I don't like Paul
I have decided I don't particularly like Paul.
The guy wrote nearly half of the new testament but I think he sounds mean. I've spoken to others and they vehemently disagree with cries of "Paul's an amazing man of God, his teaching is so clear and wise" etc etc.
He sounds bossy and is always telling people how to live their lives. But if I say this to a Christian they are HORRIFIED. They say (quite rightly) that the whole bible is for our teaching and instruction. As I investigate further it is clear that Pauls writings, were in fact letters. To a specific church or person. His letters were addressing a specific issue that church or person was facing. That's why when Paul is giving advice on how to behave or act, it seems odd to me, because I am not in that situation, that advice is not addressing my situation.
We can still learn principles from Paul (and one thing I learn from him is that you don't let a situation keep getting worse, you deal with it in a firmly and quickly) but I hesitate to put his exact words into practice.
When he writes that slaves are to obey their masters I can remind myself that I have willingly chosen Jesus as my master, but when I am confronted by the reality of human trafficking I am not going to say to the slave "Well Paul says to obey your master". Instead I am going to recognise the injustice and the crime and work to remedy it. In this example Paul was specifically talking to a group of slaves who were trying to use Christianity as a way of starting an uprising and war and he was saying, "ok guys its pretty crap to be a slave but don't use us as an excuse to attack people, you do your best regardless of the situation you find yourself in". He also specifically wrote to slave owners telling them to remember that as Christians they were brothers to their slaves and should treat them as such. When both those things are taken into consideration Paul starts to make some sense. But taken on its own, and taken literally I could use his words to ignore or justify modern slavery, which would be wrong. Paul was working within his society and trying to encourage EVERYONE to be more christ-like regardless of their situation and that is what we can most take away from his writings. I've also found some insight into why his prescriptive, telling people what to do method bothers me. It's because in my limited understanding I used to think that Christianity was all about rules, a list of what not to do. I have also seen people misuse those rules to hurt others.
I am moving away from a rule-bound mentality and adding extra rules from Paul seems imposing and restrictive to me. A backwards step in my journey.
But for someone who has always believed that God is all about love and has used that to justify doing whatever they want, Pauls writings might encourage them to think about what they do and if it is pleasing to God. Paul might in fact be just what they need.
I have an innate natural "Paul" bias which means I want to follow rules, so when I read Paul I am hearing the judgy part of myself get encouraged and get worse. Whereas when I read the Gospels and what Jesus said I am getting a different part of me encouraged which is needed in my life for me to be balanced.
I find the bible fantastic and I find that can get the same lessons Paul is teaching, but in a more palatable form (for me) in the gospels where Jesus' teachings are described. I can get the same take away points often from a parable, which is how my mind likes to think. So don't get mad at me, but I'm not a big Paul fan.....
I think it depends on where you are coming from.
PS- Please enjoy the short clips about Paul from the makers of Vege tales and the maker of my personal favourite video - Silly Songs with Larry
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