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...Based entirely on groundless supposition, since if you are correct then he did such a masterful job that he left no evidence behind. Or did he do just slightly bad enough a job that he fooled the subsequent two thousand years of Christians, and only you alone have penetrated the fog? Again, intellect centers on one's own brain, etc, etc.
Not just me, the idea that Saul usurped the religion of Jesus is not an uncommon one, see e.g. https://old.reddit.com/r/exchristian/comments/1666abi/has_anyone_considered_that_saul_of_tarsus_might/
If you want an academic discussion from people who don't have a bone to pick with Christianity: https://old.reddit.com/r/AcademicBiblical/comments/19dcox9/did_paul_hijack_christianity/
From the Christian subreddit talking about whether Paul was a false prophet: https://old.reddit.com/r/Christianity/comments/185zuqe/everything_paul_says_directly_contradicts/
There's a sizable contingent of people who feel that Paul hijacked the religion of Christianity and twisted it into being more permissive of different beliefs than it was before him (no need to circumcise etc.) so as to get more members in a way that a Christ who truly believed in the divine ordination of what he was teaching would not do (if God commands humanity to do XYZ, who are you as a mere human to say that not XYZ is still fine just because it makes the word of God more palatable to potential converts).
At the very least it's very hard to deny that Paul didn't really care about the life of Jesus very much, he cared more about the fact that he was crucified and resurrected an the implications of all that in his ministry.
Bud this is just weak as hell. 3 reddit posts? You know the bible is the most discussed book in existence right? You can find people talking about it from just about any angle. Saul didn't just usurp Jesus, he did it deliberately as one of the world's first secret agents, working on behalf of his Roman masters to quell the imminent Jewish uprising by introducing passive and peaceful elements. Or maybe he wasn't a secret agent, he was just a dumb loser who got tricked by the Romans into usurping James - Jesus's brother and the true head of the church.
But frankly the whole idea is just straight boring compared to some of the other bizarre ideas put forth by people over the years. Watch out for albino monks, because Saul didn't do shit, Jesus usurped the whole religion away from his wife, the holy prostitute Mary Magdalene, and stripped it of all that sex stuff because like most men he hated sex.
Just kidding, what actually happened was Jesus was actually basically days away from setting off a cascade that would quickly enslave humanity for all eternity to a collection of cosmic horrors, if only it wasn't for humanity's greatest hero ever - Judas. Nah actually Jesus secretly tricked Judas into betraying him, something Judas would never have done if not for Jesus's knowledge of neuro linguistic programming.
Because you see, Jesus was clearly an alien all along. No wait, he was a time traveller. Or whatever the equivalent of a stage magician was 2000 years ago, he faked his death entirely and spent his last days in some villa overlooking Lake Albany. Or maybe it was France. Or Ireland. Or Tennessee. Or Mexico.
I know, I know, still too fricking boring! Jesus was actually Horus the sun and his disciples were stars! That's why he's born on the summer solstice (descending to earth as the star of Bethlehem) and dies on the winter solstice (taking three days to simulate the way the sun appears to stand still during the equinox then reverse course).
Or maybe he was just a plaything of the stars and everyone's crazy cat lady aunt was right the whole time about horoscopes. After all, are we just supposed to believe it's a coincidence he has 12 disciples and there are 12 signs in the zodiac? And that it is just a crazy fluke that 2000 odd years ago marked the end of the age of Aries and the beginning of the age of Pisces and also Jesus is associated with fish (the ichthys, feeding the five thousand, James' occupation etc) while the Jews are associated with sheep (passover, Abraham etc)?
Yawn though, am I right? Horoscopes? Stars? Everyone knows Jesus was a motherfucking mushroom! Jesus Christ is actually Sumerian for amanita muscaria, if you ignore things like how words work and the fact you can't find that mushroom anywhere in the middle east! And you know the cross? Doesn't it kind of look like a mushroom if you only see it in your peripheral vision? How is that not proof the whole religion is secretly about tripping balls?
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Sure, it's trendy to go after Paul, and is frequently done by those who dislike Christianity, especially if they like the common idea of Jesus (which often does not correspond to Jesus as he actually was—he did not come to bring peace, but a sword). But yeah, secular academics, exchristians, and lefty christians all clearly have the direction of motivated reasoning going in that direction. This is especially the case for those who are precommitted to the position that Christianity couldn't possibly be, you know, true.
Anyway, Peter also sees a vision allowing the eating of unclean foods. And Paul confirms his beliefs with the apostles who were Jesus' direct followers—Galatians 2.
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