History of the Nazarenes

[Burning one]

Shlama,

...and if Paulus cannot be trusted, then Keepha himself is questionable, since he considered Paulus a brother and upheld his teachings, and even Luwqa becomes suspect, since he advocated for Paulus, so that strikes out the book of Acts, and Luwqa from the Gospels, as well.... ....what else do we wish to chop down? let's see, Yaquwb also extended fellowship to Paulus, so he gets the boot, as well. there are others, i'm sure. oh, Yeshuwa Himself ordained Paulus, so maybe we should simply reconsider the whole she-bang...? so we're left with a New Testament based on a handful of students who faithfully followed...nobody? seriously, the path you're on is destructive to your faith, and to the faith of others.

so here's a better alternative: read Paulus' letters in context, and you will find a different contextual content than what the typical Protestant bend is that you're espousing. especially, read the Peshitta - learn the ARAMAIC, not a translation, and be blown away by the subtle nuances which vindicate his teaching as correct and in line with the Messiah's.

btw, the Peshitta's account of Yeshuwa as the Son of Alaha is not a Pauline fabrication, but is trustworthy, and is supported by several passages in the TN"K, as well. think Psalm 2 and Proverbs 30, for starters. bearing false witness is an offense against the Holy One and your neighbor, so you might want to retract some of those statements once you see that Scripture says otherwise, even if the man is long dead.


Chayim b'Moshiach,
Jeremy

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Chayim, all I can derive from your post above is a burning zeal without any evidence in the Scriptures. Be specific about anything you have mentioned above, and I'll be glad to retract anything I have said. In the meantime, you haven't said anything to answer my questions.
Ben

Shlama,

my name is Jeremy, not Chayim -- that is part of my signature: [i]Chayim b'Moshiach [/i ]-- "Life in Messiah." just to clarify. <!-- s --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!-- s -->

Paulus did not teach against the Torah, but did indeed uphold the commandments; what he argued against was Pharisaic observance and demands never made in the Torah. just a few places in Praksees d'Shleekha (Acts) that verify this:

Acts 18:18 -- Paulus shaved his head for a vow. this is a Nazarite vow, the only type in Scripture wherein one is commanded to shave their head. check out Numbers 6 for the details.

Acts 18:19-21 -- Paulus tells them that he must keep the festival in Jerusalem. 3 festivals of the Torah command that Hebrew males appear in Ureeshlem for them.

21:19-26 -- firstly, they say that thousands of Jewish believers in Messiah also kept the Torah, secondly, that someone was telling them that Paulus taught against the Torah, thirdly, that this was not true, that he kept the Torah, and fourthly, that he needed to make a vow with certain other believers in Messiah in the Temple. this refers again to the Nazarite vow. it requires animal sacrifice, by the way. and the text even says that he was cleansed with these people.

24:14-18 -- Paulus tells them openly that he came to Ureeshlem (as a believer in Messiah at this point) to bring offerings, and was cleansed in the Temple.

a person's actions are more binding than their words, wouldn't you agree? so if his actions clearly suggest a continued value of the Torah, then perhaps it is his words that people misunderstand and misapply...

i didn't see any questions that you've posted, just a sharing of your own personal beliefs, so i can't address any questions in that respect. i would suggest, however, for you to spend some time reading the PESHITTA's text, especially Paulus' words in it, because i think you would begin to have some problems reconciling your current beliefs about Paulus with the way things are presented in the Aramaic record. i know that as i've read his words in the original tongue that they have made more sense to me than EVER before, so i can only encourage you to take some time to learn Aramaic and go for it.


Chayim b'Moshiach,
Jeremy