IslamDraft · awaiting advisor review
Did Paul invent Christianity?
In short
No. Paul’s letters, the earliest Christian writings, pass on beliefs he had “received” from those before him, and he says Peter, James and John recognised his message. The worship of Jesus as Lord, his death for sins and his resurrection were the faith of the first Jerusalem believers, not Paul’s invention.
The Objection
Paul never met Jesus during his life. He took a Jewish prophet’s simple message of one God and turned it into a religion about Jesus’ divinity, his death and resurrection. The disciples who really knew Jesus didn’t teach that; Paul corrupted it.
Put as its strongest advocates would put it.
The Christian Case
- Historical evidence
Paul’s letters were written within about 20 to 30 years of Jesus. In them he quotes summaries of faith he “received”, such as “Christ died for our sins… was buried… was raised on the third day”, which most scholars date to the first few years after the crucifixion.
- Scripture
Paul spent fifteen days with Peter and met James; later Peter, James and John gave him “the right hand of fellowship”, agreeing on the gospel he preached.
- Scripture
Paul says the other apostles preached the same message: “whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.” Peter calls him “our beloved brother Paul”.
- Historical evidence
The claims Muslims attribute to Paul are also in sources that don’t depend on him: Mark’s Gospel has Jesus forgiving sins and claiming God’s throne at his trial, and the first believers in Jerusalem worshipped Jesus as Lord.
Where the Evidence Is Weaker
Paul’s letters emphasise different things from Jesus’ teaching in the Gospels, as letters to churches naturally do, and scholars debate how the two fit together. Paul and Peter did once disagree sharply, about Gentiles at the table, not about who Jesus is.
Arguments to Avoid
- Claiming the apostles never disagreed (Galatians 2:11–14 shows they did).
- Dismissing the question: it is often sincerely asked.
Read for Yourself
1 Corinthians 15:1–11
1Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: 5And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: 6After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. 7After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. 8And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. 9For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 11Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.
Galatians 1:18–2:10
18Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days. 19But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord’s brother. 20Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not. 21Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia; 22And was unknown by face unto the churches of Judaea which were in Christ: 23But they had heard only, That he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed. 24And they glorified God in me. 1Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also. 2And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain. 3But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised: 4And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage: 5To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. 6But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man’s person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me: 7But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; 8(For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:) 9And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision. 10Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.
Further Reading
- Paul: A Biography · N. T. Wright (2018)
- Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity · Larry W. Hurtado (2003)
Drafted with Opened AI and awaiting review by Opened’s apologetics advisors. Labels show the kind of support each point has: Scripture is what the Bible says; historical evidence and philosophical arguments can be checked by anyone; “Christians differ” marks questions on which faithful Christians disagree.
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