Paul was wrong.

Paul was wrong. If we are going to be honest readers of the New Testament we have to face this fact. He was brilliant, he was inspired, he was on fire, he was a genius and one of the most influential people who ever lived, but he was human and he made mistakes just like you and me. Christians, especially protestants, have elevated his letters to the point of holding primacy in dictating our understanding of scripture but this is gravely mistaken. Paul himself would be shocked. His letters belong last among scripture, if at all.

Paul was not wrong about the good news of Jesus and what that meant for the system of reward and punishment. He was not wrong in his desire to bring this message to the world. He was wrong on his timeline. Its a forgivable mistake but its worth noting because it permeates all his letters. He was convinced that Jesus was going to return and establish a literal kingdom on earth within a generation.

This is worth noting not because it changes the nature of his message in any way, but only because it highlights the very human character of his letters. Where as almost every other portion of scripture is carefully chosen, developed over time, and edited by a community of scribes, his letters are off the cuff and relatively unedited. Had he known his letters were going to be taken as seriously as they have been he would have been more careful, but instead he offers convoluted arguments, he constantly digresses, and he is often defensive.  

Paul the human being was an amazing person. He was willing to be beaten, ridiculed, and rejected by all, in the name of relentless commitment to a radical vision of human organization that begins in the heart. His expression of the good news of Jesus still changes hearts today, and for that reason he is not only the first great evangelist but maybe the greatest evangelist ever. The truth, however, is that this vision is not his. He is merely a propagandist for the real teacher, Jesus. He is a brilliant word smith and he clearly understands the implications of the good news perhaps better than anyone in his generation, but his letters are a testament and expression of the gospel, not the gospel itself.

Perhaps it is the human nature of Paul's letters that makes people gravitate toward them. Unlike Jesus who speaks as if from another planet, offering no way out of his relentless ethics, and refusing to be reduced to rules and platitudes, Paul is willing to get into practical matters and make judgments and rules that the church can then follow. He is willing to act like an FAQ for the early church. The problem is that people have preferred the FAQ over the actual instructions of Jesus. This is a serious problem because when we go to the FAQ we are putting ourselves in charge of how we will receive the message. We get to ask the questions while Paul represents Jesus on trial.

Of course Jesus never submits to interrogation. Those who dared challenge his morality quickly found themselves publicly disrobed as hypocrites. Paul, however, is willing to argue the case, and we can applaud his efforts, but lets get one thing straight: He is human and sometimes he is wrong, just like you and me. Everything he says should be weighed against the teachings of Jesus. Where he ventures into practical rules and situational advice we should recognize that he is doing something Jesus would never do. We should look for the intention behind the rules, but we should not necesarily attempt to practice the rules. To do so is to miss the heart of Paul's expression of the good news of Jesus which is that rules don't make good people or solve anything (Rom 8:3).