jesus was part of the Godhead, and not a mere prophet or messenger.

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8.According to Apostle Paul, why did God give Jews the Torah?

Paul claimed God gave Jews the Torah so that they could be saved later on by believing in Jesus Christ. This was God's divine plan.

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9.How did Apostle Paul differ with the Jewish Rabbis?

The Jewish Rabbis preached a person was saved so long as their intention was to remain within the covenant, and one truly repented and seek forgiveness for their sins.

Paul preached that every person was 'damned' until they was offered salvation. Mans problem was that he was 'in the flesh' in bondage to the Law, sold under Sin, enslaved by the fundamental spirits of the universe (ie. dead).

Paul preached the only cure was liberation from slavery and death by union with Christ, who had conquered death and sin.

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10.What was the core message of Apostle Paul's teachings?

These verses explain the reason for the continuing opposition to Jewish theology. According to Paul, Jesus Christ had to die in order to be resurrected.

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11.What happened after Apostle Paul converted to Christianity?

After his conversion, Paul who was the enemy to Christians suprisingly did not go back to Jerusalem to meet learn from, or even apologise to the Apostles.

Instead he went to Arabia, and then returned to Damascus, Syria. After three years, Paul returned to Jerusalem when he spent fifteen (15) days with Peter and met James. He did not meet any of the other Apostles.

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12.What about Apostle Paul's writings?

Out of 27 books in the New Testament Bible, Paul wrote 13 book; this was the majority of writings, in spite of the fact his writings were in clear contradiction to the original teachings of Jesus Christ.

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13.What books did Apostle Paul write?

Romans
Paul explains how the gospel works and how to respond. Paul wrote this letter before he had visited the Roman church.

1 Corinthians
In 55 A.D., Paul admonished the local church that he had founded in Corinth.

2 Corinthians
Come 56 A.D., the Corinthian church had escalated and then resolved their conflict with Paul. Second Corinthians is Paul's a letter of forgiveness and reconciliation.

Galatians
Someone had misled the churches of Galatia�resubjecting them to the Law of Moses and devaluing God�s grace. Paul writes the Galatians an aggressive letter to set them straight on their freedom in Christ.

Ephesians
Paul outlines doctrines of grace, peace, and salvation, and then instructs the church to walk in a manner worthy of Jesus Christ.

Philippians
Even though he�s suffering in prison, Paul finds joy in Christ. He writes to the church at Philippi urging them to take on a Christlike attitude.

Colossians
This letter explains to the church at Colossae who they are in Christ.

1 Thessalonians
The church of Thessalonica is setting a great example for other churches, even though they�re being persecuted for their faith. Paul encourages them to �excel still more.�

2 Thessalonians
The affliction just won't let up on the Thessalonian church, so Paul coaches them on standing firm until Jesus� return.

1 Timothy
This is Paul�s guide to godliness and sound teaching for the young pastor Timothy at Ephesus.

2 Timothy
Paul's death is drawing near, and he charges Timothy to carry on his gospel work.

Titus
Paul had left Titus at Crete to set up order in the churches there. Now he writes Titus instructions for leading a counter-cultural church.

Philemon
It�s a message to Philemon, a leader in the Colossian church.

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14.Why is believing in Apostle Paul so wrong?

1. If Paul was right, then Jesus must have chosen the wrong individuals as his disciples.

2. If Paul's writings were true, a complete nonsense is made of the earthly life of Jesus and of his preachings to his disciples.

3. Paul never saw or met Jesus in person. Yet, Paul rejects the teachings of those who did meet, sit, learn from him and knew Jesus best.

4. The final range of New Testament gospels has been restricted. The gospels of Peter the Apostle, Barnabas and James (Jesus' brother) are strangely missing.

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15.What did Apostle Paul think of his fellow Gospel writers?

Paul would curse other gospel writers (James, Peter etc.) as if to say their was only one Christianity, one truth and that was his version.

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16.How did Apostle Paul break Gods Law?

Two of the most demanding requests made by God of all faithful Jews was:

1. Circumcision of males as a sign of covenant
2. Ritual Purity - Both physical purity and dietary, careful regulation of what foods passed the lips

By rejecting the Torah, Paul broke away from God's requests.

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17.How was Apostle Paul viewed in his time?

Paul's doctrine of justification by faith in Jesus alone had three effects:

1. It made Paul the implacableenemy of the Jewish people who refused to accept his arguement
2. Christians viewed Paul as an outsider, and even a threat at times
3. Paul caused the severance of Christianity from Judaism, and gave its first real independant theological basis

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18.Was Apostle Paul an Apostle?

An Apostle is one of the original 12 disciples called by Jesus to preach the gospel: Simon Peter, the brothers James and John, Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alpheus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, Judas Iscariot.

As Paul never met Jesus, many Galatians and Corinthian Christians actively challanged Pauls right to even teach, and his right to call himself an Apostle.

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19.What dramatic experience made Apostle Paul convert to Christianity?

Their are a number of varying versions of Paul�s vision as he describes it to various different people of different races.

In the above accounts, their are a number of obvious contradictions: 1. ACTS 9:4, it is stated that only Paul fell to the ground on seeing the light. Verse 7 says that others with him stood speechless.

2. ACTS 26:14 says they ALL fell to the ground.

3. ACTS 9:7 states that the people who journeyed with Paul didn't see anyone but heard a voice.

4. ACTS 22:9 says that those who were with Paul saw the light but DID NOT hear the voice of the speaker.

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20.How did Matthew (Gospel) support Apostle Pauline Christian doctrine?

It did not! Matthew (85 CE) was written for Jewish-Christians who observed the Law and did not wish to break away from Judaism. Matthew is in complete opposition to Pauline doctrine.

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21.Why was Apostle Paul superior to other Apostles?

Paul insists that even if an Angel from Heaven preached to you, reject them! Paul preached his Gospel was truly unique as it was delivered to him by Jesus himself; not Jesus the earthly man, but the risen Lord Jesus. According to Paul, he had the advantage of divine origin for his message, unlike the other Apostles, and this entitled him to act independently of their Jewish-Christian beliefs (and re-invent a new Christian doctrine?)

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22.Did Apostle Paul face any opposition. If so how?

John the Evangelist wrote:

John the Evangelist wrote: John of Patmos wrote: John of Patmos wrote: The above gospel writers warn against a dangerous heretic, a false Jew, a false Apostle and a false Gospel.

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23.What did Apostle Paul mean when he said that he became all things to all men?

It is known from Pauls mission that he sought to make the Christian faith more appealing to the Gentiles. The above statements show that Paul was flexible and aimed to please the masses.

Inevitably, Paul's new flexible approach meant the original Christian doctrine would have been modified and updated to please the population.

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24.What was the message preached by Apostle Paul?

To be members of God�s covenantal people, it is not necessary for gentiles to become Jews. They do not need to be circumcised, observe the Sabbath, keep kosher or any of the rest.

They need to believe in the death and resurrection of the messiah Jesus.

Prior to this, the followers of Jesus � the first Christians � were of course Jews who understood that he was the messiah who had died and been raised from the dead. But they knew this as the act of the Jewish God given to the Jewish people.

Certainly gentiles could find this salvation as well. But first they had to be Jewish. Not for Paul. Jew or gentile, it didn�t matter. What mattered was faith in Christ.

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25.Why did Apostle Paul choose to preach to the Gentiles?

In Paul�s time there were two primary groups of to whom he could have preached; the Jews and the Gentiles.

Paul chose the gentiles and quickly won favour among their peoples and entitled himself as the �Apostle of the Gentiles�.

Why did Paul choose to preach to the gentiles over the Jews?

After all, Paul was a Pharisee and would have been familiar with the knowledge, teachings, methodologies and mistakes of his Pharasaic brothers. Thus, he would have been the best person to preach to them his interpretation of soteriology. Yet he chose not to; leaving this task to James, Peter and the rest, dubbing them as the �super apostles�.

The real reason why Paul preached to the gentiles is because they were ignorant. They did not know the Torah. They did not possess intimate knowledge of Judaism, its scripture or its doctrine.

Therefore Paul was not presenting his new religion to his own brethren because they would be able to debunk him. Due to this, logically speaking, he preached to those who would find his new faith appealing.

The gentiles would not argue about Christ�s deity, or about the new doctrine of salvation, but the Jews would and vehemently so. Thus the path of least resistance is among the gentiles who would eventually see him as an authoritative figure, as opposed to the Jews who would see him as a heretic and shame him.

Yet with the gentiles, he is able to avoid these problems and ascend to power and authority very quickly.

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26.How was Apostle Paul viewed by the Jews?

Although, Paul was of the Jewish background, the Jewish-Christian followers of Jesus rejected Paul and wanted to kill him.

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27.What did Apostle Paul achieve by his Christian conversion?

1. Paul managed to defeat Jesus' Jewish-Christian followers whom he was persecuting by establishing a new version of Christianity which preached exactly what the high priest suggested; that murdering Jesus was not a bad idea after all

2. He defeated Jesus and Peter, the rock on whom Jesus promised to build his church and so became himself the rock of a new church (and Christianity later)

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28.What did Apostle Paul say about the other gospels?

Paul rebuked other gospel writers.

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29.How was Apostle Paul viewed by the Jews?

The Jews and early Jewish-Christians who observed Mosaic Law constantly harassed Paul. They even followed him around and stirred the people against him. To the extent he was often beaten and threatened with death.

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30.How important was Jesus' crucifixion to Apostle Paul?

Paul does not show any interest in the life and career of Jesus'. Instead his writings depict someone fixated on the death and resurrection of Jesus, the man he calls 'the Lord'.

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31.Was Apostle Paul a disciple of Jesus?

No, Paul never met Jesus in the flesh. Influenced by Greek Hellenism and various religious mystical cults, Paul turned Jesus into a deity for worship.

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32.What life did Apostle Paul lead before his miraculous conversion to Christianity?

Paul was known as Saul was a prosecutor and law enforcer for the Romans, the Caiaphas. He was hostile towards Judaism.

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33.Why did James allow Apostle Paul to preach a new religion?

James accepted Paul and his missionary activities as the money he raised from wealthy gentiles helped to support the Jerusalem church (?)

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34.How did Apostle Paul view Jesus' teachings?

According to Paul, Jesus' Jewish teachings are not relevant to salvation. While Jesus is regarded by Christians as the founder of the faith. Paul's role in defining Christianity is absolutely fundamental.

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35.What did Apostle Paul do after his miraculous conversion to Christianity?

After his vision, Paul in his own words went into the desert of Arabia for a period, seeking no instruction. These accounts reflect a change in Paul's status: in his own view, he had received a revelation from Jesus/God directly and that elevated his status far higher than Jesus' twelve disciples.

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36.What was the main difference between Apostle Paul's religion and the message of Jesus?

Paul's religious creed fundamentally is in his concept of the death of Jesus as saving mankind from sin. Instead of seeing Jesus as a messiah of the Jewish human savior, he saw him as a God-like diety whose atoning death by violence was necessary to release his devotees for immortal life and attain salvation. This view of Jesus' death seems to have come to Paul in his Damascus vision.

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37.How did Apostle Paul convince the Gentiles?

Paul's new religion had the advantage over other salvation-cults of being close to Hebrew Scriptures, which Paul now re-interpreted as forecasting the salvation-death of Jesus. This gave Pauline Christianity an authority that proved attractive to the Gentile masses.

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38.How did James, leader of the Jerusalem Church, view Apostle Paul?

Paul's new doctrine met with disapproval from the Jewish-Christians of the Jerusalem Church, who regarded the substitution of Jesus' atoning death for the observance of the Torah as a lapse into paganism.

Paul was duly summoned to Jerusalem by the leaders James, Peter and John to explain his doctrine in 50 AD.

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39.What was Apostle Paul's view on circumcision?

Paul did not consider the practise of circumcision as important. According to him, keeping the commandments through faith was more important.

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40.What did Apostle Paul do after he converted to Christianity, on the road to Damascus?

According to historical records, Paul converted to Christianity between 1 to 3 years after Jesus' crucifixion. Following this mystical encounter, Paul disappeared from the scene to emerge 13 years later (47-60 CE) as Paul, a missionary to the gentiles.

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41.Christianity and Hinduism revere their religious figures as gods or incarnations of God

According to Islam, all these righteous persons were mortal, human prophets of God, like Muhammad, having the same needs that every human being has. They all eventually died, as everyone must.

There are several reasons why they have come to be revered by their followers as 'gods'. One is that their words were misunderstood by the later generations, who mistook their figurative expressions in a literal sense. Another is that the details of their lives were not preserved accurately, and therefore a great many myths have grown up around them, and their works and deeds have been much exaggerated.

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42.What is Christianity?

Christianity is a religion which was originally preached by Jesus, but today is based entirely on Paul's teachings.

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43.How did the Early Jewish-Christians practise their religion?

The Jewish-Christians practised three daily prayers, male circumcision, ritual washing for purity, fasting, attention to clean/unclean foods, giving charity and pilgrimage to a central temple.

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44.Why did Christians turn away from the original message of Jesus?

By the time the New Testament (Mark, Matthew, Luke, John) was written their was a strong trend towards showing how Jewish beliefs were inadequate and no longer valid; reinforced by the wish to break free of strict Jewish laws especially circumcision, ritual purity and dietary code.

Judaism had to be shown as 'the inferior enemy' if the new Christianity was to succeed.

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45.What did early Jewish-Christians think of Apostle Paul?

Paul's popularity was in decline between 55-66 CE because missionaries from the Church of Jerusalem publicly rejected his innovation and claim to be an Apostle.

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46.When was Christianity born?

After 70CE, Christianity became a new movement. Western Christian writings after 70CE are a product of that transformation. Christianity became a Mithras-type saviour cult whose hero was not a myth but a real man.

Anyone who questioned Jesus' divinity were viewed as ignorant and inferior, including early Jewish-Christians, Jews, Jesus' closest friends and even family.

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47.Were the early Christians Jews?

Yes. Jesus himself and his immediate followers observed all Jewish law, customs and practise.

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48.Did Saul kill the early Jewish-Christians?

Prior to becoming a Christian, Saul of Tarsus hated Christians. He made it his goal to capture, then bring Christians to public trial and execution.

Saul believed that he was serving God by finding Christians, throwing them into prison, and even executing them when possible.

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49.How did the early Jewish-Christians view Jesus' resurrection?

The early Christians assumed Jesus had been raised by God, and not that he was God.

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50.Who seperated Christianity from Judaism?

It was Paul's dramatic conversion to Christianity that resulted in the seperation of Christianity from Judaism. Within months of his disappearing, Jesus' teachings were changed.

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51.What happened after Apostle Paul converted to Christianity?

After his conversion, Paul who was the enemy to Christians suprisingly did not go back to Jerusalem to meet learn from, or even apologise to the Apostles.

Instead he went to Arabia, and then returned to Damascus, Syria. After three years, Paul returned to Jerusalem when he spent fifteen (15) days with Peter and met James. He did not meet any of the other Apostles.

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52.What dramatic experience made Apostle Paul convert to Christianity?

Their are a number of varying versions of Paul�s vision as he describes it to various different people of different races.

In the above accounts, their are a number of obvious contradictions: 1. ACTS 9:4, it is stated that only Paul fell to the ground on seeing the light. Verse 7 says that others with him stood speechless.

2. ACTS 26:14 says they ALL fell to the ground.

3. ACTS 9:7 states that the people who journeyed with Paul didn't see anyone but heard a voice.

4. ACTS 22:9 says that those who were with Paul saw the light but DID NOT hear the voice of the speaker.

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53.How did Matthew (Gospel) support Apostle Pauline Christian doctrine?

It did not! Matthew (85 CE) was written for Jewish-Christians who observed the Law and did not wish to break away from Judaism. Matthew is in complete opposition to Pauline doctrine.

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54.Where is Pauline Christianity today?

Pauline Christianity forms the majority of Christians today. It is the dominant and acknowledged mainstream Christian doctrine upheld.

In recent developments, many Christian scholars are considering the disturbing possibility the early Jewish-Christian church was actually correct and the Pauline 'Trinitarian' Christian theology is error and heresy.

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55.How was Christianity made appealing to pagan idol worshippers?

In order to increase the number of Christian converts, Christian missionaries deliberately adopted pre-existing pagan holy places, shrines, special days and even pagan statues of God.

Pope Gregory I (540-604 CE), a famous Christian leader encouraged accomodating pagan customs and beliefs. So if pagans worshipped a Tree or Spirit abiding in it, rather than shun the pagan worship, he urged priests to somehow link the worship to Jesus Christ, and allow them to continue their Tree or pagan idol worship.

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56.Should Christians celebrate Jesus on 25th December?

Celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ on 25th December is a good example of pagan practise which has been adopted or 'Christenized'. Any believing Christian would avoid the Christmas celebration given its Sun-Baal connections, as 'Jehovah Witness' Christians do.

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57.Does the Christian Trinity come from pagan Triadic dieties?

Does the Christian Trinity come from pagan Triadic dieties? Yes. The core teachings of the Trinitarian Christian churches today do not come from Jesus.

The three-in-one Gods are pagan concepts that existed long before Jesus arrived. Later on, Christians adopted this concept and instantly made Christian doctrine an appealing alternative to the pagan God worshipping masses.

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58.How did Christianity start?

The road from Jesus to the Christian religion that finally emerged in the fourth century, with its myth of Jesus as the son of God solidly in place, is a very long and twisty path.

Christianity was not born of an immaculate conception. It was the product of myriad moments of intellectual labor and negotiated social agreements by the people investing in the experiment.

This discovery has been difficult for many Christians to accept. That is because the traditional picture of Christian beginnings starts with a Jesus who knows in advance what is required of him and his disciples in order to establish the Christian religion.

- Who Wrote the New Testament, Burton Mack, p45

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59.Who were the early Christians?

Many scholars object to using the term 'Christian' for the early followers of Jesus. They were still fully Jews who believed that Jesus was the Messiah.

Christianity was a later development, when the believers in Jesus developed their own religion with distinctive Christian beliefs and practices (such as baptism, eucharist, weekly meetings, and so on).

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60.What does the Quran say about Jews and Christians?

The Jews say "The Christians have nothing [true] to stand on," and the Christians say, "The Jews have nothing to stand on," although they [both] recite the Scripture. Thus the polytheists speak the same as their words. But Allah will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning that over which they used to differ.
[Quran 2:113]

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61.Do Christians worship Mary?

Yes. Some Christians do worship Mary. Even today, the abstract of that is found in churches where she is called upon as THEOTOKOS in Greek which means "Mother of God", God bearer, one who give birth to God.

There was an idea that Mary was not the mother of God and counsels tried to change her name from THEOTOKOS to CHRISTOTOKOS, or from "Mother of God" to "Mother of Christ" - but this change was rejected.

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62.What did Apostle Paul achieve by his Christian conversion?

1. Paul managed to defeat Jesus' Jewish-Christian followers whom he was persecuting by establishing a new version of Christianity which preached exactly what the high priest suggested; that murdering Jesus was not a bad idea after all

2. He defeated Jesus and Peter, the rock on whom Jesus promised to build his church and so became himself the rock of a new church (and Christianity later)

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63.I am a Christian and I know my sins are forgiven and I am going to Heaven

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64.How did the Christian Trinity come about?

The concept of a dual human and divine nature in the person of Jesus is known as the Hypostatic Union, an essential component of modern Trinitarianism.

Yet it wasn�t until the Council of Chalcedon that we see the emergence of an official doctrine of the Trinity in a form that is recognisable with what Christian Trinitarians believe in today. This took place in the fifth century, over 400 years after Jesus!

The evangelical theologian and Professor Wayne A. Grudem sums this up as follows: "A precise understanding of how full deity and full humanity" argues Grudem, "could be combined together in one person was formulated only gradually in the church and did not reach the final form until the Chalcedonian Definition in 451 AD

Source: [Grudem, Systematic Theology: Chapter 26 � The Person of Christ, 1994, p. 554.]

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65.Does the Quran tell Jews and Christians to refer to their Scriptures (Torah and Bible)?

When the Quran refers to the previous Scriptures (Torah, Gospel etc.), this is understood to mean the original revelations sent to Moses and Jesus, and not the 'corrupted' versions we have today

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66.Do all Christians believe Jesus was God or Son of God?

The early Jewish-Christians such as the Ebonites, the Cerinthians, the Basilidians, the Capocratians, and the Hypisistarians. The Arians, Paulicians and Goths also accepted Jesus as a prophet of God.

Even in the modern age there are churches in Asia, in Africa, the Unitarian church, the Jehovah's witnesses, and even the majority of todays Anglican Bishops do not worship Jesus as God.

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67.Why did early Christians have church synods and councils?

Priests and bishops would often come together and vote on Christian theological matters due to the disunity, differences and conflict within the Christian denominations.

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68.There is only one Bible with one Christian doctrine?

Bible versions translate verses with different explanations. For example, in JUDE 1:5, who saves and then destroys the people of Egypt?

17 Bible versions state the "Lord" did
7 Bibles state "Jesus"
1 Bible claims "God" did

These differences give rise to different Christian theological views.

The Bible verse is at http://biblehub.com/jude/1-5.htm

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69.Does the Old Testament teach the Christian Trinity?

The Old Testament does not teach the Trinity, or even set forth the Messiah would be God. There is no evidence of anyone knowing about, or believing in, the Trinity in all the Jewish literature before Christ, including the Old Testament, the Jewish targums and commentaries, the Apocrypha or other apocryphal literature, or the Dead Sea Scrolls.

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70.What is the Christian Trinity?

Orthodox Christian theologians define the doctrine of the Trinity is that the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God, and together these 'three Persons' make one God; and these three are co-equal and co-eternal, the Son having been 'eternally begotten' of the Father, and Jesus being simultaneously 100% God and 100% man.

Today, many Christians think they are Trinitarians simply because they believe in the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit - but that is not the Trinity!

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71.What do Christian 'Trinity' scholars say about the Old Testament?

The distinguished Trinitarian scholar Bertrand de Margerie in his book The Christian Trinity in History (p.3) writes:

"�contemporary exegetes [Bible teachers] affirm unanimously that the Old Testament did not bring to the Jewish people a clear and distinct Revelation of the existence of a plurality of persons in God. In this they agree with the clear and frequent affirmation of Fathers such as Irenaeus, Hilary, and Gregory of Nazianzus: that the doctrine of the Trinity is revealed only in the New Testament."

So any person who lived before Jesus' ministry did not have to believe in the Trinity to be saved because the Trinity is not mentioned in the Old Testament.

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72.What do Christian scholars say about the Trinity?

Scholars freely admit that the Trinity is never presented as a complete doctrine in the New Testament, but rather is built from scattered Bible verses.

In the NT there is no explicit statement of the doctrine�.
Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (p. 1112)

�it is not a Biblical doctrine in the sense that any formulation of it can be found in the Bible�.
New Bible Dictionary (p.1221)

The New Testament does not present a systematic presentation of the Trinity. The scattered segments from various writers that appear throughout the New Testament reflect a seemingly accepted understanding that exists without a full-length discussion.
Holman Bible Dictionary (p.1372)

Theologians admit the New Testament does not define the Trinity. Furthermore, there is no clear teaching that salvation depends on the belief in the Trinity.

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73.When did Catholic Christianity become official religion of Rome?

In 380 AD, Catholicism became the state religion of Rome. A calendar of feast days was set: Christmas - to mark the birth of Jesus; Easter - to mark the death and resurrection.

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74.What happened to Christians who questioned their creed?

• Porphyry (3rd century philosopher) wrote a 15-volume refutation of Christianity, the gospels and resurrection
• Celsus (2nd century philosopher) rejected the impossible concept of the resurrection

The imperialistic power of the church, and its stranglehold on intellectual endeavours was such that the above books and many more perished in the pious book burnings in the 4th century. Today, our knowledge of these books is limited and known through the refutation books which had to quote the destroyed books.

Once Christianity was established as the state religion, it became dangerous, as a subject of Rome, to question the doctrinal version of events.

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75.Can Christians eat swine and pork?

Many Christians believe that Jesus abolished the Old Testament dietary laws. The dietary interpretation of Jesus' words (i.e. swine pig consumption) does not exist in the Textus Receptus Bible, the authoritative Greek New Testament text that was accepted by the Christian Church until about 100 years ago.

This parenthetic interpretation of Jesus words was obviously a comment that some Bible scribe wrote in the margin of the text. Later scribes accidentally or deliberately incorporated the marginal comment into the text itself, so the statement appears only in corrupted texts.

But the statement does not appear in the Textus Receptus, so the KJV says nothing about Jesus "declaring all foods clean."

God had clearly prohibited pig, swine and pork in the Old Testament. This verse was over whether or not 'unwashed hands' caused clean food to become unclean.

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76.Many Christians believe that Jesus abolished the Old Testament dietary laws

Many Christians believe that Jesus abolished the Old Testament dietary laws. The dietary interpretation of Jesus' words (i.e. swine pig consumption) does not exist in the Textus Receptus Bible, the authoritative Greek New Testament text that was accepted by the Christian Church until about 100 years ago.

This parenthetic interpretation of Jesus words was obviously a comment that some Bible scribe wrote in the margin of the text. Later scribes accidentally or deliberately incorporated the marginal comment into the text itself, so the statement appears only in corrupted texts.

But the statement does not appear in the Textus Receptus, so the KJV says nothing about Jesus "declaring all foods clean."

God had clearly prohibited pig, swine and pork in the Old Testament. This verse was over whether or not 'unwashed hands' caused clean food to become unclean.

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77.Can Christians eat pork?

Christians claim that God told Peter, many years after Jesus' crucifixion, that established thousand year old dietary laws no longer applied.

At the time, Peter understood that the vision had nothing at all to do with a change in the dietary laws; but applied to the Gentile men.

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78.Can Christians eat pork?

Which creatures did God create to be received as food? Did God create swine, shellfish, rats, maggots, lizards, bats, and moles to be received as food?

Obviously this verse refers to every creature which God created to be received as food (kosher and clean) as established in Old Testament law and other Bible verses.

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79.Can Christians eat pork?

The above verse when read in context with previous verses re-affirms God's dietary laws and not abolish them. Even if this verse applies to dietary law it means "do not worry about man-made regulations concerning food and drink." The entire passage is dealing with man-made regulations of human origin.

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80.Can Christians eat pork?

Jesus said these words when he sent out seventy Torah-observant Jews.

Should we understand that Jesus allowed his disciples to eat non-kosher, unclean meat? Ofcourse not!

Jesus' disciples would be lodging in Torah-observant Jewish homes, where kosher laws were observed. The disciples understood Jesus when he said, "eat such things as are set before you." He simply meant to be content with the food your host provides.

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81.What life did Apostle Paul lead before his miraculous conversion to Christianity?

Paul was known as Saul was a prosecutor and law enforcer for the Romans, the Caiaphas. He was hostile towards Judaism.

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82.Who was the founder of Christianity?

Jesus was not the founder of Christianity as we know it today. Most of the New Testament does not even concern the historical Jesus. Paul defines what has became known as Christianity today.

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83.What did Apostle Paul do after his miraculous conversion to Christianity?

After his vision, Paul in his own words went into the desert of Arabia for a period, seeking no instruction. These accounts reflect a change in Paul's status: in his own view, he had received a revelation from Jesus/God directly and that elevated his status far higher than Jesus' twelve disciples.

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84.What happened when Rome chose Christianity as the state religion?

The Romans adopted the Roman Catholic version of Christianity; and chose the teachings of Paul over Jesus.

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85.Did Jesus ever preach Christianity?

No. Neither Jesus or his twelve disciples had any intention of founding a new religion. They believed in maintaining their new faith within the confines of Judaism.

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86.What are the origins of Christian church music?

Saint Ambrose (334-397), a keen advocate of church music is credited with introducing it into christian worship.

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87.How did early Catholics learn about Christianity?

Early Catholics were taught Christianity by the priests, nuns and at Catholic schools - and not through Bible study. The priests role was to pass on Christian beliefs and practise to his congregation. The priest acted as an intermediary between God and the people; as mankind was regarded as inherently sinful.

Catholics were discouraged from individual Bible study and pushed towards conforming with traditional Church teachings.

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88.When was the word 'Christian' first ever used?

When Paul was joined in his missionary by Peter, Antioch became the first outreach centre for the Gentiles; it was here the term 'Christian' was first used.

The author of Acts (Luke, the companion of Paul) is assigning the term Christian to the disciples, all of whom were observant and respectful of Jewish Law.

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89.What did Apostle Paul do after he converted to Christianity, on the road to Damascus?

According to historical records, Paul converted to Christianity between 1 to 3 years after Jesus' crucifixion. Following this mystical encounter, Paul disappeared from the scene to emerge 13 years later (47-60 CE) as Paul, a missionary to the gentiles.

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90.Was Jesus a Catholic Christian?

Jesus was a Jew and the origins of Christianity are as a reform movement within Judaism. In contrast to this, the Catholic Church believes Jesus' mission was not only for Jews but the whole world.

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91.How did Early Christians view the Old Testament?

The superior authority of Christ meant that while the authors of the NT embraced the OT as 'God-breathed' and thus would never feel free to reject any portion of it, they were equally convinced that the ultimate God-intended meaning of any given passage, and of the OT as a whole, was only found when seen in relation to Christ.

For example, for one or more of the Gospel authors, Jesus's birth fulfills Israel's longing for a messiah, his exodus out of Egypt fulfills Israel's exodus out of Egypt, his temptations in the desert fulfills Israel's trials in the desert, his twelve disciples fulfill the mission of the twelve tribes of Israel, his five sets of teachings in Matthew fulfill Moses�s Pentateuch, his sufferings fulfill the call of Israel to be a suffering servant, and his resurrection is the fulfillment of Israel's calling and longing for restoration.

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92.In the past, how were the Christians viewed?

Paul's Christianity had a universal ambition; it aspired to bring salvation to the world.

Christianity had to reject the Hebrew representation of scripture, written in the obscure, provincial tongue only the Jews spoke, and to announce the miraculous new revelation of Septuagint, the eternal bible reincarnated in a language that everyone understood.

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