How, When, and Why I Got "Hooked on Paul" For Life
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- Опубліковано 12 гру 2023
- A professional narration of my personal account of how I got "hooked on Paul" as a 18 year old student in a college Greek course. I rather like the professional voice...Haven't you ever read a book out loud to another person. Lots of people read together like this. It is great fun. Many of us have done it with our children. My wife and I have read all my books--and other favorites--that way. I like to listen...even though I wrote it! Just listen and enjoy!
Also, for all the Paul haters out there--and I know there are many of them, over the years I have found that whether one loves or "lumps" Paul--this book, Paul and Jesus--is liked by both. I think that means I "get Paul right." And some like what he was, and others don't. If I am right that he is the most influential person in history--then we need to "get him right," and then judge accordingly.
It was mainly to READ Paul that I ended up majoring in Greek! Imagine explaining the practical use of that to parents and friends! For more on my Quest and its results see:
James D. Tabor, Paul and Jesus (Simon & Schuster, 2010)
jamestabor.com/books/
A personal note to my UA-cam Community:
Since retiring and expanding my public connections via UA-cam, on-line courses, interviews, and blog posts, I can’t always answer emails directly-I just get too many-right now 50-75 a day, with a backlog of many more. As you may know, many academics don’t respond to emails at all, but I do read them all.
These varied emails often have a wide variety of questions about my work and field of research. Often, what people write me about I have dealt with on my TaborBlog (jamestabor.com) or in my UA-cam videos (@jamestaborvideos), or my on-line public courses-and of course in the many books I have published ( jamestabor.com/books) which can be searched or consulted. You will find these and lots of other links below.
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I rather like the professional voice...Haven't you ever read a book out loud to another person. Lots of people read together like this. It is great fun. Many of guys have done it with our children. My wife and I have read all my books that way. I like to listen...even though I wrote it! Just listen and enjoy! Also, for all the Paul haters out there--and I know there are many of them, over the years I have found that whether one loves or "lumps" Paul--this book, Paul and Jesus--is liked by both. I think that means I "get Paul right." And some like what he was, and others don't. If I am right that he is the most influential person in history--then we need to "get him right," and then judge accordingly.
Funny that paul never did anything with the intention to start a new religion, his intention was to erase a religion just as he was hired to do.
He procecuted at first but on the road to damascus had a revelation that it did not work and thus changed his way into inserting false information.
That is how the original teachings of Jesus got lost.
They were most likely the teaching of how to become annointed just like He was, as parts of such still survived.
But one might need to be annointed himself in order to recognize such thing.
Same goes for the old testament information about The Messiah, only The Messiah will onderstand what it actually said as He is the only one able to translate the words into reality.
But i must admit that your work you have done is impressive and very usefull, full of great understanding, we thank you for that!!
I have not yet ran into the part where paul tells that he is demon possessed, did i miss it or did you miss it? It shows that the entity he calls god is the oposite of the one Jesus worshipped.
Sorry, the whole "wait, what? Did I start a Thomas Sowell book by accident?" threw me a bit. OK, I'ma skip back 10 seconds and give it my full attention this time. 🙂
The genius who discovered the CAUSE of gravity far more important/ interesting. Mark McCutcheon: “The Final Theory: Rethinking Our Scientific Legacy.” Kamal Salibi’s 4 bible study books for facts not fantasies.
Dr Tabor, I have never felt “close” to Paul during my Christian life. I have since being a young teen identified closely with James. I have always believed that James “knew all” and one day he will teach us just what he knew at the time. I kind of feel sorry for James in a way. I think Christianity would have been totally different with the teachings of James and much more serious, yet sweet and caring.
Just my thoughts, Dr Tabor. I also have followed you for many years and have so enjoyed all your books and studies.
Happy Holidays to you and your family! ❤
@@David..832 Then let me put it a bit differently, the REAL Messiah is going to make the world understand how to raise all children as A messiah, so that ALL humans return to GOD, the words He will bring forth many childen is not about giving birth to His own children.. and they will speak evil no more, nor will the childrens children etc.
When that is done the whole world will change it ways and everything promissed becomes obvious to be...
And i FEEL that it is closely to what Jesus did preach in his time.
He and the Father are one, means that He fully lived by the inspiration of the Father.
The father has the best knowledge of good and evil to make your choices, as the Father resides outside of the realm of space and time and knows the outcome of choices.
When you know the outcome of choices life becomes way to easy, but the outcome might not be best for the individual, but for the creation as a whole it will be the best.
We only choose based on the past and what is best for us individually... end result is the distruction of this beautifull planet... that is about to take place.
Be it by nucleair wars or chemical(unnnatural) pollution.... at some point someone needs to say.. enough of it.. stop! To save this planet.
It is strange that you have 3 books on Paul and your career has focused on him but I see you as a James the Just guy along Dr. Eisenman 😅
Agreed!
Dear Dr. Tabor, I'm glad you made it to Rome to visit what is thought to be St. Paul's tomb. We went there too, all across Europe, and stood in front of the tomb just like you did. A monk was playing the organ. The basilica was completely empty, a striking contrast to St. Peter's. So Paul lay there in peace, quite humbly, no fuss at all. Thanks for bringing back these memories!
You have a strange definition of "humble."
This is an excellent book with a great narrator. Like a good movie, I have thoughtfully enjoyed it many times.
So moving and magnificent!
"Paul is making me nervous, Paul is making me scared, Into this room he swaggers like he's God's own messenger..."
Fascinating! 🧚♀
I ordered your book, bro". Glad you didn't spend much time in those digs....I guess you did not notice the 2 by 4 banded around that roof pillar to your right....brave man.
Timestamp range from 2:09 - 2:19 - I appreciate the honesty of the claim. I strongly doubt the conclusion, but the honesty and clarity of the conclusion is pretty refreshing.
I wonder if you talked with a modernized Paul, how long it would take for you to realize who he was. Let's say he only talked about current events, perhaps modern history, and how he saw the future. Would he be someone like John Hagee, Joel Osteen, David Koresh, Billy Graham, and so on. Who might we know would be close to Paul of Tarsus?
Okay, but were there really Gregorian chants going….? Suspiciously perfect ; _)_ Have been binge watching this channel. Peace of mind and fascinating scholarship. Just what the doctor ordered 😊
Avoid the FALSE Teachings of Paul....Jesus Never said he Needed An Apostle to the Gentiles...that was a LIE Told by Paul
look up Gary Habermas and see how relates Paul letters within the NT, it very fascinating to see listen to him and how he explains things.
I can't imagine how or why anyone would be fond of Paul. He taught the opposite of what Jesus taught and was proud of being a manipulative liar. He is clearly the false apostle of the New Testament and Revelation in particular. He literally turned everything Jesus gave his life to share on it's head. Frankly, Do as thou wilt was the whole of the law according to Paul a very long time before Aleister Crowley was ever credited with the expression. (See 1st Corinthians 6:12 for example.) I absolutely detest Paul and his anti-Christ teachings. As it stands, all of Christendom is worshipping Paul in Jesus' name in vain. It's shocking to me that nobody seems to get it, much less care.
Yep, maybe the first antichrist.
_"He taught the opposite of what Jesus..."_
Paul created Christianity. Jesus is a fictional character.
"He taught the opposite of what Jesus taught " - how do you know that?
@@twitherspoon8954 "Jesus is a fictional character." - maybe. The mythology of the gospels still can be based on a real, physical human who was part of the end-times fervor of that time.
"Paul created Christianity." - to some extent. But it is clear from non-orthodox sources that there was more to the followers of the "Jesus" in question than what Paul outlined.
@@TheDanEdwards
_"He taught the opposite of what Jesus taught."_
More of what Jesus taught-
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters - yes, even his own life - he cannot be my disciple."
(Luke 14:26-27)
"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law - a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household."
(Matthew 10:34-37)
“None of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions."
(Luke 14:33)
"Those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them, bring them here and kill them in front of me."
(Luke 19:27)
Where can I purchase the audiobook?
What's the overall message @jamestaborvideos? Is Christianity fake or not? I'm trying to decipher what your overall viewpoint is listening and watching your other podcasts and interviews. I'm a bit confused?
Love your content. Do we have any Hebrew/Judaic old reference on Paul from Jewish texts ?
لا
Just wondering why you had such a long focused course on prophesy. I listened yet there was some hidden thought or meaning on some level that I am finding a puzzle. A bigger picture…
I appreciate Tabor, he forces me to really read Paul, "authentic" and "questionable" letters, because my knee jerk reaction is to disagree with him or at least think the situation has fare more nuance than "the historical Jesus and Paul's ideas were seperate and opposed to each other".
I can think of reasons why, but i feel i have not read or understood Paul enough compared to him or other scholars to make a fully confident decision on the matter.
That being said, as layman with 2 years of formal General Biblical Studies education, I would propose that he's incorrect that Paul is opposed to the historical Jesus message because
1) Jesus's main focus was on spreading the message/idea that the "Kingdom of God is at hand" and also teaching the moral ideals of God that goes with it that one would need for acceptance into it.
Paul seems to have taught the same as part of his core message and part of the bulk of his gospel. His warnings in Galatians and Corinthians include the dire reprimand that those who practice vices "will not inherit the Kingdom" which he felt he was preparing them for inheriting and having authority in. For what it's worth, even Luke describes Pauls message in Acts as relating to the Kingdom and the death/resurrection of Jesus.
2) Paul certainly did seem to have more of a pronounced emphasis on Jesus's death and resurrection. Again, for what it's worth, the gospels portray Jesus as foreshadowing his death, and even it's meaning, but sometimes very late in his ministry (not till chapter 16 in Matthew) and in parables even his closest followers didn't understand or refused to take at face value. If these are any indication then of course there would not be an emphasis on the death of Jesus until he actually died, and the historical Jesus would not have had his death be the bulk of his message.
3) As for why Jesus birth would have been important, but not for the historical Jesus. In Jesus own time, probably, i would think his only qualification for potentially being the Messiah would have been to simply prove he was of the line of David and also not a bastard or Roman fathered bastard (excuse my language). His birth is questioned a little, but it does not seem to be the main focus of his opponents.
For Paul, perhaps because of having a Gentile/Roman audience, and because of his Adam Christology, Jesus birth narrative is significant to him. Jesus being born of a virgin and the power of God would capture the Roman mind and would allow his presentation and understanding of how the future humanity and Gentile inclusion would be understood.
- I fail to see opposition between the supposed historical Jesus and Paul? Paul may have additions or expansions but i fail to see opposition.
Nonetheless, as I said, Tabor forces those of us who think they know Paul, or who have not studied him in PHD level depth, to really take the time to reread his writing in the backdrop of modern scholarship.
I prefer your voice Dr. Tabor ❤️💜💙🤓
So age old saying of borrowing from Paul to pay Peter isn't true?
Saul,a man who has never seen Yashua,changed his teachings and now most of the Christian world believes that they are following Yashua. What a wonderful world 😊
The Saul Remains The Same - 1973 Robert Plant
This is not James Tabor 's voice. ?
How fortunate it is to have Thomas Sowell narrate your video.
Wasn't Saul The Tax Man ?
I have not read or checked the remains of Paul. But this is possibly the real remains of the Apostel Paul. Regardless of the testaments and accounts of Jesus, Paul is one interesting character whos impact probably is true, or verifiable.
I would much rather hear your voice Dr. Tabor.👂🎤🙂
Honestly i believe more people worship Paul than God and it's becoming very disgusting to witness
This is kind of disconcerting with the AI voice. But I understand. AI (voices and otherwise) will be used more and more. I might as well get used to it.
it just occurred to me while watching this video that the name Paul bookends Christianity - Saint Paul was tasked with creating it, and Sir Paul was tasked with destroying it.
I would rather hear your your voice than a computer.Im not a fan of modern day tower of babel a.i.that changes what people say and tries to stop people commenting and the closed caption words are changing what people are saying.I feel sorry for the deaf people trying to rely on reading what is supposed to be truth.Father I pray their physical and spiritual ears be opened and healed and all deception be taken away so they can learn in Jesus name I pray and hope many agree in prayer Amen!Thank you Father you are awesome and all glory belongs to you may many repent and learn about the 1 true God and believe in your only begotten Son Jesus may the Holy Spirit teach us.😢💪😇🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
He said and asked, To be a Christian is to believe in the "virgin birth" and "the resurrection" of Christ.
Where did this emphasis on the entrance and exit points of Jesus heavenly existence come from?
The 'conception' of Issac. Genesis 17:16-19 "And I will bless her and GIVE YOU a son, BY HER"...And God said, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son indeed: Genesis 18:11...the "manner of women" HAD CEASED to be with Sarah.
The 'resurrection' Genesis 49:9 Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey MY SON, YOU ARE GONE UP: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? (Numbers 23:24, Numbers 24:9)
49:10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, (Numbers 24:17-19, Zechariah 6:12-13) until Shiloh come; and unto him shall THE GATHERING of the people be.
Micah 5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, YET OUT OF THEE HE SHALL COME forth unto ME that is to BE RULER in Israel; WHOSE GOINGS FORTH have been from OF OLD, FROM everlasting.
3 Therefore HE WILL GIVE THEM UP, (1990 years) until the time that she which travails HAS BROUGHT FORTH: THEN the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.
4 And HE SHALL STAND and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the MAJESTY OF THE NAME of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now, HE SHALL BE GREAT unto the ends of the earth.
REPENT, do not mock, lest your punishment increase, I have been given counsel and an understanding that a destruction is coming SOON upon the whole earth. Time Counselor
I LOVE stories
But the voice!
Ahh, betrayed
Love the content, not a fan of the AI voice instead of your own. 😊
In my opinion Paul was, and still is the most misunderstood of all the characters mentioned in the New Testament. Paul thinks in concepts and therefore is a lot of times misunderstood. He mostly is misunderstood with handling the Law of God (or Torah). Like Jesus was also misunderstood and killed for it. Think about that for a moment because that helped me a lot to grasp the New Testament Way. Jesus kept the Torah perfectly, and therefore was sinless. All the time the Pharisees an Sadducees accused him for breaking the Torah. They did it so cunningly that I, as a reader of the Bible, almost got mislead with their accusations and used to believe (also from church) that Jesus broke the Torah (like with the sabbath ‘breaking’). But Jesus never ever once broke the Torah (1 Peter 2:22). If He did, he didn’t live a sinless life. He never teached anyone to abolish the commandments, on the contrary (Luke 16:17 / Romans 3:31 / Matt. 5:17-20 / Luke 18:18-22 ).
The Pharisees and Sadducees accused him falsely. They mixed there own tradition with the Torah (Law of God) and put their tradition instead for the Torah.
Jesus was sinless and perfectly upheld the Torah (Law) (1 Peter 2:22). This is exactly the same with Paul.
He was multiple times falsely accused of abandoning the Law of Moses.
If Paul taught the Law is done away with, why does he say that it identifies with sin? (Romans 7)
Although some may claim otherwise, the apostle Paul never stopped keeping the Law of Moses [Hebrew: Torah] after he encountered the risen Messiah in Acts chapter 9.
Wasn't Paul "all things to all men" as he said in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23?
Yes, he was, but that does not mean that he followed the customs of the Gentiles and forsook the Law of Moses to do so.
Consider these passages from Scripture that speak of Paul:
Acts 21:19-24
After he had greeted them, he began to relate one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. And when they heard it they began glorifying God; and they said to him, "You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law; and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs. "What, then, is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. Therefore do this that we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow; take them and purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads; and all will know that there is nothing to the things which they have been told about you, but that you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the Law.
The leaders of the congregation in Jerusalem (including James and Peter) declared that Paul "walked orderly, keeping the Law."
For those who might suggest this was the Law of Christ, please note that the context refers to the false charges being leveled against Paul: that he was teaching Jews to forsake Moses (a common term for the Law), not to circumcise their children, nor to walk according to the customs. Disobedience to the customs are also part of the accusations against Paul. The leaders then instruct Paul to prove (by offering the sacrifices and ceremonial activities involved with completing a Nazirite vow) that he walks orderly, keeping the Law in order to demonstrate that the charges against him were baseless and false.
Consider Acts 22...
"I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated under Gamaliel, strictly according to the law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as you all are today. (Acts 22:3)
Note that Paul doesn't say he was a Jew (past tense) but that he is a Jew (present tense). He also does not say that he was zealous for God but that he is (present tense) zealous for God. For Jews, this zealousness is expressed by their obedience to the commandments expressed in the Law of Moses.
Many false charges of this kind are brought against Paul. When he speaks before Festus in his own defense he declares:
"I have committed no offense either against the Law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar." (Acts 25:8)
At the end of his ministry, after Paul appeals to Caesar in his trial and is taken to Rome in chains, Paul speaks with the Jews of Rome:
After three days Paul called together those who were the leading men of the Jews, and when they came together, he began saying to them, " Brethren, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. (Acts 28:17)
This is the same Paul who wrote while in prison to the believers in Thessalonica:
So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us. (2 Thessalonians 2:15)
Too many things to address in one post but I’ll speak to one “if Paul says the law is done away why does he say it identifies with sin (Romans 7)” - the answer is bc Paul says both things. That’s how the false prophet works. He says good stuff, with really bad stuff laced in, and then Gnostic Graeco-Roman esoteric concepts on top.
You referenced one of the small handful of times he speaks favorably (in consolation) toward the Torah and skipped over the dozens of times he speaks derogatorily about it. He literally says it’s done away with; nailed to the cross, like a trainer until messiah comes and now that messiah has come we no longer need the trainer. These lines weigh like anvils in theology compared to verses like acts or Roman’s 7 that in no way convince people that Paul thinks you should consider the Torah for anything moving forward.
You gotta apply some torque to how you challenge a notion so central to a religion such as Paul. Did it ever occur to you that Paul was constantly being accused of preaching against Torah because he was actually doing that and got busted/challenged. Ok sure Jesus was accused of this too, but by the imposter high priests on some BS, not from the common people accusing Jesus of speaking against Torah.. no, it’s Paul is being accused by the people - and protected by the Roman establishment, as he’s pen pals with Nero’s scribe and appeals to Nero for trial bc he couldn’t be bothered to be held on trial anywhere near where James - the true head of the Jesus movement- would be located.
You admit Paul says he’s all things to all men - a statement Jesus and James speak specifically opposite about btw - but then let him off the hook that you don’t assume he “followed the customs of the gentiles and forsook the law of Moses to do so” but that’s basic 101, simple thinking using extremes. “Followed the customs of the gentiles” that just means any culture outside Israel’s own, *the gentiles* don’t have one culture and Paul was more Greek than he was Hebrew anyway - it’s evident in how he wrote, spoke, thought, who he talked to, who he was favored by, who his family was (Herod), how he constantly misapplied Torah examples to repurpose for uses he was creating that were unrelated to their original context… I could go on.
Paul was already hella “gentile-ish” he just said he was a Pharisee and most folk didn’t even recognize a lie when it hits them in the face. He doesn’t even use the Jewish texts or quote the Jewish messiah other than a generic prayer and one refusal of his Jesus to remove the demon from him, inconsistent with the Jesus who actually speaks fact to face with him 12 handpicked apostles. Paul’s conversion story is told 3 separate ways in acts and all the evidence points to his “can’t beat them so I join them” strategy undermining the whole torah resurgence and Jesus movement of his era.
Paul didn’t have to forsake the law, apparently he always was…. he was constantly being accused of not following by people who saw him - he admitted in his own letters it’s ok to eat meat sacrificed to an idol so long as no one sees u who’s bothered by it, bc “an idol is nothing” … that is a direct violation of the law and Jesus warns about the “false apostle” 👈🏽 one of the few times that term is ever used… who put a stumbling block before men and teach them it’s ok to eat meat sacrificed to idols.
Paul did teach it’s ok to eat stuff sacrificed to idols, period. He’s the sole reason most people don’t follow the law, so how can people think he’s so misunderstood when 99.99% of people understand him to say one thing and follow that accordingly - that is, that the law is dead and you don’t have to observe it. Eat whatever. Sabbath is irrelevant, “Jesus is our sabbath” now. Just “believe” and Jesus took care of everything else. That is all thanks to Paul.
To IGNORE this reality and only choose to focus on the things that Paul says that are harmonious is not doing yourself or anyone else any favors.
@@SixSevenPodcast thanks for your reply and your time.
Just to be clear. I adhere to the sabbath and the Law. I acknowledge everything written in the Bible (Old Testament) as still in affect for God does not change what is good and what is not good.
My question to you is which books of the New Testament do you acknowledge as authoritative and which books are you see as not authoritative?
Paul didn’t teach the law is done away with or is nailed to the cross. Paul taught our debt record / criminal record is done away with at the cross. Which is not wrong, for our previous sins are erased/cleansed.
Paul taught that the law is/was a tutor, and that is also not wrong. For the law teaches that the one who commits adultery is committing a sin. But if someone is truthfully in Christ we aren’t even looking at another with a lustful intend, for we are brothers and sisters.
The word ‘tutor’ means something like ‘coach or teacher’. For example; After obtaining your diploma, it is of course logical that the student actually implements what he has learned in books during his studies (the written Law). However, those are the basic skills. We also call this 'a novice professional'. Can that student ultimately become a better doctor or lawyer through experience in the profession than immediately after graduation? Without any doubt! It is even evident that the novice professional only learns from practice (Jesus as practical teacher) to put into practice what he has been taught during his studies and can therefore actually implement it.
Paul thinks in concepts. Paul was not teaching to eat meat sacrificed to idols. On the contrary, he taught not to participate in any idolatrous practice.
Paul only taught that idols have no power and are nothing. That they don't really exist. He taught that God has power over everything and that God owns everything. He stated that one can eat meat that was sold on the market without raising questions whether it was ‘tainted’ or not. That is not the same as participating in idolatry. For example: anyone can offer any animal to an idol. If a Hindu cow farmer prays to Krishna and offer his cows unto Krishna, and later one (or all) of the cows go to a regular slaughter house, and and up in your supermarket, that meat is officially ‘offered to an idol’. Or if a regular slaughterhouse has a Buddhist immigrant who prays over the meat and offer it to Buddha, that meat is officially ‘offered to an idol’. Anyone can offer any animal or meat to an idol without anyone ever knowing they did. That is exactly what Paul is talking about. The meat doesn’t have a ‘magic spell’ over it because the idol doesn’t exist and therefore has no power to ‘taint’ it.
However, if some meat is visibly stamped as ‘halal’ one ought not to buy it. And if you dine at someone else’s (an unbeliever) place, and they say to you the meat is offered to an idol (or is halal) one ought to not eat it. Not because the meat has any ‘magic spell’ over it, but because the one who tells you it is offered to another ‘god’, will notice you don’t participate in their ‘god’. For they think their ‘god’ does have powers… especially some new believers who think that Krishna does exist and have powers, although they don’t follow Krishna any longer but follow Christ. That one can think the meat is tainted.
But to make some other things clear:
Paul, or any of the by Jesus appointed apostles are human. They are fellow brothers in Christ. They can also be wrong or ignorant in some things, just like us. We can learn from them, as we can learn from each other. But none of us has are perfect or posses all knowledge like the apostles also don’t possess all knowledge. Even Abraham, Moses, Samuel, David or anyone who seem influential made mistakes… so also they don’t have all knowledge, have the whole truth or all wisdom. Even Salomo who was blessed to be the most wisest human on earth, was sometimes wrong or did wrong.
I’m of the opinion that if the writings of Paul are to difficult or confusing for believers, one ought to not read them at all.
So I agree with you partially.
Only I believe that the false prophet is Mohamed..
What do you think about it?
@@Hmm-xy9qs Thank you for you thoughtful reply. I agree with a lot of it, especially the end... and i walk alongside you as a Torah observant servant of the King... but i think whats happening is that I have come to a different understanding of Pauls message than you have -- a position i once held -- because I did like most Christians are inadvertently trained to do, view the bible as one coherent story where each book compliments the next and fills in the holes and concepts that the other books lack.
Once I began following scholarly critique and biblical scholarship, i quickly realized this is a no-no... we must read each book (each scroll) as its own standalone piece... not a future bible that would one day come together in exile. You just took 13 letters from the man who admittedly is "all things to all men" who says things with a forked tongue, one thing to one audience and another thing to another one elsewhere... and introduces a concept of his own that overlaps jesus' but differs in some key ways -- namely salvation. Paul is thee only person anyone cites who refuses to consider something as simple as keeping Sabbath. You say its bc he's misunderstood. I say, no its bc he really did say that to that one audience he was writing to at the time, he was royalty remember, Herod's nephew. He was likely continuing what he started out doing with orders from the chief priests in the first place -- to squash the Jesus movement that sprang up against his family's money.... but since he could't beat them, he joined them. With Paul the key is to look at how little he quotes Jesus and how often he brings in greco-Platonic-gnotic themes that Hebrew people never considered.
Maybe you're familiar with Marcion already, or maybe not... but seriously look into Marcionism and understand what that was all about. its credited as the "first official christian bible canon" in 144AD (over a century after Jesus keep in mind)... but zero in on what was so unique about that movement. Spoiler alert: Marcion made a bible of ONLY Paul and a remixed gospel of Luke with his own mods, and it was the biggest church on the block for decades. His stances were based on Paul famously-written-about disagreements with the 12 Apostles that walked and talked with Jesus. The Roman state just squashed marcionism and absorbed it into roman catholicism and it stuck even within protestantism.
Paul says two things. He's a herodian royal who had pull with Caesar Nero (possibly Seneca, Nero's scribe, which we have letters of) and all the Sadducees that ran things in the banks. His "conversion" set forth the notion of **atonement for sins** by Jesus' death on the cross...so your argument is using Paul's theology to validate Paul's statement, not realizing that Jesus never speaks in any way about his death and resurrection being for your sins. Any verses that even hint at that, almost every scholar agrees are interpolations. Jesus wasn't or isn't God, nor did he think so... nor did Paul think so, even though I'm not a fan of the guy... but he's the introduction and whole foundation of the jesus blood atonement model and God's child sacrifice
You say "paul doesn't say the law was done away with" ... only... yes he does. and billions of people say and hold this near n dear. You realize that immediately after he equates the trainer with the law, and that messiah's arrival signals "we are no longer in need of the trainer" - this is why 99% of the christians you know DON'T keep the law.. This is precisely what Paul said is done away with. Nvm he kept it from time to time, when it was convenient, it was a thing of the past as far as we're concerned -- its precisely what he was suggesting to the hellenistic greek audience he was being "all things to all men" to.. and precisely why he was on trial. He didn't imagine it would be collated into a book called a Bible hundreds of years later...that overrides Torah (in most peoples mind, not yours) and where all his letters would be smashed together.
He says one thing to one audience... then when he's pressed about it or asked on trial, he admits he keeps all things in the law. He claims to be hebrew of hebrews under Gamaliel but then never quotes hebrew texts, consistently misapplies torah, never speaks to hebrew people, is fully greco roman in every way, has sections that copy greek secular literature line for line, has 3 various conversion stories that don't line up in Acts 9, 22, 26 that apparently jesus blinded him in, and then sent him off to lead billions of people into NOT following the law.
We can do the greco-roman dosie-do with Paul's words.. but there's a reason billions of people ignore Gods instructions (and Jesus' for that matter)... and its got 100% to do with the words of Paul . They do this because they can only frame Yahweh thru the lens of Paul, bc he has more words than anyone else in the book and he speaks out of both sides of his mouth. He spends 15% of the time speaking nice about the torah, and 85% of the time speaking derogatorily, boastfully, negatively about it, and almost everyone i talk about this with, can only see the 15% as if its all only good things he ever says about Torah. He's literally the ONLY reason christians don't follow the Law. Remove romans thru Philemon and there's not a single book that doesn't speak lovingly about the Torah 100% of the time, or that isn't clear about how our works and our righteousness are what we are judged on in the final day. Its so completely obvious Paul is the clear outlier.
Jesus is a Nazarene/Ebionite and related with the Essene movement -- a stark contrast to anything related to the Jewish temple sacrifice system of the Pharisee/Sadducee system. I was never taught this growing up... Jesus' folk didnt condone or do sacrifice. So he didn't come to BE the animal sacrifice he didnt even participate in.
Its all there in the bible... its just that pauls themes come FIRST... the state jumped ahead of the narrative (like usual) and Pauls greek/gnostic themes set the tone for Mark which was the first gospel written decades after paul's first few letters. Then comes Matthew and Luke copying mark and adding to them. We have to keep in mind that when whoever penned the Gospel of Mark wrote Mark he didnt think it was necessary to write about Jesus' birth or his resurrection/ascencion... thats really significant...and he didn't go " umm some guy named Matthew will write that part in a few decades".. The synoptic gospels come to us individually and have to be read and considered as such, before any reordering of chronology and Roman emphasis on Dionysus-Jesus themes took over, and later books come in that nobody even knows who wrote them, and they get smashed into "canon" and put on equal weight level as Torah. Paul is case and point for that. This dude was a murderer that got visited by lite-bright Jesus that blinded him and left him with a demon, and a commission that turned billions of people into apostates.
You're right that everyone in the bible was flawed... but you're missing the key literary anomaly that at the time when God chose them and called them, they were meek, honorable, righteous, and pure. David specifically was the pure young shepherd chosen by Samuel... we cant skip over this to talk about his flaws way later. Moses too. Noah... all of everyone. Paul is the ONLY one who was a murder from the beginning, in cahoots with the elite/state... appeals to Nero the christian killer for his trial on which he's being accused then of the same thing I'm accusing him now of -- apostasy -- the same thing all his fans are guilty of 2000 years later. Paul is the one who focuses on death and atonement by blood, Jesus focuses on righteousness. John the baptist was already speaking "baptism for the remission of sins"... and then a decade later paul comes around talking about blood for the remission of sins... and then centuries later whoever composited the anonymous (not infallible) epistle to the Hebrews, picked up that theme and ran with it... that without blood there is no remission of sins. But that is proven wrong time and time again in the OT/Tanakh and in John's baptism and in Jesus' forgiving sins before he ever died. Its a whole logical plot hole i never saw my whole life until i started really critically studying it.
then you really want to believe that those are his remains
Anyone who gets put off by the "Thomas Sowell" voice deserves to remain in darkness.
Why on earth did you get this random guy to read your book instead of your own voice? Maybe Dr Tabor was busy, but he's got such a compelling and wonderful voice that this reader seems like a robot. If Dr. Tabor re-records this in his own voice, I'll buy it, otherwise nope. Just listen to how this robot says "Most important person in world history" like he's reading a grocery list, "Bread milk, lettuce."
I follow Jesus teaching the law of Moses
Paul is false apostle liar and wicked Peter was the first Pope what Jesus told him in Matt 16 : 23 get behind me Satan so Christianity just cult and wicked
Thank you for sharing
Jesus taught the law of Abraham not Moses, and so did Paul on the gospel of salvation Romans.
read the book "the first idiot in heaven" by Martin Zender. It will answer all your questions on this subject. Paul had a gospel of the gentiles, not the jews. It is a different gospel from Jesus or Peter.
Maybe Prof. Tabor knows more about Paul and the NT than you are aware.
It's interesting how someone else's voice telling your story projects a different image. I have to really listen whereas when you speak yourself it strikes a very visceral nerve.
The Lord our God manifests in three presentations. Protestants have been taught a trinity. Wasnt it Paul who questioned if the Lord be in you, if the holy spirit be in you, if he who raised God Jesus be in you. How many are in you? The Lord our God is One. Has your faith grown, because Jesus opened your eyes and you were changed in salvation. With the spirit of the father your eyes were opened again and you put on the righteouness of God--the healing of your soul. With the Holy Spirit you can fulfill his request, "Be ye holy." With holiness you are delivered from the fear of sin. Our Lord has forgiven you for thoughts not yet conceived. • How can resurrection be questioned when we recognize a billion sentences in a single cell. We have 30,000,000,000,000 cells. That would be 30,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 sentences of code that can even reproduce themselves. And LIVE. (I think he can raise the dead if he wants)
When we have been saved, healed and delievered there is the matter of breathing in the being of God. God is one. He is Good. His grace is a gift of love. You cannot name and claim a car, but he holds faith in his hand. And after מערה (with preparation of the heart you are established in the kingdom. "With God" you walk in righteousness by accepting God's will. Luke or לוק is the latter part, the blessing of glory. Meeting with Jesus is יענה, the beginning of the response of God. The way of life has never changed. We are, however, blessed with the Living One. He lives. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. He was born of a virgin. He suffered for sin he had not committed. He died. He was buried. He rose out of death. He lives. I live in him.
What a waste concentrating on Paul, he only sets up the religion of Judaism to include Gentiles. It is the gospel of John that Paul proceeds John's gospel as witness to all things.
I have a Ytube video series called 'Myths in so-called Christianity' and most false teaching comes from misreading Romans.
"What a waste concentrating on Paul, he only sets up the religion of Judaism to include Gentiles."
@@TheDanEdwards My comment is not to dismiss Paul, but to put into perspective his role as an apostle, and according to my study Romans as the gospel of salvation by Paul is a prequel to John's gospel.
Paul "sets up the religion of Judaism to include Gentiles", pause for applause, that is the best most accurate commentary on Romans you will find.
Paul asserted 'New' Judaism not Christianity, as my Ytube video series 'Myths in so-called Christianity' makes clear.
If a person only concentrate on Paul they may believe he alone started a new religion, and that could be called anything, including Christianity. But we need to read John as he alone was assigned by Jesus as witness to the fulfilment of all prophecy.
All sons of God are conceived of the Fathers incorruptible seed (logos made flesh). I peter 1:3 kjv, I Peter 1:23 kjv, James 1:18 kjv.
That is the ONLY miracle conceptions and miracle births in the bible. Rev. 21:7.
The nativity story is spiritual allegory not a literal physical conception. Death, burial and resurrection are spiritual not physical.
I'm H😵😵💫KED on Jesus Chrisis! NANN😵 NANN😵💫!! HELLAJEWYAH!! 😃😀
You got a cold or something?
تزوير للاسف كل شيء تم تغيره وأقدم دليل علي ذلك اين ولد يسوع حسب ايمانكم؟ فلسطين فيسوع شاب عربي ملامحه عربيه ملابسه عربيه يتكلم العربيه بلهجتها الاراميه يسوع مؤمن بدين موسي فهل تم عرض كل ذلك ؟ تقدمون يسوع وكانه شاب ايرلندي او هولندي أشقر وعنين زرقاء وليس شاب عربي اصدقاء يسوع وتلامذته واسرته ومحيطه كلهم عرب فلسطينين يؤمنون باليهوديه فهل تقدمونهم كذلك؟ اخو يسوع يعقوب قدمتوه باسم جيمس من اين اتت الاسماء متي؟لوقا ؟ مرقس؟ بولس؟ نيقديموس؟كلهم عرب يهود يرفضون الاحتلال الروماني يرفضون الثقافه الغازيه فهل من يرفض روما واليونان سيسمي اولاده ببول ومرقس وبولس وجيمس؟ تم تزوير اسماء القري الفلسطينيه عند قدوم اليهود من اوربا وانشأوا دوله اسراءيل وكأن الأصل اسراءيليه مع انها كانت فلسطينيه منذ 5000سنه والاثار الكنعانيه تشهد بذلك د جيمس قال ان ملفات قمران بينت ان المعلم كان موجود قبل قرنين من يسوع والمكتشفات في اليمن بينت وجود كنيسه مسيحيه من 2800سنه وتمثال لرجل ممسك بالصليب وعلي رأسه عقد من الورود فالمسيح من اليمن والاثار الماديه تبين ذلك لكنكم ترددون وكانها حقيقه ان يسوع عاش في فلسطين ولم نجد اي اثر تاريخي يؤكد وجود يسوع اعني اثر اركيلوجي
How Can a Jew be saved without Jesus Christ ???
The Quran is not god's book, either.
Greetings Dr. Tabor, Paul was trained by Gamaliel & Christ. Christianity has adopted pagan beliefs, none of which Paul taught. First and foremost, Paul never taught a triune God, never. Saying that God took on flesh and came to earth is nowhere in the scriptures, nowhere, this is a man-made doctrine. Secondly, Paul taught that Christ was coming to establish the kingdom in his lifetime. Every New Testament author said the same thing, every one of them. Christianity teaches that Christ has not returned, which is a lie. Christ said he was coming back in the lifetime of his audience; this was his testimony. This message was what was being preached by every single apostle, including Paul. Over and over Paul states that Christ is coming, in their lifetime, he did. This is the reason that God has not sent a prophet in nearly 2,000 years. Why? Christ was emphatic that: For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. Before you stop breathing, don't miss what Christ accomplished, it is finished. your friend
The difference between Paul and the other Apostles is their mission, Paul was sent to the Gentiles by Jesus and the others were sent to the Jews.
Paul sent himself. You don’t realize he is an early corruptor. Too obsessed with not actually following Jesus.
@@jaketwigg1065 Oh wise one,
explain to me what happened here,
Gal 1:11-12 and Acts 9:3-6
Not true. Acts 15 Peter clearly says God chose HIM to go to the Gentiles.
@@MinisterRedPill Peter was the leader and God gave him a vision that the gentiles would be included in God's plan Acts 11:18 but Peter did not go preaching to the gentiles they gave that job to Paul and plus Jesus specifically chose Paul to go to the Gentiles.
Acts 9:15-16
15 But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen vessel to Me to bear My name before Gentiles and kings, and the sons of Israel. 16 For I will show him all the things that he must suffer for My name's sake."
@@troy5659 Acts 15:7 And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, 👉that by MY mouth👈 the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe.
The problem with acts is that people don't know how to read it. Luke is not witness to any of these events, and he doesn't appear until Acts 16, when the first usage of personal pronouns occur. That means, everything about Paul's so called conversion is strickly by his own mouth without any proof. That means whenever "Jesus" speaks to Paul, it's Paul telling Luke that Jesus did. With Paul's contradictory 3 accounts of this supposed conversion, and his "Jesus" telling him to leave because the other Apostles wouldn't believe his testimony is highly suspicious. Paul's "Jesus" quotes to him a Bacchus quote saying "is it hard to kick against the goads?" That quotes earliest reference was Bacchus, and surely the real Jesus wouldn't have ever quoted some heathen demigod. If anything, satan appeared to Paul not Jesus.
Being a christian is believing Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ prophesied in the Old Testament, the descendant of David who will take his throne. Why his death and resurrection is central? Because Jesus said he was going to be the passover lamb which will provide reconciliation with God for everyone who accepts this and believes that he is the Christ. Paul also preached the same message of reconciliation by the death and resurrection of Jesus, that is the good news of the gospel, which is the Almighty is at peace with humanity by what Jesus did on the cross. Jesus mentioned his death and the need for it so why is it different from Paul’s ? Jesus came to do it and Paul came to proclaim it. The kingdom of God preached by Jesus was certainly coming but he had to go to the cross for this to start. There had to be a reconciliation first. John 7:37-39 before that kingdom would start. Actually Peter in Acts preaches salvation by means of the cross of Jesus, so it is not true that Paul preached something different. I think there is a big misunderstanding concerning Paul, he did not start anything new, he implemented the plan of God. All the apostles after Pentecost preached Jesus to be the Christ which is what they had to accept to received forgiveness and salvation, I have to says that even Peter did not understand Paul and he actually says it in one of his letters.
Paul did not I repeat did not teach the same gospel as Jesus or the other Apostles did this video is absolutely correct and right on and solid
Paul, in his own writings, admitted he was a hypocrite, a thief, and a liar
He blasphemed God by saying that it wasn't God but Angels who gave the law of Moses to Moses and furthermore by Leading Christians who believe that they do not have to keep the law of the Torah in order to be saved amongst other things 99.9 percent of Christians will not be saved because they follow Paul they do not follow Jesus
@@onejohn2.26. you are mistaken 100%.
onejohn is a wolf in sheep's clothing.
@@troy5659 go ahead and make ad hominem statements instead of proving me wrong
@@troy5659You don’t actually read the bible
In my opinion Paul was, and still is the most misunderstood of all the characters mentioned in the New Testament. Paul thinks in concepts and therefore is a lot of times misunderstood. He mostly is misunderstood with handling the Law of God (or Torah). Like Jesus was also misunderstood and killed for it. Think about that for a moment because that helped me a lot to grasp the New Testament Way. Jesus kept the Torah perfectly, and therefore was sinless. All the time the Pharisees an Sadducees accused him for breaking the Torah. They did it so cunningly that I, as a reader of the Bible, almost got mislead with their accusations and used to believe (also from church) that Jesus broke the Torah (like with the sabbath ‘breaking’). But Jesus never ever once broke the Torah (1 Peter 2:22). If He did, he didn’t live a sinless life. He never teached anyone to abolish the commandments, on the contrary (Luke 16:17 / Romans 3:31 / Matt. 5:17-20 / Luke 18:18-22 ).
The Pharisees and Sadducees accused him falsely. They mixed there own tradition with the Torah (Law of God) and put their tradition instead for the Torah.
Jesus was sinless and perfectly upheld the Torah (Law) (1 Peter 2:22). This is exactly the same with Paul.
He was multiple times falsely accused of abandoning the Law of Moses.
If Paul taught the Law is done away with, why does he say that it identifies with sin? (Romans 7)
Although some may claim otherwise, the apostle Paul never stopped keeping the Law of Moses [Hebrew: Torah] after he encountered the risen Messiah in Acts chapter 9.
Wasn't Paul "all things to all men" as he said in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23?
Yes, he was, but that does not mean that he followed the customs of the Gentiles and forsook the Law of Moses to do so.
Consider these passages from Scripture that speak of Paul:
Acts 21:19-24
After he had greeted them, he began to relate one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. And when they heard it they began glorifying God; and they said to him, "You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law; and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs. "What, then, is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. Therefore do this that we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow; take them and purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads; and all will know that there is nothing to the things which they have been told about you, but that you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the Law.
The leaders of the congregation in Jerusalem (including James and Peter) declared that Paul "walked orderly, keeping the Law."
For those who might suggest this was the Law of Christ, please note that the context refers to the false charges being leveled against Paul: that he was teaching Jews to forsake Moses (a common term for the Law), not to circumcise their children, nor to walk according to the customs. Disobedience to the customs are also part of the accusations against Paul. The leaders then instruct Paul to prove (by offering the sacrifices and ceremonial activities involved with completing a Nazirite vow) that he walks orderly, keeping the Law in order to demonstrate that the charges against him were baseless and false.
Consider Acts 22...
"I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated under Gamaliel, strictly according to the law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as you all are today. (Acts 22:3)
Note that Paul doesn't say he was a Jew (past tense) but that he is a Jew (present tense). He also does not say that he was zealous for God but that he is (present tense) zealous for God. For Jews, this zealousness is expressed by their obedience to the commandments expressed in the Law of Moses.
Many false charges of this kind are brought against Paul. When he speaks before Festus in his own defense he declares:
"I have committed no offense either against the Law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar." (Acts 25:8)
At the end of his ministry, after Paul appeals to Caesar in his trial and is taken to Rome in chains, Paul speaks with the Jews of Rome:
After three days Paul called together those who were the leading men of the Jews, and when they came together, he began saying to them, " Brethren, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. (Acts 28:17)
This is the same Paul who wrote while in prison to the believers in Thessalonica:
So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us. (2 Thessalonians 2:15)
(Part 2) If Paul had ever taught traditions that were contrary to the Torah/Law of Moses/the Law of the Jews, or the customs of the fathers then he would have been transgressing the Law and violating the customs of his fathers.
Paul's own words and the testimony of Scripture teach us that Paul never stopped keeping the Torah.
While Paul's obedience may come as a shock to some, we should recognize that there is no error in his actions. Christians often share with unbelievers "the Roman road" to salvation:
Romans 3:23- For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Romans 6:23- For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 5:8- when we were in our sin Christ Jesus came to die for us.
Romans 10:9- for whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Paul makes the point in Romans 7 that our flesh is sold in bondage to sin (Romans 7:14) but that Christ sets us free from that flesh (Romans 7:24). Until Messiah returns and we are given glorified bodies we are still in our sinful, fleshly bodies. While we are still in that state we are still, with our flesh, serving the law of sin (Romans 7:25) but we should strive against that default behavior.
Paul makes this statement in his first letter to Timothy:
But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted. (1 Timothy 1:8-11)
The passages mentioned above indicate Paul was using the Law in a lawful manner and continued to observe it for as long as Scripture records the events of his life.
From Scripture we can know that Paul claimed he never stopped keeping the Law. Not according to distorted laws from some jews at that time, but according to true scripture (Thora).
About that paragraph you mentioned… they talk about a necessity to be saved. To see this we need to go back to chapter 15 where the apostles spoke about this matter.
‘But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”’
Acts 15:1
Paul, Barnabas and others went to Jerusalem to the apostles to ask about this matter. Read carefully what the matter was:
Unless you are circumcised … you cannot be saved.
It continues..
‘When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.” The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter.’
Acts 15:4-6
After much debate Peter stood up and basically declared (remeber, still talking about circumcised to be saved): ‘But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”’
Acts 15:11
‘Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”’
Acts 15:19-21
They were still talking about the requirements (or what is necessary to be/stay saved)
Some context:
Salvation is the moment where the race starts, but it does not end there (Matthew 24:13). Salvation comes through grace by faith. The moment one repents and comes to faith, we are saved by his grace. Very logical because we’ve sinned and therefore repent and don’t get sentences for the sins we repent of, but by te grace of the Judge we’re pardoned and are grafted in into the cultivated olive tree (which is of the jews). But it’s only the starting signal for the race we have to run (1 Corinthians 9:24-27).
That is why they say: For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”’
A believer can hear what God wants from them and to hear the Law, they can go to synagogue to learn what scripture says and what the law says.
Think about it for a second. If you were a ‘gentile’ and didn’t know about any of the Jewish faith or the Jewish God or the Jewish Messiah or the Jewish Law. Paul comes up to you and preaches Christ crucified and gospel of salvation. You enter the faith and got the letter spoken of in acts 15. How would you know what they mean? How would you know what they mean when they say: ‘abstain from blood’ ??
It nowhere says what exactly to do… what do they mean? Abstain from consuming blood?, or touching blood in general? or menstruational blood? Or from blood transplantation for that matter.
We have to turn to the Old Testament in order to find out what they mean in this letter. That is exactly the point! It is a proces of learning and obeying with your heart. But salvation comes by grace through faith!
The food issue is somewhat the same. The Law of God says what foods are and what is not food. We can not eat human flesh, while maybe some consider it food, the Law of God doesn’t.
Rom 5:8 - But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we *were* yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Rom 6:1 & 2 - What shall we say then? Are we to *continue in sin* that grace may abound? *By no means!* How can we who died to sin still live in it?
Rom 6:6 - We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would *no longer be enslaved to sin.*
Jhn 8:34 - Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, *everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.*
Rom 6:12 - Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.
Rom 6:16 - Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?
Jhn 5:14 - Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! *Sin no more,* that nothing worse may happen to you.”
Jhn 8:11 - She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, *and from now on sin no more.*
Jhn 9:31 - We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.
Jas 4:8 - Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
1Co 8:12 - Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.
1Co 9:27 - But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
1Co 10:1-6 - For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and *all were baptized* into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.
Nevertheless, *with most of them God was not pleased,* for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things took place *as examples for us,* that we might not desire evil as they did.
1Co 10:11 & 12 - Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. *Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.*
1Ti 5:20 - *As for those who persist in sin,* rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear.
Heb 12:1 - Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also *lay aside every* weight, and *sin* which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:4 - In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
1Jo 3:4 - Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.