By Jason Charles on 7/3/2019 (5 years 173 days ago) Theology & Religion
When atheists argue against the historicity of the Bible they almost always discount the Bible as a single historic source and witness to the times of Christ. Always demanding the mythical, “extra-biblical sources.” This is a tactic used by secularists to discredit the historical narrative themselves. Obscuring the science by saying the New Testament works are mere lies among friends, lies that went viral is all.
This is a complete misapplication of scientific scrutiny. Every text in antiquity holds or fails upon its own merits. And with over 2000 years of the highest levels of scholarship applied to the writings of the New Testament the evidence is clear, the Gospel narratives have withstood the test of time. Moving the goal post for the New Testament doesn’t work, as apologist Josh McDowell points out,
“If one discards the Bible as being unreliable, then he must discard almost all literature of antiquity.” – Josh McDowell
Upon analysis, one would have to conclude the varied spectrum of New Testament authors was designed by God Himself. They really are that remarkable in historical context. A variety of accounts, by unequally stationed people, all in agreement on the facts surrounding the life of Jesus Christ only amplifies their authority, and can’t be understated enough. Praise God we have a sure word in the accounts of the disciples,
“For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” 2 Peter 1:21
The Chosen
Jesus reduced the fabled “Chosen People” of Israel down to twelve chosen disciples in a matter of days, and none of them came from the upper echelons of temple authority.
This is something the Pharisees despised, they believed if the Messiah was to come, surely, he would sit at the feet of the Pharisees and learn the Mosaic Law proper. These men were truly that arrogant and prideful, this was the source of their animosity towards Jesus who reviled their authority structures. The Pharisees reasoned if the Messiah would not come and be instructed and taught in the Sanhedrin, as one of their own then they would reject Him, even kill Him. The Pharisees worshiped the Temple believing it was the Temple that gave them their power and authority; their entire identity was in the auspices of the institution. Everything Jesus did undermined the Sanhedrin as an institution and authority, and thus their power.
When we look at how and why Jesus selected the disciples at the beginning of his ministry, what stands out is the desperate stations of life each came from. Some occupations and statuses were known like Andrew, Peter, James and John, the sons of Zebedee as fishermen, the hated Roman tax collector Matthew, a revolutionary like Simon the Zealot, and a thief and betrayer in the way of Judas Iscariot, while others were obscure like Thomas, Philip, and Andrew. Jesus overwhelmingly called working class people without ties to the religious order. Jesus’ ministry, like John the Baptist’s ministry was a wilderness ministry, working well outside and away from the religious class. Throughout scripture there is a palpable tension between Jesus, the Apostles and the Pharisees, this is because the work of Christ and Apostles spelled the end of the Jewish religion, and they all knew it.
Out of all the unique backgrounds and histories associated with the disciples of Christ, the Apostle Paul stands out in a remarkable way because he was an insider of insiders to the Sanhedrin religious establishment in ancient Jerusalem. Nobody was more qualified to take on the hypocrisy and failings of the Jewish religious class than Paul. He had the pedigree and background to decimate the Jewish religious order with logic, reason and Biblical proof texts.
The Apostle Paul as a Qualified Whistleblower
The Apostle Paul while defending himself before the Temple and people, mentions in Acts 22:3 that he was brought up at the “feet of Gamaliel and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers,” this is the same teacher who stood up to defend Peter and the other Apostles who had been arrested while teaching in the temple in Acts 5. When you read Gamaliel’s defense you realize that he was very wise and just, noting past failed revolutions being of men, but if this be of God there is no stopping it.
When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them. When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them. And said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men. For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered, and brought to nought. After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him: he also perished; and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed. And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God. And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Acts 5:33-40
Amazingly they listened to his council, which demonstrates his status and authority among Temple elders.
What we have to note here is while Gamaliel argued towards leniency, his star pupil Saul of Tarsus, who most likely was present during this event was enraged with the Apostles for flaunting the authority and power of the Sanhedrin. In the next chapter, Acts Chapter 6 we see Saul overseeing the execution and stoning of Stephen. Where Gamaliel, Saul’s teacher argued for mercy, the dissenting Saul acted with vengeance defying this sage advice.
We know how the story goes, while Saul was murdering and persecuting Christians, Jesus struck him down on the road to Damascus, revealing Himself to Paul, giving Him a special mission to evangelize the gentiles. He had to go to the gentiles because the moment he returned to Jerusalem in Acts 9 preaching Christ he almost lost his life to the Jewish mobs who didn’t appreciate how he thoroughly confounded the Temple elders with his reasoning from scripture.
Conclusion
Even though Paul turned his preaching to the gentiles, he still reasoned from scripture everywhere he went, bringing to light profound Truth’s that not only confounded the Jews but inspired the gentile cultures and even Greeks who loved new doctrines and philosophies. A perfect example, is when Paul was in Athens preaching Jesus, the people there marveled at his doctrine and reasoning.
Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him. Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection. And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is? For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean. (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.) Acts 17: 16-21
Paul’s ability to use scripture to undermine the religious authority of the Sanhedrin and demonstrate that Jesus was their messiah made him a lot of enemies among the Temple establishment. Everywhere he went on his missionary journey’s, planting churches, Judaizers followed him working to disrupt his teaching and ministry. They saw Paul as the greatest threat to their powerbase because he was so well reasoned and convincing, bringing to light Biblical truth’s that elevated Christ while completely obliterating the need for and authority of the Temple.
There can be little doubt that God intended the complete annihilation and destruction of the Jewish religion. When Jesus prophesied the destruction of the temple in Matthew 24, it was the physical destruction of Jerusalem and the temple itself, but before that he had Paul and the Apostles destroy it through the reasoning and revelation of scripture.
The Jewish religion was destroyed by the preaching and teaching of Paul and the Apostles in a spiritual and reasoned manner first, then in 70 AD through Titus in a physical manner with the destruction of the Temple. God gave space for this to happen, before he destroyed the Temple. The work and teachings of Paul against the Mosiac Law and Jewish religion was as much a part of this planned destruction of the Jewish religion as was the work of Titus the Roman. Both were critical components in God’s plan to destroy the Jewish religion.
Paul the Apostle was the Great Whistleblower against the Jewish religion, as an insider he and he alone knew the scriptures and legalese of the Pharisaic religion enough to bring it down using their own Mosiac Laws and prophets. His writings are loaded with masterful points demonstrating the futility of the Jewish Law and the superiority of Christ.
In Acts 15, the Judaizers worked hard to convince gentiles and Jews alike that the Mosiac Law was still applicable, causing many to fall back into Judaism forgoing their liberty in Christ. Paul as the quintessential insider out reasoned them, out smarted them, and demonstrated that they are fools for going back to the beggarly elements of the Pharisees religion. He stated in Galatians 4:9
But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Galatians 4:9
Today many Christians are going back to a Judaized form of worship called Christian Zionism due to the arrival of modern Israel, they don’t realize that the Jews and their religion have been completely destroyed per the wisdom of God, and the work of Jesus on the cross.
These people need to take note that the Jewish religion has been revoked not only in a physical manner but also in a spiritually reasoned manner. If anyone goes back to Judaism in today’s world it is simply through ignorance of scripture. Paul was God’s man to reveal Christ, and soundly put an end to the Jewish religion through logic and reason, anyone reading scripture in a proper manner will also come to revile the Jewish religion as did Jesus, the Apostles, and the former Pharisee Paul.
Gamaliel was indeed wise, and taught Paul incredible Truth’s in scripture in terms of Revealed Law and Natural Law all of which was very evident in Paul’s epistles, but he could never of known that his star pupil Paul would go on to seed the destruction of the Jewish religion itself armed with the education he received. That was an act of God, and anyone who goes back to the Jewish religion in any form whether in ancient or modern times, as noted earlier by Gamaliel is working against God.
Christian Zionists infatuated with modern Israel, new moons, Jewish genealogies, feast days, and Jewish forms of worship are kicking against the pricks and working against God. Like the Apostle Paul they need the scales from their eyes removed, that they might reason away from a religion that God destested so much that he killed 1 million people trapped in the city of Jerusalem in 70 AD to assure it would never take root again. The wrath of God I fear is upon Christian Zionists and the modern state of Israel more so than anything else under the sun.
Christian Zionists need to take heed to the whistleblower Paul and distance yourself in mind and spirit from Jewish things, including the imposter state of Modern Israel.
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