Human Reason and Christian Denominations

[vulcanlogician]

Did you read the link from the non-Pauline Christian site? All it is is citations from the Bible contrasting the teachings of Paul and Jesus.

Pick one of them and we can discuss.

I can't back down from challenge, especially if I have advanced claims concerning it. I didn't say that I could defend the arguments in the link, but you said you could refute them. I put it in the spoiler box below. It does appear to contain a contradiction.

It's important to recognize, however that even the Bible says that Paul never knew the living Jesus. What has survived the ages is a collection of letters which might very well contained Paul's own opinions on things. (You must admit that at no time does Paul refer to his own letters as the inerrant word of God.) Anyway, here is an excerpt from the link:

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Jesus Says Merciful Receive Mercy, But Paul Says Only Those God Chooses Arbitrarily Will Receive Mercy
(From Edgar Jones' Paul v. Jesus: A List of Incompatible Statements)
On whom God has mercy:

Paul says:


[15] For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." 
[16] So it depends not upon man's will or exertion, but upon God's mercy. 
[18] So then he has mercy upon whomever he wills, and he hardens the heart of whomever he wills.

Jesus says:


[7] Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. 

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Paul Says Salvation Does Not Depend Upon Exertion, But Jesus Says It Does
(From )
 On unconditional election:

Paul says:

[16] So it depends not upon man's will or exertion, but upon God's mercy.

Jesus says:


[21] Not every one who says to me, `Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 
[22] On that day many will say to me, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' [23] And then will I declare to them, `I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.

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So those are two points made in the link that I understand and we can discuss. But rather than parse through scripture (not my style) why not look at what theologians have to say on the matter? That is what I was referring to when I said that Paul was unfamiliar with Jesus.

People think that the faith/works debate is a matter of interpretation of scripture. Not so, say this article. According to it, the debate was actually between Paul and James... church leaders who both have their writings featured in the Bible. Is it any wonder that (when two opposing views are published in the same document) people interpret it two different ways?

Most students are surprised to find that if they simply make a list of what Paul says about Jesus between the time of his birth and the time of his death, they don’t need much more than a 3×5 card. I’ll devote a couple of posts to what it is Paul says about the historical Jesus, and then at least one post, possibly more, to the question of why he doesn’t say more.

https://ehrmanblog.org/what-did-paul-kno...r-members/