While it is true that both Paul and Jesus used external sources (including the Hebrew Bible – today known by many as the Old Testament) to illustrate their teachings and emphasize their sermons, it is just as true that they did so in very different ways for very different reasons …

*Whereas Paul was fond of quoting contemporary philosophers and poets as if they were the holy Word of God (see Acts 17:28 – where Paul cites Platonic philosopher Posidonious’ “in him we live and move and have our being” and Greek poet Aratus’ “for we too are his offspring”, 1 Corinthians 2:9 – where Paul cites a non-canonical Jewish writing as if it is Scripture, 1 Corinthians 4:6 – where Paul quite ironically cites the well-known proverb “nothing beyond what is written”, 1 Corinthians 15:33 – where Paul quotes the Greek poet Menander’s “bad company ruins good morals”, and 2 Corinthians 12:2-4 – where Paul references a popular Jewish mysticism found nowhere else in the Scriptures), Jesus was not.

*Intriguingly, Paul even goes a dramatic step further with this form of scriptural abuse by having Jesus himself quote from non-canonical sources – claiming that Jesus uttered the statement “It is more blessed to give than to receive” in Acts 20:35 (a saying found nowhere in the Gospels) and having Jesus apparently reference a common Greek proverb in Acts 26:14 (“It hurts to kick against the goad”, ironically telling Paul therewith that the more he resisted the teachings of Christ, the more he and others would suffer) …

*In addition, Paul can regularly be seen manipulating Old Testament scriptures to fit his own self-created (and thoroughly heretical – rejecting as he does both the traditional pro-Law beliefs of the Jews and the reformed pro-Love-via-selfless-deeds spirituality of Jesus Christ) theological agenda – combining the words of Psalm 116:11 with Psalm 51:4 to make his own Scripture in Romans 3:4, combining the words of Psalm 14, Psalm 53, Psalm 5, Psalm 140, Psalm 10, & Psalm 36 with Proverbs 1:16 & Isaiah 59:7-8 to create his own Scripture in Romans 3:10-18, molding Psalm 143:2 into an entirely new context in Romans 3:20, altering the intended focus of Isaiah 28:16 in Romans 9:33, falsely refuting Leviticus 18:5 with Deuteronomy 30:13-14 in Romans 10:5-8 (when those two verses are actually in complete harmony with one another), inverting the effective context of Isaiah 52:15 in Romans 15:21, paraphrasing – and indeed altering – Isaiah 28:9-12 as if he is quoting the same in 1 Corinthians 14:21, and combining & manipulating the words of Leviticus 26:12, Ezekiel 37:27, Isaiah 52:11, 2 Samuel 7:14, & Isaiah 43:6 to make completely new Scripture in 2 Corinthians 6:16-18 …

“Paul has audaciously substituted a mere faith in Jesus for living a Christlike life … Neither I nor anyone else I know have been able to follow the supposed wisdom of the supposedly blessed and glorious Paul … Paul’s words are not the Words of God. They are the words of Paul – and there is a vast difference between the two.” ~ via Walter Kaufman, Bishop Polycarp (one of the earliest of the Church Fathers; a man who scholars suppose learned about Jesus Christ directly from John the apostle himself), & John Spong

In marked contrast, while it is true that Jesus also occasionally combined words from different Old Testament verses to illustrate his teachings (see him seemingly composing his own Scripture by intermingling the words of seven different verses from the books of Isaiah, Ezekiel & Joel in Mark 13:24-25, seemingly adjusting the context of Micah 7:6 while paraphrasing it in Luke 12:53, seemingly composing his own Scripture by combining several words from Isaiah 56:7 & Jeremiah 7:11 in Luke 19:46, and seemingly composing his own Scripture once more by combining Isaiah 61:1-2 & Isaiah 58:6 in Luke 4:18-19) and while it is also the case that he is at least once seen apparently citing a non-canonical text as though it were Scripture (see Luke 11:49, where he appears to quote from The Wisdom of God), he is far more often than not seen accurately alluding to the ancient Old Testament texts¹ or directly quoting from the Hebrew Scriptures² instead of twisting or manipulating the same – doing so not to reject the Law, but rather to “fulfill” the same.³

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Filed under: Jesus & the Cult of Paul by Scaughdt