Peter tells us in 2 Peter 3:16,17: as he (Paul) does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. Therefore be on guard and do not be carried away by the error of unprincipled men.
The last post on Paul dealt with the way men have mistranslated and misinterpreted certain words to suit a particular way of thinking, which seems to be exactly what Peter is talking about. According to Peter, Paul’s writing was difficult to understand for those who actually knew and conversed with him, let alone those of us who have a translation of a translation and absolutely no idea of the Hebraic mindset and culture, or any knowledge of the question letters Paul was answering.
As a reminder, we must exercise a valid hermeneutic (process of interpretation) if we are to have the slightest clue as to what Paul was/is talking about. That means, first of all realizing who Paul was, where he came from, and the problems he was dealing with. According to Peter, he established or put Paul’s writing on a par with Scripture. That being the case, Paul cannot refute Torah or void parts of it without being a false prophet as established in Deuteronomy 13.
Yeshua said he did not come to destroy the Law or the prophets (Matt 5:17). Paul claimed in Acts 24, as he spoke to Felix, that according to the Way, which they call a sect (of Judaism) I do serve the God of our fathers, believing everything that is in accordance with the Law (Torah) and that is written in the Prophets. If this is true then Paul cannot teach that the Law is bad or that women are bad or that there is no longer a need for keeping Sabbath on the 7th day or physical circumcision is no longer required as a sign of the covenant. Doing so would disqualify him from teaching Truth as defined by the rules he claims to follow.
Taking bits and pieces of Paul’s writings and twisting them to say what they do not, thus making them contradict huge chunks of what he has already written is absurd, but that is exactly what has been done.
I ran across the following quote as I prepared for a teaching a couple weeks ago - yes, I teach and yes to both sexes! There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all argument, and which cannot fail to keep man in everlasting ignorance. That principle is condemnation before investigation. —Edmund Spencer
We are told to search (investigate) the Scriptures to see if what we are being taught is True (Acts 17:11). That means Paul’s writings must align with the rest of Scripture for him to be considered an Apostle of Messiah. If Paul’s purpose was to change what had been established in the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings, then according to YHVH’s own words, Paul is a liar and a false prophet and NOT to be believed!
The last post on Paul dealt with the way men have mistranslated and misinterpreted certain words to suit a particular way of thinking, which seems to be exactly what Peter is talking about. According to Peter, Paul’s writing was difficult to understand for those who actually knew and conversed with him, let alone those of us who have a translation of a translation and absolutely no idea of the Hebraic mindset and culture, or any knowledge of the question letters Paul was answering.
As a reminder, we must exercise a valid hermeneutic (process of interpretation) if we are to have the slightest clue as to what Paul was/is talking about. That means, first of all realizing who Paul was, where he came from, and the problems he was dealing with. According to Peter, he established or put Paul’s writing on a par with Scripture. That being the case, Paul cannot refute Torah or void parts of it without being a false prophet as established in Deuteronomy 13.
Yeshua said he did not come to destroy the Law or the prophets (Matt 5:17). Paul claimed in Acts 24, as he spoke to Felix, that according to the Way, which they call a sect (of Judaism) I do serve the God of our fathers, believing everything that is in accordance with the Law (Torah) and that is written in the Prophets. If this is true then Paul cannot teach that the Law is bad or that women are bad or that there is no longer a need for keeping Sabbath on the 7th day or physical circumcision is no longer required as a sign of the covenant. Doing so would disqualify him from teaching Truth as defined by the rules he claims to follow.
Taking bits and pieces of Paul’s writings and twisting them to say what they do not, thus making them contradict huge chunks of what he has already written is absurd, but that is exactly what has been done.
I ran across the following quote as I prepared for a teaching a couple weeks ago - yes, I teach and yes to both sexes! There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all argument, and which cannot fail to keep man in everlasting ignorance. That principle is condemnation before investigation. —Edmund Spencer
We are told to search (investigate) the Scriptures to see if what we are being taught is True (Acts 17:11). That means Paul’s writings must align with the rest of Scripture for him to be considered an Apostle of Messiah. If Paul’s purpose was to change what had been established in the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings, then according to YHVH’s own words, Paul is a liar and a false prophet and NOT to be believed!
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