San Pablo

Christianity's true founder, Paul, admits fabrication From the Book What Jesus Really Say? Misheal al-Kadhi

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Muslims do not claim that Jesus'true disciples tampered with the Bible, but that others claimingto act in their names did so later on. This is attested to bythe fact that the Trinitarian church felt it necessary to totallyobliterate all Gospel manuscripts written before 325 AD when theyofficially introduced the "Trinity" tothe world. This is why we find such serious contradictions ineven the most basic of it's teachings. For example, we are toldthat Saul of Tarsus (St. Paul) is the authorof the majority of the books of the New Testament.He is claimed to be the author of Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians,Galatians, Ephesians, Phillippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians,1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, and Hebrews. We would expectsuch a pivotal character in the Bible and the author of the majorityof the New Testament books to be able to keep his stories straightat least in such fundamental matters as how he became a Christianand was "saved." However, we can find in the Bible asworn affidavit by Paul that he is guilty of fabrication. Soundincredible? Let us have a look:

If we read Acts 9:19-29 and Acts 26:19-21, we willfind that Paul was busy persecuting the followers of Jesus inJerusalem and dragging them from their homes to be tortured, killedor converted, when suddenly one day he decided to branch out andpersecute them in Damascus. For this reason, he goes to the HighPriest asking for letters sanctioning such actions in Damascus.Why he would do this since the High Priest of Jerusalem had noauthority over Damascus remains a mystery to many, however, letus continue.

Shortly after setting out to continue his evil workin Damascus, Paul is supposed to have "seen the Lord inthe way " and accepted Christianityafter being a staunch enemy of Christians and having become famousfor his severe persecution of them. Barnabas (one of the apostlesof Jesus) then supposedly vouched for him with the other apostlesand convinced them to accept him. Paul then went with all of theapostles on a preaching campaign in and out of Jerusalemand all of Judaea preaching boldly to it's people. Paulthen appointed himself the twelfth apostle of Jesus (in placeof Judas who had the devil in him) as seen in his own books Romans1:1, 1 Corinthians 1:1 ..etc..

The verses mentioned are:

" And when he (Paul) had received meat, hewas strengthened. Then was Saul (Paul) certain days with the discipleswhich were at Damascus. And straightway he preached Christ inthe synagogues, that he is the Son of God. But all that heardhim were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed themwhich called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for thatintent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests?But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jewswhich dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ. Andafter that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel tokill him: But their laying await was known of Saul. And they watchedthe gates day and night to kill him. Then the disciples took himby night, and let him down by the wall in a basket. And when Saulwas come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples:but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he wasa disciple. But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles,and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way andthat he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascusin the name of Jesus. And he was with them coming in and goingout at Jerusalem. And he spake boldly in the name of the LordJesus, and disputed against the Grecians: but they went aboutto slay him. "

Acts 9:19-29

" Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedientunto the heavenly vision: But shewed first unto them of Damascus,and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, andthen to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God,and do works meet for repentance. For these causes the Jews caughtme in the temple, and went about to kill me."

Acts 26:19-21

Contradicted by:

" But when it pleased God, who separated mefrom my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, To reveal hisSon in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediatelyI conferred not with flesh and blood: Neither went I up to Jerusalemto them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia,and returned again unto Damascus. Then after three years I wentup to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days.But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother.Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lienot. Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia;And was unknown by face unto the churches of Judaea which werein Christ: But they had heard only, That he which persecuted usin times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed. "

Galatians 1:15-23

With regard to the first two passages, Reverend Dr.Davies in " The First Christian," says: " Theseassertions are not inconsistent with each other, but are damagingfor another reason,: they are contradicted by Paul himself inhis letter to the Galatians (Chapters 1 and 2)." Rev.Davies draws attention to Paul's oath: " Now concerningthe things which I write to you, indeed, before God I do not lie," which makes his account a sworn affidavit. He goes on to say:

" To the story in Acts, this contradictionis disastrous. There never was a teaching campaign at Jerusalemand through all of the county of Judea (Acts 26:20). If Paul wasunknown to the Judean communities as he says, then he had undertakenno mission among them. In fact he had never joined the Judeanmovement or even attempted to join it. He only saw Cephas, andJesus' brother James. Even of the other apostles, not to mentionmore ordinary believers, 'I saw none' he admits. Instead of hishaving gone 'in and out of Jerusalem, preaching boldly in thename of the Lord' the Jerusalem community had not even known thathe was there. 'They only heard' he tells us 'that he who oncepersecuted us now makes the faith of which he made havoc'; butthey never heard him preach it in Judea."

Rev. Davies concludes that

" ..if there is any portion of the New Testamentthat is authentic, it is Paul's letter to the Galatians. If wecannot rely upon this letter, we can rely upon nothing and mayas well close our inquiry. But the fact is that we can rely uponit. The letter to the Galatians is from Paul himself and by everytest is genuine."

" The First Christian," A Powell Davies,Farrar Straus & Cudahy, pp. 30-31

According to the narration in Acts, Paul saw hisalleged vision. " Straightway" he began preaching inthe synagogues of Damascus. He built up a reputation through hisbold preaching that amazed the masses. He confounded the Jewsof Damascus. Many days later, the Jews tried to kill himso he escaped to Jerusalem. He met Barnabas who introduced himto the apostles for the first time. They were all terrifiedof Paul, but Barnabas convinced them to accept him. Now Paul andall of the apostles went on a preaching campaign in andout of Jerusalem speakingboldly in the name of Jesus.

However, according to the narration in Galatians,Paul saw his alleged vision. " Immediately" he did NOTconfer with " flesh and blood" nor did he go to Jerusalemto see the apostles, but rather he traveled to Arabia then backto Damascus. He mentions no preaching in any of these places.After at least three years he goes to Jerusalem for thefirst time and meets only Peter and James and no other apostles.He stays with them for fifteen days but, once again, he mentionsno preaching campaign either with all of the apostles, with someof them, or alone. He also has never been here in the past norperformed a preaching campaign here in the past since he is unknownby face to them and they have " heard only" of his claimedconversion.

Some of the contradictions are:

1) Galatians claims that after his alleged vision,Paul " Immediately" spoke to " no fleshand blood" but rather traveled to Arabia and then toDamascus. So he did not " straightway," if atall, preach boldly in Damascus as claimed by Acts (How long wouldit take to travel from Damascus to Arabia to Damascus? Could hego and come back " straightway" ?).

2) According to Galatians, Paul did not go to Jerusalemwhere the apostles were. Rather, he went to Arabia then to Damascus.Now, after at least THREE YEARS (not many days), he goes to Jerusalem.It explicitly states that " Neither went I up to Jerusalemto them which were apostles." So this is claimed to behis FIRST visit to Jerusalem after his claimed vision. This FIRSTvisit is claimed to have occurred at least THREE YEARS after Paul'salleged vision. However, Acts claims that MANY DAYS after hisvision he traveled to Jerusalem and performed a bold preachingcampaign with all the apostles. Acts also mentions no intermediatejourney to Arabia.

3) According to Galatians, upon Paul's arrival inJerusalem he met Peter and James and no other apostles.He can not have met any apostles in Jerusalem before this becausehe claims that immediately after his vision " Neither wentI up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles" Rather,it claims that he FIRST went to Jerusalem at least " threeyears" after his claimed vision. On the other hand, Actsclaims that the first time he met the apostles was many days afterhis claimed vision at which time he met ALL of the apostles. Thistoo is obviously his first meeting with them since they all fearedhim. Notice the words " they were ALL afraid of him." This would not be the case if Peter and James had already methim since even if they had never mentioned him to the other apostles,still, at the very least they themselves (Peter and James) wouldnot fear him. Also notice that it was only Barnabas who stoodup for him and not Barnabas, Peter, and James.

4) Galatians claims that after Paul's first visitto Jerusalem all the apostles feared him but then Barnabas convincedthem to accept him and they ALL went hand in hand " inand out of Jerusalem" preaching " boldly" to the Jews. However, Acts claims that his first visit to Jerusalemwas after THREE YEARS and upon this FIRST visit he met ONLY Peterand James. He is not claimed to have gone with Peter and Jameson a preaching campaign in and out of Jerusalem,nor could he have done so in the past with ALL of the apostlessince if he had done so he would not have been " unknownby face to the churches of Judea," they would also nothave " heard only" of his conversion but wouldhave eye-witnessed his bold campaign with all of the apostleswith their own eyes.

If the author of the majority of the books of theNew Testament can not even keepthe narration of his own " salvation" straight then howare we expected to believe him in such critical matters as the" true" meanings of Jesus' words, or other matters?

The fact that Paul never actually met Jesus duringhis lifetime, never traveled with him, ate with him, or learneddirectly from him would obviously make the apostles of Jesus thefirst source of guidance for those followers of Jesus who wishedto know what Jesus taught. Jesus' apostles also did not have aprevious history of persecuting his followers. The only reasonwhy anyone might want to bypass the apostles to speak to Paulis if Paul began to receive a series of holy visions from Jesus.The apostles did not claim to be receiving visions from Jesus,so obviously, Paul's claims that he was receiving divine visionsfrom Jesus would go a long way towards drawing the followers ofJesus away from them and to his interpretation of the messageof Jesus. Paul himself proudly proclaims that he has no need oflearning from any human being, not even the apostles, he is completelyindependent of their knowledge and all he needs is his visions:

" But I certify you, brethren, that the gospelwhich was preached of me is not after man. For I neither receivedit of man, neither was I taught [it], but by the revelation ofJesus Christ."

Galatians 1:11-12

As we shall soon see, a direct result of this unwillingnessto receive anything from the apostles or to learn from them resultedin Paul following the sad trend of never being able to verifyhis claims through words of Jesus. It is next to impossible tofind Paul quoting Jesus when attempting to spread his doctrine,rather, he always refers to his own personal philosophy basedupon " visions" he claims to be receiving and inspirationsfrom the Holy Ghost. When he would differ with an apostle on agiven matter, he could not claim to have first hand knowledgeof the teachings of Jesus since he had never met him. Therefore,he found it necessary to always resort to extensive philosophizationand then claim that Jesus and the Holy Ghost were " inspiring" this philosophy. As we shall see below, he claimed to have beensingled out from among all of mankind to receive visions deniedall of the apostles, and to have been allowed through this inspirationto gain new converts " by all means." He also would claim that " All things are lawfulunto me."

The careful reader will notice many other holes inthe story of Paul's alleged " conversion." For instance,in Acts 22:9 Paul claims that when he spoke to Jesus (pbuh), thosetraveling with him " saw the light," but " theyheard not the voice." While in Acts 9:7 thosewho were with Paul are claimed to have " stood speechless,hearing a voice, but seeing no man." Don't takemy word for it, by all means" prove all things." The teachings of Christianityas they are known today are built upon the claims of Paul, theauthor of the majority of the books of the New Testament.He is trusted blindly because he claims to have seen Jesus (pbuh)in a heavenly vision, to have been vouched for by the apostleBarnabas, to have met and been accepted by all of the apostles,to have preached with all the apostles boldly in the nameof Jesus throughout the land of Judaea, and as a result of thisto have endured severe hardship and persecution. However, anyonewho would simply read their Bible will find that Paul himselfswears in the name of God Almighty that this is a fabricationbecause Judaea had never even seen his face and had " heardonly" of his alleged conversion. Further, he never met anyof the apostles save Peter and James. Even with all of this thechurch insists that we interpret the words of Jesus within thecontext of Paul's teachings.

There are so many more similar examples of how Paulopenly and blatantly made major changes to the religion of Jesusthat flagrantly contradicted both the teachings of Jesus and hisapostles. Another example can be seen in the following analysis:God Almighty commands in the OT:

" This is my Covenant, which ye shall keep,between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child amongyou shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcisethe flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenantbetwixt me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcisedamong you, every man child in your generations, he that is bornin the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is notof thy seed. He that is born in thy house, and he that is boughtwith thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shallbe in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcisedman child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, thatsoul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant."

Genesis 17:10-14

So, according to the OT, God himself is telling usthat His covenant can only be had through circumcision. The significanceof circumcision was also noted by Biblical scholars as being notmerely an external act:

" This was His own sign and seal that Israelwas a chosen people. Through it a man's life was linked with greatfellowship whose dignity was it's high consciousness that it mustfulfill the purpose of God"

Interpreter's Bible, p. 613

Circumcision was considered of such criticalimportance to Jewish faith that they would even violate the Sabbathto circumcise their children if the eighth dayfell on the Sabbath.

" and ye on the Sabbath day circumcise a man.If a man on the Sabbath day receive circumcision, that the lawof Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I havemade a man every whit whole on the Sabbath day?"

John 7:22

Jesus himself was circumcised on the eighth day justlike all faithful Jews:

" And when eight days were accomplished forthe circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS."

Luke 2:21

John the Baptist was alsocircumcised (Luke 1:59). After the departure of Jesus, circumcisionbecame an issue of personal conflict between the apostle Peterwho insisted upon it (preach to Jews only) and Paul who wantedto do away with it (preach to non-Jews also).

" I had been entrusted with the gospel forthe uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospelfor the circumcised."

Galatians 2:7

Paul then goes into great details about how the apostleswere wrong and he was right and how even Barnabas followed intheir " hypocrisy" and it was necessary for him to show the apostles the truth (inthe King James Version, the actual word used by Paul in Galatians2:13 is diplomatically translated as " dissimulation.." However, in the Revised Standard Version of the Bible which wascompiled from more ancient manuscripts than the KJV, the wordPaul used is honestly translated as " hypocrisy" ).

Paul now mentions James (James the Son of Thunder,James the Just), Peter (the Rock), and Barnabas (Paul's teacherand protector) in the following manner:

" I saw that they walked not uprightly accordingto the truth of the gospel."

Galatians 2:14

So now it becomes apparent from Paul's words that,in addition to all the above, the apostles were also misguided.It would have been interesting to have heard for instance Barnabas'version of these matters had he been chosen as the " majorityauthor" of the Bible rather than Paul. According to manysimilar passages, it seems that the apostles were constantly inneed of Paul's guidance to recognize the truth. To get Barnabas'version of these matters, his opinion of Paul, as well as whatreally happened at the cross look for " The Gospelof Barnabas," ISBN 0089295-133-1,at your local library, or obtain your copy from one of the addresseslisted at the back of this book.

It is interesting to note that Paul himself was noteven sure about his own " visions." We read:

" It is expedient for me to boast; nothingis to be gained by it, but I will go on to visions and revelationsof the Lord. I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago,whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body,I cannot tell: God knoweth; such an one caught up to the thirdheaven. And I knew such a man, whether in the body, or out ofthe body, I cannot tell: God knoweth; How that he was caught upinto paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawfulfor a man to utter. Of such an one will I glory: yet of myselfI will not glory, but in mine infirmities.."

2 Corinthians 12:1-5

So Paul did not know if the man in his " visions" was " in the body" or " out of the body." Paul'svision also contained " unspeakable words" which were" not lawful for a man to utter."

If I told you that I had seen someone in a " vision," had heard " unspeakable words thatare not lawful to utter" in this vision, and had beencommanded by this person to nullify the commandments which Jesus(pbuh) had upheld his whole life and had commanded mankind touphold till the end of time, who would you say this described?Who had I seen?

God Almighty says in the Qur'an:

" And if it be said unto them: Follow thatwhich Allah has revealed, they say: Nay, but we follow that whereinwe found our fathers. What! Even though the devil was invitingthem to the torture of the fire?"

The noble Qur'an, Lukman(31):21.

What is wrong with this picture? Even if we wereto disregard Paul's sworn admission of fabrication and were toaccept the established beliefs of Paul's inspiration and infallibility(a very big " if" ), then we are still left with the followingpicture:

Paul, a man who according to his own admission " beyondmeasure" severely persecuted countless Christians " slaughtered" them, and also " wasted" the church (Galatians 1:13-15, Acts 8:1-3, Acts 9:1-2, Acts 9:41,Acts 6:5.. etc.), a man who never met Jesus face to face, underwenta miraculous conversion from a persecutor and killer of Christiansinto a more perfect teacher of Christianity thanthe apostles themselves. He was singled out by Jesus' ghost toreceive " visions" which were denied the apostles whohad accompanied Jesus (pbuh) during his lifetime (Galatians 1:10-12).Paul had acquired such a terrible reputation as a persecutor ofChristians that no one was willing to accept his claims of conversion.It was only the intervention of the apostle Barnabas, who's wordsobviously carried a great deal of weight with the rest of theapostles, which allowed the apostles to grudgingly accept him.Barnabas then traveled extensively with Paul building up his reputationamong the Jews as a true convert. Once Paul acquired a reputationof his own, he had a falling out with Barnabas (Acts 15:39, Galatians2:13). They parted company. Paul now claimed that Jesus (pbuh)wanted him to " relax" the law in order to make it alittle more palatable for new converts, and this is when Paulbegan to make drastic changes to the law of Jesus (pbuh).

Paul decided that his visions were sufficient authorityto contradict the teachings of the apostles and consider themhypocrites. Even Barnabas, the apostle who traveled with Paulteaching him and preaching to the Jews, who was willing to acceptthis persecutor of Christians claims of conversion at face value,and the man who single handedly convinced all of the apostlesto accept this same persecutor of Christians is now consideredby Paul a hypocrite and less able to understand the religion ofJesus (pbuh) than himself. Paul also believed that

" ...I labored more abundantly than they (theapostles) all"

1 Corinthians 15:10.

So, the apostles of Jesus were such lazy layaboutsthat Paul was doing more work than all eleven of them put together.All of this even though the apostles spent countless years withJesus (pbuh) learning directly from him while Paul, who has nevermet Jesus in person, practically overnight transforms from a persecutorand killer of Christians and the apostles to a more perfectteacher of Christianity than the apostles themselves. It is quitelucky for us that Paul received these " visions," otherwisewe might have been lead astray by the lazy, misguided, hypocriticalapostles. For Barnabas' version of these matters, read " TheGospel of Barnabas."

Let us time out for a quick analyses of the aboveverses:

Jesus (pbuh), during his lifetime on earth, commandsmankind to strictly and uncompromisingly observe the religionof Moses till the end of time (Matthew 5:18). He tellsthem that observing the religion of Moses and selling their belongingsshall make them " prefect." (Luke 18:18-22). After the departure of Jesus, Paul, accordingto his own admission " beyond measure" severelypersecuted countless Christians, strove to " slaughter" them, and also " wasted" the church (Galatians 1:13-15, Acts 8:1-3, Acts 9:1-2, Acts 9:41,Acts 6:5, Acts 22:4,.. etc.). Paul also looked on with satisfactionas the apostle Stephen was stoned to death (Acts 22:20). Paul receives " visions" andis saved (Acts 22:9, Acts 9:7...etc.) Paul is not sure exactly what he saw in his visions.His visions also contained " unspeakable wordsthat it is unlawful to utter." (2 Corinthians 12:1-5) Paul tells us that the person in his visionswas Jesus (pbuh). He declares that he received his teachings of" Christianity" from these visions and from no one else,not even the apostles (Galatians 1:12). In other words, he hasno need of learning from the apostles. His visions are higherin authority than anything they might have to say. He then goeson to show everyone how the apostles of Jesus are constantly inneed of his guidance to recognize the truth (e.g. Galatians 2:11-13) Paul claims that all things are made lawful tohim and he shall not follow anyone (1 Corinthians 6:12). He alsoclaims that he shall do whatever it takes to get people to followhim, no matter what that might entail (1 Corinthians 9:20-22). The apostles differ with Paul regarding the " truth" of the circumcision ordained by God and other matters.(1 Corinthians7:19, Galatians 2:7...etc.). The apostles, according to Paul, did not walk" uprightly" according to the " truth ofthe Gospel" and were lazy, misguided, hypocrites (1 Corinthians15:10, Galatians 2:14, Galatians 2:13). Most of the books of the New Testament are writtenby Paul himself. In them, Paul himself gives an unblushing pronouncementof how he was a vastly superior apostle of Jesus (pbuh) than theapostles who accompanied Jesus (pbuh) during his ministry andthey all needed his guidance to see the " truth" of Jesus'message and how Jesus (pbuh) and the apostles eagerly appointedhim the twelfth apostle. Summary: If theapostles who lived, preached, ate, and drank with Jesus for somany years are all, according to Paul, lazy, misguided, hypocrites,who were not able to see the " truth" of Jesus' messageas clearly as himself, and if Paul, who never met Jesus in theflesh but is the author of the majority of our New Testament,is more truly guided than all of the apostles combined becauseof his claimed " visions" even though he never quotesJesus nor needs to learn from the apostles, but is, accordingto his own gospel, more truly guided than all of them despiteall of this, then why did Jesus need to preach the law of Mosesto mankind at all? Why did he himself observe it so strictly?According to Paul, Jesus' only use is as a body to be hung onthe cross. Jesus (pbuh) felt it necessary to commandhis followers to strictly and uncompromisingly observe the lawof Moses. He even felt it necessary to live his life in strictobservance of this law as a supreme example for us. He never onceexplicitly mentioned an original sin, an atonement, a crucifixion,a redemption, or a nullification of the law of Moses. However,no sooner does Jesus depart this earth than Paul uses his claimedvisions to completely nullify everything Jesus ever taught andpracticed. He does not need to learn from the apostles, all heneeds is his visions. That is indeed why he almost never quotesJesus himself. He always resorts to his own philosophization ratherthan quoting Jesus. Why then did Jesus not simply come to earthright after Adam sinned, not say a single word, quicklyanger some enemies of God, let them crucify him, and have it overwith quickly? Even if Jesus decided to wait hundreds of thousandsof years and only come 2000 years ago, then why preach a law thatis going to be thrown out the window in only a couple of years?Why observe this law so devoutly himself? Why command everyoneto strictly observe this law " till heaven and earth pass" ?Why threaten them that anyone who would forsake a single commandmentwould be called " the least in the kingdom of heaven" ?Is he not going to die for everyone's sins and then come backin exclusive visions to Paul and command him to nullify the lawof Moses? Is he not going to come back in visions to Paul andcommand him to tell everyone that " a man is justifiedby faith without the deeds of the law." ? Why not preachsuch a doctrine himself while he is still amonghis apostles instead of waiting to first mention it to Paul ina vision after his death? These apostles that Paul looked down upon as lazymisguided hypocrites are the selfsame apostles who had accompaniedJesus (pbuh) during his lifetime, who taught all of mankind (includingPaul himself) the teachings of Jesus (pbuh), and who endured thepersecution of many (including Paul himself) to convey this messagewithout compromise, as Jesus had directly taught it to them. ThePauline Church (the Roman Catholic church which later gave birthto other churches such as the Protestant church) was to latergo on and officially adopt the doctrine of the Trinitya couple of centuries after the departure of Jesus, to severelycondemn, persecute, and kill any Christians who did not convertto their own personal brand of Christianity, to have presidedover the death of millions of Christians who did not adopt thisbelief. To have presided over the destruction of many hundredsof " unacceptable" gospels (some sources claim thousands)some of which were written by the apostles themselves, and tohave issued death warrants for all those found concealing them...and on and on.

Even with all of this, the Gospel of Barnabas (seechapter seven) has managed to escapethis campaign of destruction of the Gospels and is available today.It confirms all that we have said and what the Qur'an has beensaying for centuries. It also presents Barnabas' response to Paul'sclaims and his account of what truly happened at the crossand how Jesus (pbuh) was not forsaken by God to the Jews, butwas raised by God, and Judas the traitor was made to look likeJesus (pbuh) and was taken in his place. Barnabas, of course,accompanied Jesus (pbuh) and was an eye-witness to his mission.Paul was not.

Getting back to our story... Paul had a falling outwith the apostles and decided that " Circumcision is nothing,and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandmentsof God" 1 Corinthians 7:19. Even though circumcisionwas held in an even higher regard than the Sabbathitself in the law of Moses and the " commandmentsof God," still, Paul taught that it is possible to keepthe commandments even if, contrary to the teachings of Jesus andthe apostles, this foremost commandment of circumcision was abandoned.

In the end, Paul decided that all the commandmentsof God through Moses (pbuh) which Jesus (pbuh) hadkept faithfully till the crucifixion and which the apostles hadalso kept were all worthless decaying and ready to vanish awayand faith was all that was required, thereby completely nullifyingeverything his " Lord" Jesus had taught and practicedduring his lifetime.

" Therefore we conclude that a man is justifiedby faith without the deeds of the law."

Romans 3:28

He decided that the laws of Moses (pbuh) (e.g. " thoushalt not steal, thou shalt not kill, ...etc." ) which Jesus(pbuh) had taught the faithful during his lifetime were a " curse" upon them and no longer necessary,

" Christ hath redeemed us from the curse ofthe law."

Galatians 3:13

He then went about explaining the " true" meanings of the teachings of Jesus and Paul's preachings are whatare now known as " Christianity."

Paul himself readily admits that he was both willingand able to recruit new converts by any means athis disposal:

" And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, thatI might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law(Gentiles),as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law"

1 Corinthians 9:20

and " ...I am made all things to all men,that I might by all means savesome"

1 Corinthians 9:22

and " ...all things are lawful for me, butI will not be brought under the power of any."

1 Corinthians 6:12

We have already seen how Paul also openly admitsthat his teachings were not obtained from the apostles of Jesus,but from a vision of Jesus denied the apostles: Galatians 1:12" For I neither received it of man,neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ." So, not only are the apostles of Jesus, according to Paul, lazy,misguided, hypocrites, but everything they ever learned from Jesusis in Paul's estimation unnecessary. What they have learned fromJesus from direct contact with him is only useful in as far asit conforms to his " visions." In other words, they haveneed to learn from him and not vice-versa.

The great apostle of Jesus (pbuh), Barnabas (thedefender and benefactor of Paul), in the opening statements ofhis Gospel has the following to say about Paul among others:

" True Gospel of Jesus, called Messiah, anew prophet sent by God to the world according to the descriptionof Barnabas his apostle. Barnabas, apostle of Jesus the Nazarene,called Messiah, to all them that dwell upon the earth desire peaceand consolation. Truly beloved, the great and wonderful God hasin these past days visited us by His apostle Jesus (the) Messiahin great mercy of teaching and miracles, by reason whereof many,being deceived by Satan, under pretense of piety, are preachingmost impious doctrine, calling Jesus the Son of God, repudiatingthe circumcision ordained by God forever, and permitting everyunclean meat: among whom also Paul has been deceived, whereofI speak not without grief: for which cause I am writing the truthwhich I have seen and heard, in the fellowshipthat I have had with Jesus, in order that you may be saved, andnot be deceived by Satan and perish in judgment of God. Therefore,beware of everyone that preaches to you a new doctrine contraryto that which I write, that you may be saved eternally. The greatGod be with you and guard you from Satan and from every evil.Amen."

Paul himself admits that there were those who werepreaching a different Gospel than his own and were gaining converts.He does not name his adversaries, but we can read about his mostnoble adversaries in two places wherein Paul uses what Prof. Brandoncalls " very remarkable terms" to describe them. Thefirst is

" I marvel that ye are so soon removed fromhim that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, andwould pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angelfrom heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that whichwe have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before,so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto youthan that ye have received, let him be accursed."

Galatians 1:6-9

The second is " But I fear, lest by any means,as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your mindsshould be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. Forif he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached,or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, oranother gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bearwith him. For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefestapostles. But though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge;but we have been thoroughly made manifest among you in all things."

2 Corinthians 11:3-6

These opponents of Paul were clearly preaching " anotherGospel" and " anotherJesus," they were also obviously operating among Paul'sown target group and converting his converts. All of this eventhough their teachings did not exhibit the " simplicity" that Paul preached but required their followers to workfor their salvation. However, Paul displays amazing restraintwhen referring to them by not lambasting them with the vehemenceof speech which he is so capable nor questioning their authority.Rather, he gives a clue to their identity with the words: " ...ForI suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles" and " we, or an angel from heaven," and " untoanother gospel: Which is not another."

As we have seen in previous chapters, Christian scholarstoday agree that the very first Christians, including the apostlesof Jesus (pbuh) were all Unitarians who followed the religionof Moses, and that the Trinity was not introduceduntil around the beginning of the second century. These Unitariansenjoyed a large following and spread throughout much of NorthAfrica among other places. During this period, any Roman or Greekgentile who wanted to enter into Christianity pretty much wasallowed to choose which " Christianity" he wanted. Theone preached by Barnabas and the apostles which involved a strictand disciplined law of Moses (pbuh), or the much moresimplistic " New covenant" of Paul whichonly required " faith in Jesus" and which was later mademore appealing to them by the Pauline Church by incorporatinga " Trinity" and other changes into it so that it wouldmore closely resemble the Roman and Greek established beliefsof multiple Gods and father-Gods and son-Gods and Demi-Gods andGoddesses ...etc. Toland says in his book TheNazarenes: " ...amongst the Gentiles, so inveteratewas the hatred of the Jews that their observing of anything, howeverreasonable or necessary, was sufficient motive for a Gentile convertto reject it." (From: Jesus, Prophet of Islam) If Paulwanted to convert these people, he would need to compromise, hewould need to make Christianity a little more appealing to them,which he, and his church, did. One of these first Unitarian Christians was a manby the name of Irenaeus (130-200 AD). Mr. MuhammadAta' Ur Rahim tells us in his book " Jesus, Prophet of Islam" that he was one of the first Christians to be killed because oftheir adherence to the unity of God. He is quoted as saying thefollowing regarding the unending attempts to tamper with the Bible:" In order to amaze the simple and such as are ignorantof the Scriptures of Truth, they obtrude upon them an inexpressiblemultitude of apocryphal and spurious scriptures of their own devising" (the Gospels in our possession today).

When the Pauline Church gained power and influencein Rome these Unitarian Christians were officially condemned,persecuted and killed. An attempt was made to totally obliteratethem and their books by forcing them to accept the Trinityor else to be killed as heretics and by burning their Gospels.Over a million of these Unitarian Christians were then put todeath because of their refusal to compromise their belief. Inspite of this, their beliefs have survived even to this day. WhenIslam came with the call to one God and the belief in Jesus (pbuh)and his miracles, these Unitarian Christians were among the firstpeople to recognize the word of God and accept Islam.

So thorough has Paul and his church been in totallyeradicating all of the teachings of Jesus (pbuh) and his firstapostles that very little has survived. Not even Jesus' (pbuh)preferred method of greeting his followers. From ancient times,the prophets of God including Moses, Joseph, David,Jesus, the angels of God and many others including God himselfhave made it their custom to greet the believers with the words" Peace be with you." This can be seen in such versesas Genesis 43:23, Judges 6:23, 1 Samuel 25:6, Numbers 6:26, 1Samuel 1:17, Luke 24:36, John 20:19, John 20:26, and especiallyLuke 10:5:

" And into whatsoever house ye enter, firstsay, Peace be to this house"

to name a few.

Can anyone guess what Muhammad (pbuh) taught hisfollowers to say when greeting each other or departing from eachother? You guessed it! " Assalam alaikum" or " Peacebe unto you." Have you ever met a Christian who greets otherChristians with the words of Jesus (pbuh): " Peace be untoyou" ?

So, what do the scholars have to say about Paul?:

Heinz Zahrnt calls Paul " the corrupter ofthe Gospel of Jesus." From " The Jesus Report," Johannes Lehman, p. 126.

Werde describes him as " The second founderof Christianity." He further says that due to Paul: " ...thediscontinuity between the historical Jesus and the Christ of theChurch became so great that any unity between them is scarcelyrecognizable"

" The Jesus Report," Johannes Lehman, p.127.

Schonfield wrote: " The Pauline heresy becamethe foundation of the Christian orthodoxy and the legitimate Churchwas disowned as heretical."

" The Jesus Report," Johannes Lehman, p.128.

Mr. Michael H. Hart, in his book " The 100,a Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History," places Muhammad (pbuh) in first place, next comes Paul, and Jesus(pbuh) after Paul. Like most other western scholars besides himself,he recognizes Paul as being more deserving of credit for " Christianity" than " Christ" himself.

Grolier's encyclopedia has the following to say underthe heading " Christianity" : " After Jesus wascrucified, his followers, strengthened by the conviction thathe had risen from the dead and that they were filled with thepower of the Holy Spirit, formed the first Christian communityin Jerusalem. By the middle of the 1st century, missionaries werespreading the new religion among the peoples of Egypt, Syria,Anatolia, Greece, and Italy. Chief among these was Saint Paul,who laid the foundations of Christian theology and played a keyrole in the transformation of Christianity from a Jewish sectto a world religion. The original Christians, being Jews, observedthe dietary and ritualistic laws of the Torah and required non-Jewishconverts to do the same. Paul and others favored eliminating obligation,thus making Christianity more attractive to Gentiles."

Dr. Arnold Meyer says: " If by Christianitywe understand faith in Christ as the heavenly Son of God, whodid not belong to earthly humanity, but who lived in the divinelikeness and glory, who came down from heaven to earth, who enteredhumanity and took upon himself a human form through a virgin,that he might make propitiation for men's sins by his own bloodupon the cross, who was then awakened from death andraised to the right hand of God, as the Lord of his own people,who believe in him, who hears their prayers, guards and leadsthem, who will come again with the clouds of heaven to judge theworld, who will cast down all the foes of God, and will bringhis own people with him unto the home of heavenly light so thatthey may become like His glorified body - if this is Christianity,then such Christianity was founded by St. Paul and not by ourLord"

Dr. Arnold Meyer, Professor of Theology, Zurich University,Jesus or Paul, p. 122

As we can see, this information is not new. It hasbeen well recognized and documented for centuries now. Even centuriesago, it was well known that most of what was claimed by the churchcould not be verified through the Bible. Thus, a shift was madefrom obtaining ones inspiration from the Bible to obtaining itfrom the " Bride of Jesus," theChurch. Fra Fulgentio, for instance, was once reprimanded by thePope in a letter saying " Preaching of the Scriptures isa suspicious thing. He who keeps close to the Scriptures willruin the Catholic faith." In his next letter he was moreexplicit: " ...which is a book if anyone keeps close towill quite destroy the Catholic faith." Tetradymus,John Toland (From: Jesus a Prophet of Islam)

As we have just seen, all of this started with onelone man, with Paul. It stands to reason that one would wish tostudy the life, beliefs, and teachings of this man in order toverify if the claims he made were indeed true. Paul claims thathe was a prophet of God and/or Jesus. We find this for examplein Galatians:

" For I neither received it of man, neitherwas I taught [it], but by the revelation of Jesus Christ .But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb,and called [me] by his grace, To reveal his Son in me, that Imight preach him among the heathen"

Galatians 1:12-16

Thus, if Paul tells us in the books of the Biblethat he is a prophet, then he can be only one of two kinds ofprophet; either a true prophet or a false prophet. Thus, we musttake Paul to trial and have the court decide for us what sortof prophet he is.

Due to the magnitude of that which is at stake inthis trial, it would be highly unjust to allow personal prejudicesto cloud the outcome of the proceedings. For this reason, justicedemands that the judge be one who's integrity and truthfulnesscan be readily and unhesitantly accepted by all. For this reason,our judge and jury in this matter shall consist of only two individuals:God Almighty and Jesus Christ. Further, only one single exhibitshall be brought into evidence, namely, the Bible. Let us thenclear our minds and hearts of all prejudices and let only Godand Jesus tell us what to accept and what to reject. Are we agreed?Then let us begin.

Let us start the proceedings with the words of God.He says:

" When a prophet speaketh in the name of theLORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that [is] thething which the LORD hath not spoken, [but] the prophet hath spokenit presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him."

Deuteronomy 18:22

Now let us move on and obtain the witness of Jesus(pbuh):

" For there shall arise false Christs, andfalse prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuchthat, if [it were] possible, they shall deceive the very elect."

Matthew 24:24

Jesus (pbuh) continues .

" Beware of false prophets, which come toyou in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns,or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth goodfruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good treecannot bring forth evil fruit, neither [can] a corrupt tree bringforth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruitis hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruitsye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord,shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth thewill of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in thatday, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thyname have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderfulworks? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: departfrom me, ye that work iniquity."

Matthew 7:15-23

Now that the base criteria have been laid out byGod and then His elect messenger Jesus Christ (pbuh), let us nowbring into evidence the words of Paul in the Bible and allow themto speak for themselves. In order to do this we shall break upthe criteria set forth by God and Jesus above into seven points.They are:

A false prophet's prophesies do not come true. False Christs and false prophets can show greatsigns and wonders that can deceive the very elect. False prophets bring forth evil fruits. A false prophet would claim that it is enoughto say to Jesus Lord to be righteous. A false prophet would prophesy in Jesus' name. A false prophet can cast out devils and do wonderfulworks. A false prophet would be turned away and cursedby Jesus. Regarding the first criteria, we bring into evidencethe words of Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 regarding his prophesyof the second coming of Jesus. Paulsays: " For the Lord (Jesus) himself shall descendfrom heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, andwith the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up togetherwith them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shallwe ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with thesewords."

1 Thessalonians 4:15-16

Paul in this prophesy was in effect telling his followersthat Jesus would be descending from heaven any second now. Pauland his followers would then be taken up into the air and meetJesus in the clouds. He was telling them that this shall happenwhile they are still alive and breathing. Did this come to pass?No! It was a false prophesy. Two thousand yearshave passed since and not only has he and those he was speakingto turned to dust, but countless generations of their followerstoo have passed away and we still await his prophesy to come true.

Let us now study the second criteria. Now, we haveto realize that it is Paul himself and his church after him whoare telling us of his claimed miracles, however, we shall acceptthem at face value and take their word for it. In Acts 27, Paulis claimed to have been saved by an angel from a drowning ship.In Acts 28, Paul is claimed to have cured many of dysentery. Furtheracts of healing are claimed in Acts 19. Because of these claimedmiracles, many people were claimed to have believed in him. Aswe have seen in the previous pages, it only took roughly threecenturies for Paul's teachings to take firm hold of the very electand divert them from the original message of Jesus, from his originalteachings, from the observance of the Mosaic law, and from thecontinuation of the observance of this law in the synagogues andTemple of the Jews just as the very first apostles had done (Acts2:46).

The third criteria draws our attention to Paul'swords:

" To declare, [I say], at this time his righteousness:that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believethin Jesus. Where [is] boasting then? It is excluded. By what law?of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. Therefore we concludethat a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law."

Romans 3:26-28

So Paul succeeded in overthrowing the Mosaic law.He completely nullified the law which God, Moses,and Jesus all upheld and commanded their followers to observetill the end of time (see Duet. 6:17-18, Duet. 11:1, Matt. 15:1-15,Matt. 5:17-20, Matt. 19:16-21, etc.)

Indeed, Isaiah 42:21 presents a prophesy that requiresthe coming prophet to magnify the law of Moses, notdestroy it.

In other words, God says:

" Ye shall not add unto the word which I commandyou, neither shall ye diminish [ought] from it, that ye may keepthe commandments of the LORD your God which I command you."

Deuteronomy 4:2

And Jesus says:

" For verily I say unto you, Till heaven andearth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from thelaw, till all be Fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break oneof these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shallbe called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shalldo and teach [them], the same shall be called great in the kingdomof heaven."

Matthew 5:18-19

But now Paul comes along and says:

" Christ hath redeemed us from the curse ofthe law"

Galatians 3:13,

and " Therefore we conclude that a man isjustified by faith without the deeds of the law."

Romans 3:28

Let us move on to the fourth criteria. Paul says:

" For there is no difference between the Jewand the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all thatcall upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord(Jesus) shall be saved."

Romans 10:12-13

The fifth criteria requires that he prophesy in Jesus'name. And once again, Paul says:

" For I neither received it of man, neitherwas I taught [it], but by the revelation of Jesus Christ."

Galatians 1:12

So according to Paul, everything he taught was bydirect revelation from Jesus.

The sixth criteria requires that Paul cast out devilsand do wonderful works. This he claims to have done in Acts 19:11-12.

The seventh criteria draws our attention to Paul'swords

" I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee"

Acts 23:6

A fact which Paul very proudly repeats on more thanone occasion. To which Jesus (pbuh) responds:

" Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when heis made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves."

Matthew 23:15.

So Jesus (pbuh) labeled the Pharisees " childrenof Hell."

Further, as we already know, Jesus did indeed " neverknow" Paul. In fact, Paul new so little of Jesus that heonly quoted Jesus directly once throughout his whole ministry(1 Corinthians 11:26). Only a few of Jesus' actual teachings areever mentioned in Paul's Epistles, and even then they are notattributed to Jesus. They were most likely popular homilies whichhad been circulated in the community and thus indirectly foundtheir way into his Epistles.

Indeed, Daniel 7:25 describes the very greatest ofall false Christs as follows:

" And he shall speak [great] words againstthe most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High,and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given intohis hand until a time and times and the dividing of time."

Now, although Paul is not this finalFalse Messiah, and although no Muslim shall ever attempt to makesuch a claim, still, it is interesting to note the great degreeof similarity he exhibits with that most evil of all false prophets.For example, THE False Messiah shall change times and laws,and so too did Paul nullify the Law. THE False Messiahshall speak great words against God, and so too does Paul. Forexample, the Bible says:

" The law of the LORD [is] Perfect, convertingthe soul: .The statutes of the LORD [are] right, rejoicingthe heart: the commandment of the LORD [is] pure, enlighteningthe eyes."

Psalm 19:7-8

And " Therefore thou shalt love the LORD thyGod, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments,and his commandments, always."

Deuteronomy 11:1

And " For verily I (Jesus) say unto you, Tillheaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wisepass from the law, till all be fulfilled.Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments,and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdomof heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach [them], the same shallbe called great in the kingdom of heaven."

Matthew 5:18-19

However, Paul says in Romans 7:6 that the law isdead He further says in Galatians 3:13 that the law is a curse.In Galatians 3:10 he claims that those who labor under the lawof God are under a curse. And he claims in Hebrews 8:13 that Godscovenant is old, decaying, and ready to vanishaway.

As we can see from the above, both God and Jesuscondemn Paul and his teachings in no uncertain terms. They themselvesbear witness against him and his innovations which they totallyreject and which shall be brought to witness against him on theDay of Judgment. Who better and more unbiased a judge shall webring to witness against Paul and his innovations that Jesus Christand God Himself?

Many Christian evangelists who follow the theologyof Paul would dearly love to provide salvation for their neighbors.So much so that they can not understand how their neighbors cannot see the clear and obvious love God holds for them such thatHe would actually sacrifice His only begotten son for them. Inorder to make this clear for their neighbors, they draw many analogies.For example, a Christian gentleman from Canada once sent our localIslamic center a six-page pamphlet titled " God our HeavenlyFather," with the goal of demonstrating the love of God tous. His efforts were sincerely appreciated and his message wasaccepted in the spirit it was sent. However, far from provinghis point, this pamphlet only served to thoroughly confuse theissue.

The pamphlet contained a short fictitious story aboutan Arab man named " Akbar" who was very moral and upright.One day, his son committed a serious crime that deserved capitalpunishment. The authorities found evidence linking this crimeto this man's house. When the authorities came, the father falselyadmitted to the crime in order to spare his son. The pamphletconcluded that just as the father's love for his son made himsacrifice himself, in a similar manner, God Almighty's love formankind drove him to sacrifice Jesus(pbuh).

Now, maybe it is just us, however, at the end ofthe story we were expecting the parallel to be that God Almighty" the Father" would now sacrifice Himself in order thatJesus " the Son" would not have to die, just as the " Arab" father had sacrificed himself to save his son. Although we appreciatedthe consideration, still, we could not see the similarity betweenthe two stories.

When a person is good and upright, that person maybe willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good or fora loved one. For example, if a mother sees her son in danger ofbeing run over by a car, she may very likely run in front of thecar in order to save her baby. If she raised the neighbor's childwith her own and grew very attached to that child, then she mightalso be willing to sacrifice herself for the neighbor's childtoo. She might throw herself in front of the car for the neighbor'schild as well. However, have you ever heard of a mother who, whenshe saw a car about to hit the neighbor's child, threw HERSON in front of the car so that the impact of her son'sinfant body smashing into the car's windshield would cause itto swerve away from the neighbor's child?

As the Bible says " prove all things, holdfast that which is good." 1 Thessalonians 5:21. " Andthou shalt love the Lord thy God ... with all thy mind ... : thisis the first commandment." Mark 12:30

I would like nothing more than to present much moresupporting evidence of these matters, however, by God's will thissampling shall be sufficient. For a much more detailed historicalaccount of the above issues, collected from the writings of thechurch itself, I recommend the books:

" Jesus, Prophet of Islam" by Muhammad`Ata ur-Rahim, and " Blood on the cross," byAhmed Thomson. If you can not find these books at your local librarythen you may obtain a copy at one of the addresses listed at theback of this book. For a book that is claimed to have remained 100%the inspired word of God, the sheer number of contradicting narrationsboggles the mind (see chapter two). These matters have been wellknown and documented by conservative Christian scholars for along time now. It is the masses who don't know this. The informationis out there for anyone who will simply look for it. The historicalinconsistencies and scriptural contradictions are well recognizedin this century and countless books have been written about them.However, their studies have always stopped short of the finalstep. People have generally believed that there is no way to retrievethe original teachings of Jesus (pbuh) after such extensive andcontinuous revision of the text of the Bible by the Church overso many centuries as well as the Pauline Church's massive campaignof destruction of all gospels not conforming to their personalbeliefs. But where human intellect has failed, God has intervened.The Qur'an has been sent down by the same One who sent the originalGospel down upon Jesus (pbuh). It contains the original, unchangedteachings of God. I invite all readers to study the Qur'an justas we have studied the Bible, and to make up their minds if ourclaims bear merit.