Paul was a self-proclaimed apostle to the Gentiles. References to his life and personality were partly based on primary source, notably his letters, and partly on the account given by Luke in Acts. The primary nature of Paul's life account (history), in fact, aggravates the suspicion that he tailored everything to suit his motive (apparently implicit) of getting to the top of Christendom power.
Indeed, the very foundation of Christianity today emerged through the great influence of Paul. As the founder of today's Christianity, Paul testifies:"According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the Foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it"[46].
Michael Hart, an American mathematician, historian and publisher, in his ranking of the 100 most influential persons in history places Paul (not Jesus Christ) as the second most influential person in history - next only to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)[47]. In his ranking, Hart clearly recognizes the fact that Paul was the real founder of today's Christianity. Paul surprisingly outranks Jesus in Hart's listing, because he wrote more books of the Bible than those of its other authors, whereas Jesus did not write a single word in it. Surprisingly enough, the so-called epistles of Paul to the Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephiseans, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians, Timothy, Titus and to Philemon have virtually no reference to the true words uttered by Jesus (peace be upon him).
Except for four repugnant verses, which were allegedly attributed to Jesus (peace be upon him), virtually all of the more than two thousand verses of the epistles of Paul are his own fabrications. Christians should know that Paul himself mentions his own gospel, not Jesus', in his epistle to the Romans when he says, "In the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel." (Romans 2:16). In fact, the Pauline Epistle to the Romans serves as the foundation of today's Christianity[48]. Indeed, this is so strange and ironical, knowing that none of its more than 430 verses were ever formulated by Jesus. Paul should have made direct reference to the pristine teachings of Jesus (peace be upon him), if only the formers' claim for apostleship or divine inspiration was, indeed, true. Instead, large parts of his epistles' Biblical quotations (notably those in the Epistle to the Romans) were taken from the Old Testament - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah, Ezekiel and Hosea. His epistles were, indeed, a product of tedious efforts, but that does not make Paul far better than any of the other men who authored the Bible.
It is worth noting that the Athanasian Creed, as mentioned earlier, was never taught by Jesus (peace be upon him). In fact, the word Trinity or the Athanasian Creed itself is nowhere found in the Bible.
Trinitarian dogma was merely deduced from I John 5:7, which states: "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one". Christian scholars of the Bible later found that this dogma was an interpolation in the King James version. In fact, no less than a group of 32 Christian scholars of highest eminence, advised by a board of 50 representatives of various denominations came up in 1946 with a revised standard version of the New Testament, and of the whole Bible in 1952, discarding the foregoing passage[49].
One of the major innovations of the Pauline church is the blood atonement[50]. In his epistle to the Romans, Paul says:"Much more then, having now been justified by his Blood we shall be saved from wrath through Him"[51].
Other related Biblical passages, wherein the Christian dogma of blood atonement or vicarious sacrifice is probably inferred from, are as follows:"Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by your fathers", "but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot"[52].
"Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me"[53].
"This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me"[54].
"My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness"[55].
The foregoing verses, indeed, contradict the key teaching of Jesus, pertaining to salvation, which says:"For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the Kingdom of Heaven"[56].
Christians, however, may always find ways to defend the Trinitarian heresy. They may, for instance, bank on Paul's baseless imagination concerning the role of Jesus: "...Christ came, who is overall, the eternally blessed God"[57].
This is, however, absurd, knowing that there is no single, unequivocal statement in the Bible whereby Jesus himself declares: "I am God; therefore, worship me". Instead, he said: "I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek my own will but the will of My father who sent Me."7 "...My Father is greater than I"[58]. "For I have not spoken of my own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak"[59]. "And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told me, so I speak"[60]. These are just few of the verses which explicitly prove that Jesus (peace be upon him) claimed that he was 'sent' by God. In this regard, A Doctor of Divinity and a noted Christian professor of Church History, A. M. Renwick, himself emphasizes that the one who is 'sent' is a messenger[61].
Paul's explicit confession that he "separated to the Gospel of God"[62] should give Christians courage to doubt his self-made dogmas. Jesus and all the other prophets (peace be upon them all) taught the unity of God (as manifested, for instance, in Exodus 20:25; Isaiah 44:6; John 5:44, 17:3). They had never taught Paul's innovations. So, any reverence to Paul is, per se, a rebellion against Jesus himself.
Moreover, if Saul (the other name of Paul) had, indeed, heard in a vision: "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?"[63] he obviously deserved this humiliating remark, because he had, in real life, severely persecuted the true followers of Jesus. Paul himself testifies:"Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities"[64]. "For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called apostle, because I persecuted the church of God"[65].
Indeed, Paul was an avowed enemy both of Jesus and his followers. Normative value judgment (let alone the Divine Law of God) would disqualify Paul from being an apostle, bearing in mind his known criminal background, particularly with respect to his persecution campaign against the real followers of Jesus. Ironically, his claim to apostleship brought him to prison in Caesarea, Ro, and during one of his trials, the then Governor of Caesarea, Festus, said to him with a loud voice "Paul, you are beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad!"[66]. In fact, he was slain for championing the cause of his self-made Christianity. Paul's criminal records, indeed, deserved capital punishment.
Other innovations by the Pauline Church include the adoption of the following: the Roman Sun-day as the Christian Sabbath; the traditional birthday of the Sun-god as the birthday of Jesus; the emblem of the Sun-god, the cross of light, to be the emblem of Christianity; and the incorporation of all the ceremonies which were performed at the Sun-god's birthday celebrations into their own rituals[67].
[46] I Corinthians 3:10.
[47] See Michael Hart, The Top 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History (New York: Hart Publishing Co., 1978).
[48] Ironically, Martin Luther himself asserts that the Pauline Epistle to the Romans is "the Most important document in the New Testament, the gospel in its purest form". See Lewis W. Spitz ed., The Protestant Reformation (New Jersey prentice -Hall, Inc., 1966), pp.36.
[49] See the section, "A Hint About the References", Reference No. 1 (d) in A. Abdel-Wahab Ali, The Christ As Seen in the Sources of the Christian Beliefs (Cairo: Wahba book Shop, 1985).
[50] Other related innovations are the divinity of Jesus, the divine sonship of Jesus and the original sin.
[51] Romans 5:9.
[52] I Peter 1:18-19.
[53] I Corinthians 11:24.
[54] I Corinthians 11:25.
[55] 2 Corinthians 12:9.
[56] Matthew 5:20.
[57] Romans 9:5.
[58] John 14:28.
[59] John 12:49.
[60] John 12:50.
[61] A. M. Renwick, The Story of the Church (Bristol: Inter-Varsity Press, 1977), p.19.
[62] Romans 1:1.
[63] Acts, 22:7.
[64] Acts, 26:9-11.
[65] I Corinthians 15:9.
[66] Acts, 26:24.
[67] Muhammad Ata ur-Rahim, op. cit., p.99.
