The preaching of Paul

Question: Do you believe Paul preached the teachings of Jesus, or his own mixture of beliefs?

There is a BIG difference between the gospel of Jesus and the gospel about Jesus.

Jesus preached the immanence of the Kingdom of God - that it exists within us (Luke 17.20-21) - and the need for a transformative, radical change of heart which turns us back to God. This is summed up in the account of the start of Jesus' public ministry in Mark 1.14-15: 'After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. "The time has come" he said. "The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!"

The word which has for so long been mis/translated as 'repent' derives from the Hebrew teshuvah, meaning to turn around, to turn back, and the Greek metanoia, literally meaning to change one's mind or purpose. There are many instances in the canonical gospels of Jesus' teaching on both repentance and the kingdom of God.

Paul, on the other hand, preached 'Christ crucified... Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God' (1 Cor. 1.23-24), and from that developed his doctrine of atonement/redemption. Pauline theology, with its sacrificial hero-'Lamb of God', is quite at odds with Jesus himself, a healer and teacher who clearly rejected opportunities for self-aggrandisement and characterised himself as the 'servant of all'.

Paul created a new religion, borrowing concepts from Greek and Roman mystery religions, and with an affinity to Stoic and Cynic literature. Some of his writing is eloquent and persuasive, but his focus is neither Jesus of Nazareth nor the knowledge of God within: he transforms Jesus into Christ, the central figure in a cosmic drama of salvation, stretching from the supposed 'Fall'/'original sin' to the end of time.

So no, I don't believe that Paul preached the teachings of Jesus: he preached his own beliefs, developed his own theology, re-interpreted Jesus' ministry as one which suited his own no doubt sincerely held beliefs and purposes, and thus cast the mould of the church (and the world) as it is today - in a very sorry state.