Christianity without St. Paul

[Nova]

By the general Christian interpretation, to destroy the law IS to fulfill it. Jesus' death was the ultimate sacrifice, which fulfilled the law. The law, therefore being fulfilled, was destroyed. Not physically destroyed, but stirpped of importance, in the same manner the Constitution would be 'destroyed' if the USA ceased to exist.

 

[MarkA]

By the general Christian interpretation, to destroy the law IS to fulfill it. Jesus' death was the ultimate sacrifice, which fulfilled the law. The law, therefore being fulfilled, was destroyed. Not physically destroyed, but stirpped of importance, in the same manner the Constitution would be 'destroyed' if the USA ceased to exist.

post hoc, ergo propter hoc

 

[Blackbeard]

Gah!

Everyone in the world only thinks of Waco as being a cultist place!

David Koresh' compound was not in Waco, it was 20 miles away. Gah...sorry, but I go to college at Baylor University in Waco, and I must stand up to this defamation!

Waco...Koresh doesn't matter, you people are all Church of Christ or Baptists anyway Why'll down in good ol Aggieland...well, its pretty obvious. Didn't one of yalls priests try to like ban alcohol from the school, even in those over the drinking age?

 

[DominusCounterfacticity]

Three differences come to mind.

1. Without Paul, Christianity would not have spread as fast or as far as it did in its very early years. Paul was really the great salesman of early Christianity. Without Paul and his travels and efforts, Christianity would probably have remained more localized to the area we call The Holy Lands for a longer period of time.

2. Without Paul's influence and interpretation of Christianity, and his extensive writings, it would be Jewish Christianity incorporating many Jewish traditions, views, etc that Christianity as we know it has moved away from. Without Paul, Christianity might a sect or form of Judaism instead of being a separate religion.

3. Without Paul's letters and other writings, The New Testament of The Bible would be much smaller than The New Testament as we know it.

I think it is very safe to say that without The Apostle Paul and his influence, Christianity throughout history and still today would be quite different than the Christianity we know in OTL.

I somewhat agree with your first point, although there were several other missionaries spreading Christianity at the time. Philip, Peter, and John all have missions in Acts. Thomas went to India. Several of the apostles went to Armenia.

As for the second part, I disagree that Paul was the only influence on making Christianity less Jewish. John also had heavy Hellenic influences; Luke-Acts is likely not derived from a Pauline community since Paul is painted with a considerably different brush than in his own letters. It probably would have been a little more Jewish initially, but in the end the major seperation between Judaism and Christianity was due to the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 and the sectarian policies of the rabbis at Yavneh.

Third... yes, undeniably so.