AN EXAMINATION OF ANTI-PAULISM
THERE is a movement on foot to discredit the writings of the Apostle Paul in the Bible, declaring they are a perversion of the truth. The conclusion is that Paul’s Epistles should be expunged from the New Testament.
This is the objective of a book entitled Who Was Paul of Tarsus? by Isabel Upton Van Etten. In this book, a premise is established, based upon “ifs”, “surmises” and “assumptions” which enable the author to conclude that Paul was in opposition to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and was completely out of step with the teachings of the disciples of Jesus.
It is a faithful axiom that, once a premise is established and accepted, the deductions drawn naturally follow. After reading this little book, we are reminded of another book, also by a woman author, whose name was Mary Baker Eddy. She also established a premise and won the acceptance of a substantial following in support of her conclusions. We pose the question:
Will many succumb to the propaganda that Paul was subversive and that his writings are unacceptable and should be deleted from the New Testament?
To counter an affirmative answer to this question, we will deal with some of the statements made that endeavor to repudiate Paul and reject his Epistles.
Paul’s Conversion
First, let us cover the facts pertaining to Paul’s conversion (Acts 9:1-22). Paul’s opponents contend there is no substantial proof of his conversion and they base this assumption on what they consider to be contradictory testimony given by Paul. In Acts 9:7 it is recorded that the men with Paul heard “a voice”, while, in Acts 22:9, it is stated that “they heard not the voice”. This apparent discrepancy is cited as an adequate reason to reject the genuineness of Paul’s conversion.
However, the Greek word translated “voice” can also be rendered “sound” or “noise”. Thus, the men with Paul were aware of a sound, or noise, but they did not comprehend the voice that spoke to Paul. The Prophet Daniel had a similar experience at the time he had a vision (Daniel 10:7-9). Daniel alone saw the vision; the men who were with him did not see it, but “a great quaking fell upon them” and they ran and hid themselves. What is completely overlooked in Paul’s case is the full testimony given in Acts 22:9 in regard to the men who were with Paul. It is stated that “they heard not the voice of him that spake to me”. In other words, the words of the Lord were for the ears of Paul alone.
In order to discredit Ananias’ testimony that the Lord expressly revealed to him the Divine determination to make Paul “a chosen vessel” (Acts 9:15), the author of the above-mentioned book brings into question whether Ananias ever really existed because he is mentioned nowhere else in the Scriptures. The flimsiness of this argument is exposed by the fact that it is asserted that Matthias should be accepted in the place of Paul as a disciple, Matthias having been chosen by the eleven disciples to take the place of Judas (Acts 1:21-26). Yet Matthias is nowhere else mentioned in the Scriptures and we have no writings bearing his name.
Paul’s Ancestry
Of himself, Paul declared:
“Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee.” (Philippians 3: 5.)
Only from the standpoint of his religion, before his conversion, could the Apostle Paul be called a Jew. He asserted:
“I say then, Hath God castaway his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.” (Romans 11: 1.)
Speaking of his racial background, Paul maintained he was “an Hebrew of the Hebrews”, but in the category of ecclesiastical law, he was a Pharisee (Philippians 3:5). By citizenship he was a free born Roman (Acts 22:25-28), but due to his religious affiliation, he designated himself as a Jew (Acts 21:39 & Acts 22:3).
It was the Benjamites who were to become lightbearers and thus Paul was properly selected by the Lord from this tribe. Racially speaking, Paul was not a Jew. However, a question is raised by those who reject Paul, contending that he was not what he claimed to be; that is, a full-blooded Benjamite. This is based on the wording of his greeting in Romans 16:11:
“Salute Herodion my kinsman.”
The claim is put forward that, in Paul’s ancestry, there was the blood of the line of Herod. The fact of the matter is that the Greek word, here translated in the King James version as “kinsman”, can just as readily be rendered “countryman”.
Proceeding under this assumption of mixed blood, Paul’s pronouncement in I Timothy 1:4, not to “give heed to fables and endless genealogies”, is styled as Paul’s method of turning away an investigation of his own ancestry. Actually, according to historical sources, Paul was referring to endless and useless labours to try to reproduce the authentic records of ancestral background of many in his day, following Herod’s destruction of those records by fire which had been kept in the archives of the Temple. Herod instigated that destruction, for he himself was an Idumean and hoped in that way to thwart an investigation of his own ancestral background.
Paul a Pharisee
Because our Lord Jesus condemned the scribes and Pharisees, who refused to believe Him and were plotting to destroy Him, this does not constitute a sweeping indictment of all Pharisees and their beliefs, without exception. Nicodemus was a Pharisee and he testified that Jesus was “a teacher come from God” (John 3:2).
When Paul stood before the Council and perceived that only a part of them were Sadducees, and the others were Pharisees, he cried out:
“I am a pharisee, the son of a pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question” (Acts 23:6).
The Sadducees did not believe in a resurrection; the Pharisees did. There is nothing unethical in any respect in the position thus taken by Paul that, although he was now a Christian, he was still a Pharisee as to his belief in the resurrection. As a matter of fact, his declaration produced the desired result, for a controversy arose between the members of the Council over the issue of resurrection and Paul was acquitted of the charges brought against him! (Acts 23:9).
Incidentally, this is an aspect of what Paul was alluding to when he declared: “I am made all things to all men” (I Corinthians 9:22). Paul called himself a Jew, an Israelite, a Benjamite, a Pharisee, a Roman, an apostle (I Corinthians15: 7-9), as well as referring to other attributes of character, and personal skills, to show that, having knowledge in all of these fields, he was qualified to speak his mind. It should not be deduced that Paul was a compromiser; not at all, for he spoke from the very wide experience to the end, as he said, that he “might, by all means, save some”.
Paul and Gamaliel
The assumption is further drawn that, because Paul was a scholar, who had sat at the feet of Gamaliel (Acts 22:3), therefore, he was forever after beholden to Gamaliel. There is no Scriptural evidence to sustain the implied accusation. Then, to downgrade the character of Gamaliel, it is inferred that he was the one most responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Again, there is no Scriptural evidence whatever to sustain such a charge.
Paul and the Law
In his Epistles, Paul was addressing men and women familiar with the entire scope of the Law of the Lord, as contained in the commandments, statutes and judgments, as well as the ceremonial law contained in ordinances. Speaking of the law in his day, it was not necessary for the apostle to specify which of these four bodies of law was under consideration when he said:
“For ye are not under the law, but under grace.” (Romans 6:14)
“But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.” (Galatians 5:18)
“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth “ (Romans 10:4)
Paul specifically designated the particular laws to which he was referring in these and other discussions. There is no good reason whatsoever to cater to modern theological stupidity and to the failure to evaluate Paul’s assertions as to the aspect of law he had in mind which Christians need not now obey. The apostle himself clarifies this for us by his statement:
“Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He said not, and to seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ.” (Galatians 3:16)
The Lord was specific as to why Abraham and his seed were to be blessed:
“Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” (Genesis 26:5.)
Following the declaration that the promise was made to Abraham and his seed, Paul continued:
”And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. Wherefore, then, serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made.”(Galatians 3:17-19.)
The commandments and statutes were in force in Abraham’s day and were given to Abraham’s seed at Mount Sinai, forming the organic basis of the national constitution. This became the Law of the Lord to be administered as the law of the Kingdom.
What, then, was the law that was added to this great body of law four hundred and thirty years after Abraham’s day? While Moses was away on the Mount to receive the written tablets of stone, and because he was delayed in returning to the camp, the people demanded that Aaron make them gods to worship. Accordingly, Aaron consented to the casting of the golden calf and the people lapsed into idolatry. When Moses returned, there was a great slaughter of those practising this idolatry, after which the laws contained in ordinances were added, with their sacrificial requirements. It was of that added law that Paul was speaking when he said:
“Wherefore the law [that was added] was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster [that is, the added law was no longer mandatory].” (Galatians 3:24-25)
The ceremonial ordinances of worship, including the elaborate system of rituals, were the “schoolmaster” to lead the believer to Jesus Christ, who became the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world for the remission of sins. At the time of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, in confirmation of the fact that the observance of the ordinances of worship was no longer required, the veil in the Temple was rent from the top to the bottom. However, the commandments, statutes and judgments of the Law of the Lord were still in effect, as Jesus declared:
“Think not that I am come to destroy the law. or the prophets: I am not come to destroy [the law] but to fulfil [prophecy] For verily I say unto you. Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all [prophecy] be fulfilled.” (Matthew 5:17-18.)
Our Lord went on to say that those who break the least of the commandments, and teach men so, shall be least in the Kingdom of God (Matthew 5:19). Paul never gave instruction to violate the commandments, statutes and judgments of the Law of the Lord. In fact, we are informed that Paul dwelt two years in his own hired house “and received all that came in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God [which would include the observance of its laws], and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him” (Acts 28:30).
Baptism For the Dead
Objections to Paul’s writings, along with the attempt to use his own declarations to condemn him, are, in most instances the result of lifting text out of context or the failure to compare other Scriptural statements which would clarify and confirm the position held by this apostle. Mistakes made in regard to the application of a text can cause serious misunderstandings, such as the primitive idea that Christians practiced post-mortem baptism. The passage cited to sustain this belief is:
“Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead?” (I Corinthians 15:29)
Previous to this verse, Paul was discussing death and the resurrection:
“Now if Christ be preached that He rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain … And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.” (I Corinthians 12:12-14 & 17-18)
With this background of discussion, it is very clear as to why the question is posed regarding baptism for the dead if death ends all and there is no resurrection. In a footnote in the Companion Bible, the following comment is given:
“Read, why are they baptized also? [It is] for the dead. It is to remain dead, as Christ remained, if there be no resurrection, v. 13.”
The argument is, What is the use of being baptized if it is only to remain dead? No suggestion here of the vicarious baptism which sprang up later among the Marcionites and others.
If Christ, then, is not risen, it is vain to be immersed in His name, for under such circumstances it is but to be baptized to remain dead if there is no life after death through the resurrection.
The State of the Dead
Paul knew about the state of the dead; that death is a sleep until the day of resurrection. However, to try to make Paul contradict himself, II Corinthians 5:8 is cited in which Paul states his willingness to be “absent from the body” so that he might be “present with the Lord”.
Actually, there is no discrepancy here. Paul was well aware that, because there is no thought, or knowledge, or device, in the grave, as stated by Solomon, the moment of death, insofar as the individual is concerned, is the moment of resurrection. Although years may intervene between the day of death and the day of awakening in the resurrection, there will be no knowledge of the passing of time.
The individual experiences a small example of this every night when he goes to sleep in his bed. Upon awakening in the morning, the first question is: “What time is it?” In death both time and space are bridged, as though one went into a sound sleep in the berth of a Pullman car on a train, waking at journey’s end, unaware of the passing of either time or space.
Inherit the Kingdom
Paul’s statement in I Corinthians 15:50 must not only be considered within its context, but also as to those who are addressed as “brethren”. The apostle declared that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God”. And he stated further that “neither doth corruption inherit incorruption”. Now what does all this mean?
In the first place, it is not generally realized that the word “inherit” means “to become an heir to” the Kingdom; that is, to assume rulership in the Kingdom. It is only the elect-overcomers who will attain that official position, those who will receive the reward of immortality. Therefore, they will not be “flesh and blood”, but they will be like our Lord Jesus following His resurrection; that is, they will be “flesh and bone”, for they shall be “like Him” when they “shall see Him as he is” (I John 3:2).
Note that the passages in the 15th chapter of I Corinthians, which we are considering, are addressed to Paul’s “brethren” and this, in its context, is an exclusive term which Paul defines in detail in I Thessalonians 5:1-10. Paul proceeds to discourse on what he designates as “a mystery” (I Corinthians 15:51) when, “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye”, when “the trumpet shall sound”, the dead shall be raised and the living, who are qualified to enter with our Lord into the Marriage Supper, “shall be changed” (I Corinthians. 15:52). This subject need not be pursued further here as it is dealt with in detail in the booklet entitled The Hope of the Resurrection.
Jesus’ Appearing and Triumphant Return
Perhaps the most damaging indictment of Paul’s veracity by his opponents is in connection with his declarations concerning what is to take place coincidentally with our Lord’s appearing. Paul was given a remarkable revelation regarding the initial phase of our Lord’s return that is wholly misunderstood by the majority of Christians.
We refer to the passages in I Thessalonians 4:13-18 wherein it is revealed that
“the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
In order to decry the accuracy of this agenda of events, as given by Paul, it is asserted that the disciples were told, at the time of our Lord’s ascension from the Mount of Olives, that
“this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11).
To disparage Paul’s testimony, it is pointed out that, when the ascension occurred, no mention was made of meeting the Lord in the clouds, or in the air, as the apostle maintains. The question is then asked: Did Paul know more about the Lord’s return than the two angels did, who came to comfort the disciples?
What is entirely disregarded is the fact that, at the time of the ascension, the two angels were informing the disciples concerning what would take place when our Lord returns in triumph! The Prophet Zechariah tells us quite plainly that, “in that day”, when “His feet shall stand upon the Mount of Olives” (Zechariah 14:4), the focal point will be reached when the Lord shall “go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle” (Zechariah 14:3). This harmonizes with what is portrayed in Revelation 19:11-16 as our Lord’s triumphant return when He descends victoriously to wage war in righteousness against the foes of His Kingdom. Furthermore, Zechariah’s statement, “The Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee” (Zechariah 14:5), harmonizes with what is foretold in Revelation 19:14.
In actuality, it was not essential for the angels, at the time of the ascension of our Lord, to inform the disciples about the event of which Paul later spoke; that is, the taking up of those qualified to meet the Lord in the air. The disciples had already been given this information (see Matthew 24:30-31). Jesus instructed His disciples concerning the appearing of the Sign of the Son of man in the heavens, whereupon He will send forth His angels to gather His “elect” from one end of heaven to the other. These proceedings will fulfill the promise through Malachi that the Lord will spare His own “as a man spareth his own son that serveth him” (Malachi 3: 17). Paul was absolutely correct in his identification of those elect-overcomers who are not appointed to endure the time of wrath (I Thessalonians 5:9).
Some forty years later, on the Isle of Patmos, the Apostle John received a revelation from our Lord Himself, describing the reaping from the cloud when, as Paul foretold, the living and the dead will ascend together to meet the Lord in the clouds. John states:
”And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.” (Revelation 14:14.)
The account goes on to declare that the Lord will reap from the cloud, to gather in, as the Prophet Esdras put it, “a grape from a cluster”. Afterward the entire remaining vintage of the earth is to be cast into the Great Winepress of the Wrath of God. The Prophet Joel refers to the winepress scene, to take place when the harvest is ripe and the press is full so that the vats overflow, “for their wickedness is great”. The prophet calls attention to the “multitudes in the valley of decision” (Joel 3:14), while the Ferrar Fenton rendering is: “Crowds upon crowds on the Plain of the Judgment”, declaring that the Day of the Lord is near.
Following all this, Joel beheld the triumphant return of our Lord, exclaiming:
“The Lord also shall roar out of Zion , and utter his voice from Jerusalem [this would follow His return to the Mount of Olives]; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord shall be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel”. (Joel 3:16.)
An analysis of all Scriptural declarations concerning the order of events makes it abundantly clear that the institution of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb precedes the triumphant return of our Lord. Present at that Glorious Festival will be those who will be classified as elect-overcomers; those who are rescued from the earth prior to the Great and Terrible Day of Divine Wrath. Because this will be a special blessing conferred on those who are accounted worthy, the Angel commanded John:
“Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.” (Revelation 19:9.)
A Chosen Vessel
We accept the testimony of Ananias that Paul was “a chosen vessel” by the Lord for the tasks he was to perform (Acts 9:15). Paul’s writings, which constitute so great a portion of the New Testament Scriptures, give us the basis for the Christian’s walk in righteousness. In fact, the Apostle Paul’s messages were directed to the elect-overcomers in particular, who were continually exhorted to strive for “the high calling of God in Christ Jesus”.
Paul is castigated by those who would delete his Epistles from the New Testament as egotistical because he used his own name many times. This comes from ignorance of the fact that Paul’s name was used as a salutation or a signature. To find fault with Paul for using the pronoun “I” so frequently would also bring into condemnation the Prophet Daniel who, in the 28 verses of the seventh chapter of his book, referred to himself 15 times. Paul is also falsely accused because he declared he “magnified” his office. What is wrong with that? He was not magnifying himself, but the office he held, knowing it was of the Lord and that it was greater than he himself.
Let us not forget that the Apostle Peter confirmed Paul’s position as a chosen vessel unto the Lord. Following Peter’s statement that we are to look for the coming of “new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness”, we are admonished:
“Be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written unto you; as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.” (I Peter 3:14-16.)
The Apostle Peter placed the mark of approval upon the writings of Paul, confirming the fact that Paul’s Epistles are a part of the New Testament Scriptures. It will be well, also, to heed the purport of all of Peter’s sound advice, given in support of his brother apostle, who laboured with him in the work of the Lord.
The Apostle John was specially chosen of the Lord to “write in a book” what he beheld while he sojourned on the Isle of Patmos, which was to be a Letter from our Lord Jesus Christ to His faithful followers, becoming the final book in the Scriptures. Equally so, Paul of Tarsus was “a chosen vessel unto the Lord”, to receive special revelations from Him and leave a written record behind him in his Epistles, as Peter testified, “according to the wisdom given unto him”.
