Paul's Beliefs

[Undeceived]

Romans 1:1-4
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God — the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.

Notice how this is an OT interpretation? Why didn't he mention Jesus of Nazareth, born of the Virgin Mary?

What you have brought up is no different to Mark basing his work on the OT. Paul is no different. His entire revelation of who Christ is comes from 'prophets' i.e. the OT and the spirit. Not once does he refer to Jesus from Nazareth, born of a Virgin who had 12 close Apostles, who travelled the land performing miracles and preaching through parables. Why doesn't Paul ever refer back to such important 'facts'?

Paul calls God's son an earthly man, and a descendant of David, who Mary also was a descendant of. If this old testament "Jesus Christ" is not Jesus of Nazareth, who is it? Are you asserting this earthly Jesus Christ is different from the Jesus Christ in the rest of Paul’s writings? Or maybe he places a unique definition on “earthly”?

In making this argument, you are claiming that Paul in Acts is either completely fictional or an entirely different person. Luke writes about an earthly Jesus, and Paul preaches about him. Think about this for a moment. Read Acts again and tell me if you think Luke fabricated every word. If you wish Paul of the Epistles and Paul of Acts to be two separate people, consider all the similarities--preaching style, phrase usage. Paul mentions Jesus in his sermons because his listeners do not know of him or what he did. Paul leaves such information out of his letters because he writes to correct a church problem or encourage the church. At least one gospel is already circulating. There is no need for Paul to rehash Jesus' every deed when he is explaining sin and grace. He speaks of Christ's death and resurrection frequently. His duty is to explain what they mean. He focuses on the spiritual world and wants the reader to know Jesus is God. Paul is right not to recount the life of a man he has never met--leave that for the eyewitnesses. Paul is not a reporter, he is an expositor.

And you should explain why Peter gives credit to Paul:
2 Peter 3:15-16 "...just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction."

I invite you to glance through a concordance: http://www.biblegateway.com/keyword/?sea...spanend=64