Transcription
The major individual in the Bible who was a Hellenized Jew in the Roman Empire is named Paul, and he is credited with most of the writing of the New Testament. About a third of the New Testament, which is the Christian Bible, either is written by Paul or it's about Paul. So that's why we believe that not Jesus, but Paul is the real founder of Christianity. Okay.
Christianity again is not by Jesus. It's not a religion by Jesus. It's a religion about Jesus. And there's a difference. There are a lot of questions in the story of Paul that don't make any sense. Okay.
The first thing that doesn't make sense is, like, who is this guy? Right? He has all this power and money, and he can do whatever he wants, and no one can touch him. Right? So that's the first big question. Second big question is, um, why does he convert? Right? His conversion story doesn't make any sense. We're like, "Okay, well, because he saw Jesus." Okay, that's fine. But guess what, guys? After Jesus talks to him, Jesus sort of disappears from the story. And you would think that if Jesus was so important to Paul, Paul would quote from Jesus, right? But he doesn't quote from Jesus. Jesus has a lot of messages, a lot of sayings, but Paul rarely quotes from him. Okay?
But not only that, we already said that the message of Jesus, the message of Paul are very different. Jesus believed the kingdom of God was within us through our generosity, for our mercy, we can achieve salvation. Paul taught everyone it's believe in Jesus that will allow you to achieve salvation. And only believe in Jesus. You can do as much good as you want, but if you don't believe in Jesus, you'll be damned to hell. So all those Buddhists, all those Hindus, all those Zoroastrians who are doing good in the world, too bad. They will be burned in hell. Okay? And that goes against a lot of the teachings of Jesus. Okay? So, he did convert, but he's not spreading the gospel of Jesus. All right? All right.
Um, another question then is, why is he focusing on organization? Okay. Why is he focusing on organization? The heart of religion is spiritual truth, right? But Paul doesn't really care about that. He cares about the organization, the church, who's in charge, how many members we're attracting, how we can appeal to them more, how to resolve internal political disputes within the church. That's what he cares about. That's very odd. Okay.
And then the last question then is, why does he get in trouble with the Jews, and why did the Romans save him? Okay, so these are questions. Now let's first go over the Christian explanation. And the Christian explanation is, Paul was part of the divine plan. Okay. So Jesus brought truth into the world, right? The truth of Jesus. That's what Jesus teaches. But it was Paul who created the structure and organization that allowed Christianity to spread. Okay.
So, um, an analogy or a comparison is the story of McDonald's. McDonald's. You guys all know McDonald's, right? Well, guess what? In the 1950s, McDonald's was one restaurant in California. It had amazing hamburgers, and um, it really had the best hamburgers. And a man named Ray Kroc visited this restaurant, and it was being run by the McDonald brothers. That's why it's called McDonald's. Okay. When Ray Kroc says to the brothers, "You know what? You guys have an amazing restaurant. Let me scale it out. Let me convince others to open McDonald's around America and the world. This is called the franchise model." Okay, the franchise model. The franchise model. And so the brothers say, "Yeah, sure." And what Ray Kroc did was he drove everywhere like Paul. And he had these meetings like Paul, where he convinced people of the American dream like Paul. Ray Kroc said to everyone, "If you open McDonald's, you will get rich and you will live the American dream." Right? Paul said to everyone, "If you believe in Jesus, you will achieve salvation." And because Ray Kroc was such an amazing salesperson, McDonald's eventually became, uh, the largest restaurant empire in the world, right? Same thing with Paul. Because Paul was such a convincing salesman, Christianity became the most dominant religion in the world. So this is all part of God's plan. Okay? It's very similar to the story of McDonald's.
Here's the problem, guys. Jesus was not selling hamburgers. In fact, Jesus hated hamburgers. Right? The central message of Jesus is wealth is wrong. Business is wrong. Hierarchy is wrong. What matters is the spiritual truth in your heart. All right? So even though this is a Christian belief that both are part of the divine plan, and Paul was doing, Paul was basically Jesus' business manager. Okay. Problem is, Jesus didn't want a business manager, and Jesus believed that it was our own individual responsibility to discover our own truths through him. Okay.
So what are some other explanations for Paul? Okay. All right. So, I mean, the most basic answer for people who hate Paul is, he was just an opportunist, a charlatan. Okay. He saw a business opportunity. Everyone loved Jesus. Jesus had gone viral, right? He had gone viral, and he was a meme now around the world. And so he wanted to take advantage of that. He wanted to monetize that. The problem with this is, he worked really hard, man. He traveled all around the Roman Empire to spread the message. He was fanatical about it. Okay? And opportunists are not fanatical. They're kind of lazy. So, I don't really buy this idea that he was an opportunist. He really believed in what he was doing. He was driven by a sense of mission. Okay? And also, guys, remember, if he's a Roman citizen and his parents are Roman citizens, then he's probably wealthy himself. He doesn't really need this money. Also, what's important for us to understand is Paul comes from a very well-educated background. He's very wealthy. He speaks Greek. He writes Greek beautifully. He's classically educated. He doesn't want to deal with James the Just, who is not well-educated, right? Right? He doesn't want to deal with these people. So why is he dealing with these people? Right? So I don't really buy this explanation.
Another explanation is secret conspiracy. The idea here is Paul and maybe many who supported him hated the Roman Empire, and they believed Christianity would be a weapon that would eventually destroy the Roman Empire, which is what happened historically. That's 300, 340 years in the future. How could Paul know that? And also, what does Paul have against the Roman Empire, really? Right. He's a beneficiary of the Roman Empire. He's wealthy. His parents are wealthy. All right.
So, another explanation, which, by the way, I've never heard before, but which I do believe. All right? So, take this with a grain of salt, but I believe he was a spy for the Roman Empire. All right. Okay. He was a spy. Okay. So let me explain the idea here. What is he doing? And all right. So the Jews have always been a problem for empires, both the Greek Empire and the Roman Empire. Why? Because the Greeks and the Romans are pagans. They celebrate pagan gods. But the Jews believe that their God is the only God, and every other god is false. And so they refused the authority of the empire. And this has led to many wars. Okay. From 167 to 16 B.C.E., there's something called the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire. They lasted seven years. Killed a lot of people. Okay. And then there'll be the Romans, and the Jews will fight three major wars from 66 to 73 C.E. This is around the time of Paul. The first war will be fought. The Romans will burn the temple down and ban all Jews from Jerusalem. And the Romans think through this aggression, the Jews will be cowed. They'll be scared, right? No, no, no. It makes them even more angry. So two more wars are fought from 115 to 117, and then the third war will be from 132 to 136. Okay? So the Jews are fanatical. That's what gives the Jews power. They're a poor province of the Roman Empire, but they're fanatical. And guess what? Romans respect fanaticism. Okay? Remember 216 B.C.E., Hannibal invades Italy and he destroys all the Roman armies who are against him. In the Battle of Cannae, he has killed at least 20% of the Roman adult male population and a third of the Senate. And at this point, the Romans should have surrendered and talked peace, right? But the Romans are fanatical. They refuse to surrender, and eventually they're able to destroy Carthage. Okay.
So now the Romans see the Jews, who again, it's a poor, small province in the Roman Empire, and they continue to rebel. So this fanaticism of the Jews, it both scares and it awes the Romans. Okay? They still understand, the Romans above all, understand how powerful fanaticism is. Fanaticism is the ultimate weapon. It cannot be defeated. And because there is a diaspora, a Jewish diaspora, it can never be rooted out. Okay? You can destroy Jerusalem, which is what they did, but there are Jews all around the world. So you can never destroy this fanaticism. And because of the long history of the Jews, this fanaticism only grows through persecution and through suffering. Okay? So you have to somehow destroy this fanaticism if you are to win this war against the Jews. And there are three central beliefs underlying this Jewish fanaticism. All right.
The first is the idea of purity. Why is it that if the Jews are God's chosen people, they're always being pushed around by these larger empires like the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, and the Romans? And the answer is because we Jews have not been pure enough. We have not been loyal enough to Yahweh. So it is only through purity that will allow us to eventually triumph over our enemies. Okay? Otherwise, we will continue to be bullied by others.
Second is the idea of persecution complex. The persecution complex. The entire world is against us because we are God's chosen people, and therefore we must stand united and stay pure. Who the Jews really hated were the Jews who assimilated, like Paul, right? They hated these people because they were traitors to the nation of Israel. Right?
Second belief. And then there's a third belief, which is the coming of the Messiah. Don't worry about today. Okay? This pain, this suffering, this persecution, it's all part of the divine plan. It's testing us. It is making us strong. Eventually, the Messiah, the anointed one, will come from heaven and lead us into a final battle against all our enemies, the Roman Empire, and we will destroy them. And then we will establish the nation of God, the kingdom of heaven on earth. Okay? And so these are the three major beliefs that underpin Jewish fanaticism, and it makes the Jews almost invincible because it makes them fearless. They're not afraid to die. Dying is part of the divine plan. Suffering is all part of the process of achieving the kingdom of heaven on earth. It's a responsibility to die for the faith. Okay. All right.
So now that we understand this Jewish fanaticism, we can now understand why Paul is doing what he's doing. Right? Think about this. Purity means absolute obedience to the law of Moses, right? But what Paul's saying is, no, guys, circumcision, circumcision is, we don't have to enforce circumcision because we want more non-Jews into our religion. Okay. Why is circumcision such a big deal? Well, because circumcision is basically what separates the Jews into a different group of people in any community. Why? Because in most cities, there's a place called a gymnasium. A gymnasium is really the heart and center of life in the community. It's where men go to do sports and athletics, like wrestle and run. Okay. The thing about the gymnasium is everyone goes in naked, right? And why is this a problem? Because if you're Jewish, people know right away you're Jewish. Therefore, it's hard for you to go into the gymnasium because you'll be ridiculed by the Greeks. Therefore, there's no way for the Jews to associate with the Greeks and other people. Okay? Does that make sense? That's why circumcision is so important. Once you say to the Jewish people, you don't need to be circumcised, you just have to have faith in Jesus, it's easier for them to assimilate into the larger culture around them. Right?
Persecution complex. Jews are being persecuted. Why? Because they're not Roman citizens. Right? Let's go back to the story of Jesus. Why did he get persecuted? Why did he die? Because he was not a Roman citizen. If he were a Roman citizen, then Pontius Pilate would have protected him from the Jews who wanted to kill him. Just like how the Roman soldiers protected Paul from those Jews who wanted to kill him. So, guys, focus on being a Roman citizen, and you can believe anything you want. You will no longer be persecuted. You'll be part of the Roman Empire. Right?
The last thing is the coming of the Messiah, right? Jews believe the Messiah is going to come and lead them into final victory against all their enemies, especially the Roman Empire. But what Paul is saying is this: that Messiah has already come. He's Jesus. And Jesus taught a message of eternal salvation. Eternal salvation. To recognize the evil within you and to become a better person. So if you want to be saved, you must believe that we are born evil, and Jesus has come to cleanse us of our evil. Jesus was a prophet of peace. He had nothing against the Roman Empire. He was fighting against evil in the world. Okay.
So if these three things are true, then fanaticism will be destroyed. Now, obviously, if you're a fanatic, you don't believe any of this crap, okay? But Paul's message was not for fanatical Jews. They were still a minority. His message was for diaspora Jews like him, who were stuck between the Roman Empire and the Jewish faith, right? They were part of the Jewish diaspora. Maybe their fathers were Greek and their mothers were Jewish. Okay? And these are a lot of people. So Paul's message was for these people. You can still be Jewish if you believe in Jesus. And once you believe in Jesus, then you can now assimilate into the Roman Empire. And this will free you to believe whatever you want. Okay?
So this is Paul's mission. Now, then the question then is, why is Paul doing this? Why would Paul do this? And I think the answer is this. I don't want to say Paul is an opportunist or he's evil. I believe he was also a believer in his mission. His mission was what? To save his people. If you want to continue to live with the Roman Empire, you have to adapt yourself. You have to make compromises. You can't wait for the Messiah to come save you. You have to save yourself by adapting to the Roman Empire. And look, there are lots of advantages to the Roman Empire. You can become very happy and prosperous if you play by the rules of the Roman Empire, like he did. Okay?
So, in many ways, what's odd about Paul is he teaches us that Jesus is the Messiah, but in his heart, and you can tell by his writings, he himself believes he's really the Messiah who has come to save his people. And that's why he's so fanatical about building the church of Christianity, the church that will eventually become Christianity. Okay? Again, at this point in history, they're not Christians. They're still Jews. Okay. But there will be a lot of consequences because Paul is doing this. He radically changes the meaning of faith and religion. All right.
Because again, the story of Jesus doesn't really make any sense, and his story doesn't make any sense either. Okay? He's lying. He's lying about who he is. So he creates a new concept and he radically changes the concept of faith. Okay? Before, faith is what you experience. Now, faith is something that you must believe. Right? He introduces the idea of miracles. Now, if something can't be explained, it's because it's a miracle. All right? And this is a new idea that didn't really exist before. And the use of miracles is to explain the contradictions or the inconsistencies in the story of the Bible. Okay? So that's one major revolution of Paul's teachings.
Another is the idea of tradition. Tradition is more important than the Bible. Okay. So the story's interpretation of the Bible is now more important than the Bible itself. And Paul's church will eventually become the Catholic church. And one thing about the Catholic church is you are not allowed to read the Bible. The Bible is sacred. It's forbidden. Only priests are allowed to read the Bible because the fear is if you read the Bible, you might misinterpret the word of God. Okay? You don't have the spiritual power in order to fully interpret the Bible properly. Okay? Right. Okay. So there are lots of major changes to the idea of religion because of Paul's work. All right. So that is my central argument about