(July 30, 2012 at 8:01 am)FallentoReason Wrote: Sure, I can see how this traditional explanation of St. Paul works given the circumstances. Do you have any scripture to back this up at all?
Yes, In every letter Paul has been attributed to write He starts out with a personal greeting to a Church in a given region he created or helped create. which places him in a position of leadership/eldership in that Church. Then their is the fact the bodies of his various works address the specific problems a given Church has. remember because these people are not random citizens and because they are all apart of an established churches it places Paul in a position of a shepard of a flock and not in a place where he needs to evangelize to unbelievers.
Quote:Whether all of this is true or not doesn't really help because my position renders the question 'were there witnesses to Jesus' pointless much like the same question is useless when asked for Harry Potter. I guess much of Christianity cuts both ways in that one can give the explanation that has been fed to the masses over the centuries OR one can realise that the culture of the time is what made e.g. Paul's beliefs plausible even though Jesus might not have existed.
I guess it comes down to a Matter of FAITH and what you simply want to believe.. Know the 'defense of Paul's work has never one been taught or explained to me. Probably because no one up until you has every questioned why Paul went in a different direction than the gospels. I guess for most it is a simple matter of common sense, in that why would paul need to evanglize to established believers? Plus none of the other books (written by John and Peter and the unknown authors) also take a shepards role in addressing specific problems in a given church and not the position of simply restating the gospel message over and over despite the problem being faced.
