Is Paul the Founder of Christianity?

Episode Outline:
0:00 Did Paul found Christianity?
0:25 Bart and Megan open with Galápagos jokes and Paul confusion
1:55 Why Paul’s role in Christianity is such a big question
4:19 Why Paul’s importance in the New Testament is hard to overstate
6:23 Was Jesus starting a new religion, or reforming Judaism?
7:49 Did Paul think he was building a new religion?
9:59 Paul’s conversion: not away from Judaism, but toward a new understanding of Jesus
12:37 Why Paul’s mission to Gentiles changed everything
14:31 Did Paul found Christianity, or just the version that won?
17:50 Did Jesus himself teach that his death and resurrection would save people?
20:35 Paul as theologian: making sense of Jesus’ death and resurrection
23:51 Why Paul’s letters are not systematic theology, but still became foundational
28:46 Paul’s breakthrough: Gentiles can be saved without becoming Jews
34:48 Promo: Bart’s upcoming Paul and Jesus course
38:05 Bart’s Soapbox: why politicians misuse the Bible on abortion
43:36 Final summary: Paul’s real contribution to Christianity

Episode Description
It has long been said among historical scholars that Christianity is not the religion of Jesus but the religion about him. In this view, Jesus was a Jewish preacher who urged his fellow Jews to repent of their sins and turn back to God by observing what he demanded of them, so they could enter the coming Kingdom. But Christians did not think repentance and obedience could bring salvation at all. It was the death and resurrection of Jesus that mattered. Moreover, it is often said that Paul was the one who transformed Jesus' gospel about the coming Kingdom into a gospel of Jesus' death and resurrection. Is that true? Wouldn't that mean that Paul and Jesus had different religions? And if so, then isn't Paul, rather than Jesus, the Founder of Christianity?

Also watch these episodes:
Did Paul Accept the Teachings of Jesus?
Did Paul Accept the Teachings of Jesus?

Sin, Death, and Salvation: Paul's Mysterious View
Sin, Death, and Salvation: Paul’s Mysterious View

Did Jesus Even Exist?
Did Jesus Even Exist?

In this episode, Megan asks Bart about:

-Jesus’ religion was Judaism. Would it be reasonable to say that his teachings aren’t attempting to construct a theology, but to explain how Jewish law should be followed, and to prepare for the immanent kingdom of the Jewish god?

-Was Paul attempting to construct a new theology?

-Did Paul know that he was participating in the formation of a new religion? Would he have identified himself as a Christian?

-Paul saw himself as an apostle to the gentiles, and made it clear that non-Jewish followers of Jesus did not need to convert to Judaism. How much did this contribute to the formation of Christianity as a new and distinct religion? If Paul had either focused on the Jewish community, or required conversion, do you think that followers of Jesus would have remained an offshoot of Judaism?

-Because Paul insisted on gentiles and non-conversion, and this is what pushed Christianity away from being a Jewish sect, doesn’t that make Paul the founder of Christianity?

-Does the importance of the death and resurrection of Jesus appear in his own teachings?

-Is Paul responsible for putting together writings that would be used to create a comprehensive Christian theology?

-How did so many texts associated with Paul come to be included in the NT?

-If we -only- have 7 actual letters, why is Paul so important?

-As apostle to the Gentiles, Paul deliberately traveled to cities without a church in order to introduce Christianity and found churches. How much of an impact did he have on the spread of the religion?