AN ARTICLE

Category: Christian Mysteries - Unmasked

THE APOSTLE PAUL - BEFORE The Canon Gospels

By Paul Rodricks

St. Paul, who indeed can be called the actual founder of the Christian church, was
probably born around 10 A.D. and lived until 63-65 A.D. Eminent scholars and even
the Church historians believe that not all of the 13 letters/ epistles ascribed to Paul are his
own writings; some wholly and some partly- to being fake and later additions specially in
the the case of Galatians, Ephesians, I and II Timothy, and Titus.

Moreover, Paul's epistles generally contain Hellenistic concepts and allegorical

sentiments of a gnostic theology. His oldest letters were probably in circulation from 49-
60A.D., that is before the Mark's Gospel, which is originated sometime around 70A.D. to
be followed by Mathew's, Luke's (both of whom copy almost fullscale from Mark) and
John's - all latest by 150 A.D.

Many would be surprised to learn for the first time that Paul does not mention in any of
his letters about the important events surrounding the historial birth of Jesus at
Bethlehem, the visit of Magis, Harod's massacre of the infants, about John the Baptist,
Jesus' tempatation, his sermons, parables, miracles, trial and cruxifixion between two the
thiefs. He does not even mention the Lord's Prayer as Jesus taught to is disciples. In the
Book of Acts, Paul meets with only Peter and James at the Jerusalem church and none of
the other disciples, even Joseph and Mary, nor does he make any attempts to do so any
time later.

All of these simply because the figure of the historical Jesus, his supernatural birth,
earthly mission and death by crucifixion was yet to be conceptualized through bits and
pieces of floating fragmentary manuscripts, often contradictory, which upon compilation
and final editing subsequently came to known as the four canon gospels.

From the ancient writings of the Church, it comes to light that the Early Church Father,
Chrysostam (397) had a hand in introducing some of the writings of Apollonius of Tyana
after re-working on them as the Epistles of Paul.

As is also obvious, the name Paul is from Latin Paulus for Apollonius. Paul is said to
have had a companion by the name of Demis. (2 Tim. 4:10). So did Apollonius, a similar
namesake, Damis.

Apollonius of Tyana: He was a famous philosopher and social reformer born in the
Græco-Roman world sometime in the first century A.D. in a city south of Cappadocia
called Tyana. He studied at Tarsus, (incidentally, Paul's birthplace) wellknown at the
time as a centre of learning, from the age of fourteen years. Besides his preference for
and excelling in the Pythagorean concepts of theology, he studied with teachers of
Platonic, Stoic, Peripatetic and Epicurean schools of philosophy.

Historians and scholars have since noticed the similarities of Jesus and Paul with
Apollonius. All three were said to be celibate. The generally accepted Nazarene
appearance (beard and long hair) of Jesus was like-wise that of Apollonius. Apollonius
studied in Tarsus, city of Paul’s birth. Apollonius also taught to priests, preached to the
people at large at shrines and temples, healed people, exorcised demons and brought back
dead people to life. These very same things were supposedly taking place during the
same lifetime of Jesus and Paul.

Outside of the Canon Gospels, there is no historicity of Jesus (except for a few lines or a
paragraph interpolated into the pages of some books of well-known historians or writers
of later times) or that of Paul. Apollonius, on the other hand, is mentioned both in the
state-records of the Roman Emperors as well as other secular historical writings. That
the Church Father Chrysostom used the model of Apollonius life and teachings to
compose some parts of the Epistles of Paul lends credibility to after the fact.

Historical Paul: Most of what we know about Paul, his life and teachings, comes from
the Book of Acts by Luke and the Epistles ascribed to Paul. But outside the New
Testament, what do historians, scholars and even archeologists, who have researched and
studied in-depth the world religions including Christianity of that period, have to say
about Paul’s life and teachings?
Hyam Maccoby in his book, The Mythmaker Paul, writes about the deviation of Paul’s
doctrine from Judaism and the influence of paganism in Pauline Christianity, as follows:

"So Paul's claim to expert Pharisee learning is relevant to a very important and central
issue--whether Christianity, in the form given to it by Paul, is really continuous with
Judaism or whether it is a new doctrine, having no roots in Judaism, but deriving, in so
far as it has an historical background, from pagan myths of dying and resurrected gods
and Gnostic myths of heaven-descended redeemers. Did Paul truly stand in the Jewish
tradition, or was he a person of basically Hellenistic religious type, but seeking to give a
coloring of Judaism to a salvation cult that was really opposed to everything that Judaism
stood for?" (Hyam Maccoby, The Mythmaker Paul and the Invention of Christianity,
Harper & Row, "1987" Pb. (c1986), 204. ).

We cannot ignore following statement, with a reference being made to the Early Church
Father, Tertullian (160-230 A.D), who clearly doubted the very existance of Paul and
declared his writings as works of fiction:

"We can find no proof of his [Paul] historic reality. The 'Acts of Paul and Thecla,' which
contain a sketch of his personal appearance, are declared by Tertullian to be the work of
an Asian presbyter and a fiction. Tertullian himself, while expressing the most audacious
doubts as to Paul, turns the writings ascribed to him to the account of Catholicism, and
endeavour[s] to force the Paul of the 'Acts of the Apostles' [Fiction!] upon his
contemporaries "

"And it is still a question whether 'Paul,' that figure which suddenly starts up in Gnostic
company at the middle of the second century more 'hebraises,' or more 'hellenises,' or
whether so-called 'Paulinism' be not a heterogeneous mixture of conservatism and
innovation; whether the current portraits of this latest 'apostle' do not present variations
irreconcilable with the hypothesis of a historic individual" (Edwin Johnson 1842-190,
Antiqua Mater: A Study of Christian Origins.

Another pre-Nicene Apostolic Father, was Justin Martyr (100 - 165A.D.) whose life-time
of writings are completely silent about Paul or this ministry: "His silence about Paul,
when he had every reason to cite him in his anti-Judaistic reasonings, is a silence that
speaks -- a void that no iteration of unattested statements, no nebulous declamation, can
ever fill "(Ibid.).

Here we see the influence of Gnosticism in Paul’s doctrine - a later adoptation by the
Church: "The only reasonable conclusion is that, since Paul was the great Gnostic
spokesman more than fifty years before his writings became orthodox, these were revised
and expanded by a process of Catholic forgery" (Ibid., 438).

Historians record that until the first century, only the few epistles of Paul as compiled by
Marcion (100-165 A.D.) were around and these too fell short of the many other passages
added later into the canonical gospels. Marcion of Sinope, a christian theologican and
an ex-bishop, discarded the Old Testament and upheld only some of Paul’s epistles, also
dismissing the historical Jesus for a spirtitual form. Marcion wrote the first canon of the
New Testament in AD 140.
Though, he was ex-communicated by the Church in A.D.. 144, many of his theologies
were afterwards covertly integrated into doctrines of the Church.

"Marcion accepted only ten Pauline epistles and that his version did not contain many of
the passages found in our canonical. There can be no reasonable doubt that this was the
actual corpus of Pauline literature as it existed late in the first century" (Ibid., 529).

That the travel-routes of the missionary Paul being similar to the ones featuring the
characters in Xenophon’s Ephesian Tale, we read in The Novel of Antiquity by Tomas
Hägg:

"A map of the Mediterranean region showing the routes of the hero and heroine of a
novel inevitably brings to mind the school-bible's map of the travels of St. Paul. Here
Xenophon's Ephesian Tale is mapped" (Tomas Hägg, The Novel in Antiquity, U.
California, 1983 (1980 Sweden), map [end papers].

Concerning the authoritative style of Paul’s demands, obedience and of his subduing
critics, this manner of Paul is seen as a reflection of the Church’s attitude in laying its
autocratic style of functioning and churning out edicts.

"In the name of that Lord Paul demands unity and obedience. He is to be seen subduing
critics, subjecting the faithful to his unsolicited censure, and giving firm rulings to their
most intimate queries. It is a style that the officials of the Vatican can rightly claim as
their own. " [which it (was) is!] (Graham Shaw, Chaplain of Exeter College, Oxford, The
Cost of Authority Manipulation and Freedom in the New Testament, SCM, 1983, 62).

Following the theological meet at the Jesus Seminar and its findings about Paul showing
his ignorance of the historical Jesus, his earthly ministry and, in reality, he being
influenced by the pagan, gnostic mysteries of his day on which theology the later gospel
writings also relied upon and propagated accordingly, the Authors had this to state:

"The figure in this creed ["Apostles' Creed"] is a mythical or heavenly figure, whose
connection with the sage from Nazareth is limited to his suffering and death under
Pontius Pilate. Nothing between his birth and death appears to be essential to his mission
or to the faith of the church. Accordingly, the gospels may be understood as corrections
of this creedal imbalance, which was undoubtedly derived from the view espoused by the
apostle Paul, who did not know the historical Jesus. For Paul, the Christ was to be
understood as a dying/rising lord, symbolized in baptism (buried with him, raised with
him), of the type he knew from the Hellenistic mystery religions. In Paul's theological
scheme, Jesus the man played no essential role" (The Five Gospels The Search for the
Authentic Words of Jesus, Robert Funk, Roy Hoover, The Jesus Seminar, Macmillan,
1993, 7).
Paul’s concept of Jesus and his Pauline doctrine was the result of his visions and spiritual
experiences of Christ from whence originated the source of all his knowledge, enough for
Paul to preach his own gospel accordingly.

"Paul derived this narrative of the last supper, not from companions of Jesus, but as one
of the private revelations [sic] to which he was liable. It rests, therefore, on no basis of
fact, but, like much of Paul's conception of Jesus, is partly, or wholly, an a priori
construction of his own mind (Frederick Cornwallis Conybeare, The Origins of
Christianity, University Books, 1958 (1910 rev.) (1909), 251).

Contrary to Paul self-acclaiming that he was an expert in all aspects of Judaism, eminent
Talmudic scholar, Kohler, considers otherwise: "Kaufmann Kohler...the distinguished
Talmudic scholar and editor of the Jewish Encyclopaedia, wrote in 1902 that 'nothing in
Paul's writings showed that he had any acquaintance with rabbinical learning' -- a
judgement with which I entirely concur" (Hyam Maccoby, The Mythmaker Paul and the
Invention of Christianity, Harper & Row, "1987" Pb. (c1986), 204.).

Paul defended that what he preached was the correct message of Christ. That the Apostles
had misunderstood Jesus’ message and it was therefore revealed to him personally by
Christ himself to put right what the Apostles taught incorrectly.

"Marcion, unlike some Gnostics, relied more on biblical materials than on Greek
philosophy. In particular, he emphasized Paul's teachings (Marcion's version), asserting
that the original twelve apostles had misunderstood Christ's message by thinking him to
be the messiah prophesied by the Old Testament rather than understanding him to be sent
by the true God. Because of this misunderstanding, it was therefore necessary for Paul to
receive a special revelation to correct it " (Chas S. Clifton, Encyclopedia of Heresies and
Heretics, 1992, 91).

The forgeries of Paul’s writings can be seen as also resulting from similar theological
interests and close association of the Apostolic fathers with pagan philosophers.

"It is curious and perhaps significant that the two pagans whom the Church took most
warmly to its bosom were Vergil and Seneca. Seneca is commended highly by the Latin
Fathers and came to be regarded as virtually one of them. This distinction is in part due to
the apocryphal [Forged] correspondence with St. Paul" (Moses Hadas, Jay Professor of
Greek Columbia University, Hellenistic Culture Fusion and Diffusion, Columbia U.,
1959, 57).

Church writers casting doubt on the authencity of Pauline Epistles:

"With respect to the canonical Pauline epistles...none of them [were] by Paul; neither
fourteen, nor thirteen, nor nine or ten, nor seven or eight, nor yet even the four [of F. C.
Baur 1792 - 1860, et. al.] so long 'universally' regarded as unassailable. They are all,
without distinction, pseudepigrapha (this of course, not implying the least depreciation of
their contents). The history of criticism, the breaking up of the group which began as
early as 1520, already pointed in this direction " (Ibid., 3625).

Here, again, we have a serious statement of findings from scholars having researched into
the origins of Christianity, regarding the creation of the character of Paul and the religion
he is supposed to have founded.

"One of the strongest pieces of evidence to our mind, negatively, that the Paul who has so
long captivated our admiration and love is not historical, positively, that he is the product,
like all similar figures, of religious passion and imagination is that Lucian [c. 117 - c. 180
C.E.], whose glance embraced the great seats of supposed Pauline activity, betrays no
knowledge of any such vigorous personality as having left his mark upon the Christian
communities from a century before his time”. (Edwin Johnson, 1842-1901, published
anonymously, Antiqua Mater: A Study of Christian Origins.

American Revolutionary leader and scholar, Thomas Paine (1737-1809) in his Age of
Reason gives us a clear insight into the conflicting beliefs of the early Christian sects, the
rejection of the New Testament, Acts and Epistles and moreover, the first sect of
Christians namely the Ebionites or Nazarenes condemned Paul, originally a pagan and
not even a Jew but a fraud, who converted to Judaism for personal reasons and
subsequently turned against Judaism formulating his own new concept of a religion,
spreading anti-semitism all along.

"The Ebionites, or Nazarines, who were the first Christians, rejected all the Epistles of
Paul and regarded him as an impostor. They report, among other things, that he was
originally a pagan, that he came to Jerusalem, where he lived some time; and that having
a mind to marry the daughter of the high priest, he caused himself to be circumcised; but
that not being able to obtain her, he quarreled with the Jews and wrote against
circumcision, and against the observance of the Sabbath, and against all the legal
ordinances. - -Author.' [footnote of Thomas Paine c. 1795] (Thomas Paine [1737-1809],
The Age of Reason.

The hate of Paul for Jews is apparent to scholars, from his writings of the Epistles, who
make out Paul as the conceiver of the bitter divide between the Jews and the first-Judaism
based religion of Christianity.

"The responsibility of Paul for Christian anti-Semitism has been overlooked because of
the settled prejudice that Paul came from a highly Jewish background. It seemed
impossible that a 'Hebrew of the Hebrews', a descendant of the tribe of Benjamin, and a
Pharisee of standing could be the originator of anti-Semitic attitudes" (Hyam Maccoby,
The Mythmaker Paul and The Invention of Christianity, Harper & Row, "1987" Pb.
(c1986), 203).

Although the religion of Jesus came into existence following his death (32-33 A.D.), the
same was not never called Christianity until sometime during the fourth century, decades
after Constantine at the First Council of Nicea created and proclaimed to the world, an
universal Roman God Saviour - Jesus Christ.

So, naturally, all the ancient manuscripts and writings including those of Apollonius and
particularly his biography by Philostratus (220 A.D.) that existed before the 1st Council
of Nicea (325 A.D.) became the reference material for adaptation and creation of the
Christ figure, the 12 Apostles and all the other players in the Canon Gospels; and not the
least the theological concepts of a doctrine (creation, sin, death, redemption, heavenly
reward including immortality) which encompassed ancient mystic doctrines from time
immemorial.

Scriptures specially the Prophets from the Old Testament were deliberately
misinterpreted and mistranslated to lend support or subscribe to the element of concocted
truths about the Old Testament prophesies about Jesus and later his earthly life -
nativity, ministry, death and resurrection – to prove Jesus as the long-awaited messiah
and saviour of the world.

Much of the above credit goes to the early Church Fathers, bishops, monks, scribes,
priests, popes and their canonical decrees, burning of historical documents and other
religious books, undertaking religious wars and inquisition as a result of the Church’s
intolerance and zeal to force Roman Catholic beliefs of a world saviour, Jesus Christ,
upon the masses.

www,paulrodricks.com/

Tags: St. Paul, Paul, letters, epistles, canon, Jesus, hellenistic, mark, mathew, luke, john,
book of acts, pharisee,
Apollonius of Tyana, Damis, Demis, Gnosticism, Marcion, anti-semitic Paul,
circumcision, non-jew