The Bible is the SACRED Christian document WRITTEN by MAN, but definitely inspiring literature. When one moves out of “pulpit preaching”, particularly in Southern America and into an honest theological discussion from men and women who experts in Bible study, one encounters a very different Paul. And, of course, a very different Bible. It’s no less important. In fact, it’s far more exciting! 

New Testament scholars Raymond Brown and John Mier have contributed greatly to my life and my ability to make sense out of Saul who became Paul. At times Paul comes off as a woman-hating, slavery promoting, homophobic individual and then at other times he’s one of the early Christian mystics that time traveled to other dimensions.

How does one reconcile such depictions?

My answers came when I realized HOW the New Testament came into existence. My understanding was enhanced when I shook off the false teachings of Biblical inerrancy and infallibility and allowed the Spirit that’s within me: to discern what’s truth, and what’s not. After all, isn’t that why Jesus sent the Holy Spirit in the first place? And yet many Christians continue to not listen!

The Radical Paul:

He is the one who wrote the seven books that go by the names of: Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, I Thessalonians, Galatians, Philippians, and Philemon. Internal study of these books show that they were most probably written between 48 and 60 CE, some 10-20 years before Mark penned his gospel. Here we see a Paul who is bold who saw the distinction between the historical Jesus and the spiritual Christos. Thus Paul seldom quotes Jesus but speaks of the “Christ within”, the “body of Christ”, and such.

The Reactionary Paul:

The three so-called pastoral letters of Titus and 1 & 2 Timothy were not written by Paul. No way- no how. The internal evidence puts these as having been written around 100CE, or about 30-40 years after Nero had Paul put to death (64CE). They were written in the NAME of Paul which was not an unusual thing to do in those days. It was looked upon as honoring. And of course there’s a big departure in “thinking” from the other seven books mentioned above since several decades had passed in the development of the Christian community.

The Conservative Paul:

These three books were not written by Paul either and we written some time between the original seven (48-60CE) and the latter three (100CE). These three in-between books of Ephesians, Colossians, and 2 Thessalonians take on a more highly traditional “Jewish sect approach” to this newly forming group that would eventually be the new religion called Christianity.

The world lost one of it’s more profound New Testament scholars in 1998 when Raymond E. Brown transitioned from this dimension. Brown still remains controversial among traditionalist Catholics because of their claim that he denied the inerrancy of the whole of Scripture and their claim that he cast doubt on the historical accuracy of numerous articles of the Catholic faith. Of course anyone who disagrees with the fundamentalist-literal approach is castigated. Yet for me, he occupied the centre ground in the field of biblical studies, opposing the literalism found among many fundamentalist Christians while not carrying his conclusions as far as many other liberal scholars had.

Finally, let me recommend one of the best scholarly works on the writing of the New Testament bar none. To those who are still teachable, Brown’s, Introduction To The New Testament is a classic and a wonder!  It’s available at LRC or at Amazon.com- http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Testament-Anchor-Reference-Library/dp/0300140169/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240757966&sr=8-1