This is my favourite question yet, the most triggering to Christians, who do not want to believe that their religion is not based on the teachings of Jesus. When we look closer at Christianity, it is a religion based on the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. At its core, it should be based on the teachings of Jesus, however, when we carefully examine the main doctrines of Christianity, it quickly becomes obvious that it’s not based on what Jesus was teaching about.
Why is that?
Christianity started as a Jewish sect and therefore it was a religion of Judaism but with a belief that Jesus was the Jewish Messiah. Originally, Jesus’ followers observed the Law and the Torah and Jesus was the fulfillment of the prophecies found in the Hebrew Bible. However, when the movement started spreading further outside of Judea and to the Gentiles, questions around the Law observance started to emerge.
And this is where Apostle Paul comes in, who appointed himself as the “light to the Gentiles” and as the main Apostle and a guide. Due to the fact that Paul’s letters came before the Gospels, Paul’s authority started to grow withing Gentile communities.
If we look closely at the basis of Christianity, apart from the doctrines, the main foundation of Christianity is the belief that Jesus is God who came down to humanity to dwell with the flesh and to redeem people from their sins. Because of “the fall” of men that took place in the book of Genesis, sin entered the world. This created a fallen world, separated people from God, and Jesus, as the second head of the Trinity, came down to reconcile people with God by being a sacrificial lamb. Therefore, the main reason Jesus came was to die for our sins.
This is a super quick summary according to the Apostle Paul, who was the main interpreter of the events around the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus – making Christianity very distinct religion when compared to other Abrahamic religions.
Christianity presents itself as a religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus, however after a closer examination of its historical developments, theological structure, and scriptural emphasis, it is more evident that this “Christian doctrine” appears to be shaped more by the letters of Paul than by the recorded sayings of Jesus himself. This observation has led scholars, critics, and believers alike to ask whether Christianity reflects the message of Jesus or the interpretation of Paul and his vision only.
To understand this, it is necessary to distinguish between two layers of the tradition: the historical teachings of Jesus and the theological system that emerged after his death.
Jesus’ message, as preserved in the Gospels, is primarily ethical, prophetic, and rooted in a Jewish worldview. He spoke about the “kingdom of God,” called for repentance, emphasized love of neighbor, humility, forgiveness, and adherence to God’s Law. He presented His teachings through parables and always called for repentance and adherence to the Law of God.
Interestingly, Jesus did not present a fully developed doctrine of atonement, justification by faith, or original sin as the main aspects of His mission in the same way later Christianity would articulate them. His focus was on the transformation of the heart and preparation for God’s Kingdom on earth.
In contrast, the letters of Paul, which were written earlier than the Gospels, present a highly complex and developed interpretation of Jesus’ life and death through the lens of his Greek philosophical education system. Paul contradicts Jesus through questioning the role of the Law and calling the Law a “curse” that Jesus came to redeem us from. He calls for the end of the Law, the beginning of a new covenant, and with this, finishing the work of the Old Testament. He highlights the significance of Jesus’ crucifixion, making this as the center of his theological arguments. He calls for the Kingdom of heaven rather than on earth, explaining that Jesus will come and “snatch people away” to heaven. Concepts such as justification by faith, salvation by grace, and the resurrection as a saving event are interpretations clearly visible in Paul’s writings, however not in the direct teachings of Jesus.
One major reason for Paul’s influence is the fact that his letters were written around 50–60 CE, which was written before the Gospels by at least a decade. This means that before people could learn about the teachings of Jesus, Paul had already shaped the minds of people with his theology. By the time the Gospels were composed, communities had been influenced how Jesus’ story was understood.
Another key factor is missionary expansion. Jesus’ ministry operated largely within a Jewish framework, but Paul carried the message into the broader Greco-Roman world and into the Gentiles. Jewish law, central to Jesus’ teachings, became a barrier for non-Jewish converts. Paul’s argument that faith—not adherence to the law—was the basis for inclusion of the Gentiles, therefore, this allowed Christianity to become a universal religion. Without this shift, Christianity may have remained a sect of Judaism rather than a global faith.
Additionally, Paul’s writings were between communities and newly formed Christian churches, where Paul could guide communities and explain directly what was expected from them. While Jesus’ teachings were often metaphorical and not understood by everyone and required interpretation, Paul acted as an interpreter and a guide. He was also an ex-Pharisee who used his knowledge of the Torah to his advantage. This made his letters viewed in high regard and full of knowledge, particularly around communities trying to establish Christian churches. As these letters circulated and were eventually canonized, they became authoritative texts for doctrine and practice.
Those letters were much more beneficial to the newly formed churches, rather than teachings of Jesus who called to follow the Law, which would mean being part of Judaism and that would only add very complex political and religious complications. Since Jews rejected Jesus as their Messiah, they were not tolerated by early Christians, who wanted to distinguish themselves from Jews.
Moreover, Christianity acted as a political and unifying tool to prevent conflicting beliefs and to grow the Empire. When Emperor Constantine came to power, he was facing an empire torn apart by civil wars and conflicting beliefs. The empire was losing its spiritual unity, and chaos was spreading through the provinces. Through different Councils, Rome agreed on doctrines and beliefs that were based on the letters of the Apostle Paul as they were the most beneficial to the newly formed religion.
This however does not mean that those doctrines were what most Christians believed in but more what the Empire needed to unify and thrive. The purpose of the Councils was not to seek divine truth, but to establish political order. The church became a gatekeeper of the truth and of salvation, and to question the church or the Bible meant to question God. From this perspective, Paul provided theological framework that worked best for the church and state.
The emphasis was on relying on the church for the truth, for salvation, and for every aspect of their lives. God was only to be found in the church, and the church held the ultimate power comparable to God. However, it is important to examine the foundation of the teachings of Paul.
In reality, Paul and Jesus preached two different messages. Jesus emphasizes obedience, moral transformation, and the coming Kingdom of God on earth, while Paul emphasizes belief, grace, the redemptive meaning of the cross and going to heaven. Paul was preaching salvation as a gift through faith – Jesus was preaching “whoever does the will of the Father”, Paul was preaching the Law is finished – Jesus was preaching “the Law stands until heaven and earth pass away”. Paul was preaching Jesus’ crucifixion saves, Jesus was preaching “my words are the bread of life”, Paul was preaching to just confess Jesus with your words – Jesus was preaching “not everyone who confesses me shall enter the Kingdom of God”. Some scholars see this as a shift from Jesus’ message to a message about Jesus.
In this sense, Christianity may be understood as evolving from the teachings of Jesus into a religion about Jesus, with Paul as a key architect of that transition. However, this clearly gives a different message on salvation.
Why can this be problematic?
Apart from Paul preaching a completely different message to Jesus and essentially a different Gospel, which he admitted to in the letters to Romans: “in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.” Romans 2: 16, can we say that Paul really understood what Jesus’ mission was here on earth?
Paul was clearly against the Law, emphasizing grace but no repentance, and directing people towards false sense of salvation. This is very problematic.
“For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.” Romans 11:32
Here, Paul emphasized that God bound everyone over to disobedience so that He could reveal His power and grace. This is very much contradicting with the holy nature of God, who requires holiness. Moreover, accusing God of people’s disobedience is simply blasphemy.
“Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 5: 20-21
Here, Paul is wrongly emphasizing that the more we sin, the more grace we receive, “where sin abounded, grace abounded much more” which is a statement that very much contradicts with the holy nature of God. Someone could interpret this as encouragement to sin or license to sin. When we sin, we are separated from God, and sin creates invisible to the eye barrier where we lose our connection with God. God is holy and God cannot dwell where sin is.
In reality, the teachings of Paul were the main reason for division, first between Jews and Gentiles and later within Christianity, through interpreting Paul’s words differently. Paul was a man of lawlessness, and Jesus warned about people who would come after Him and would preach a different message and would take them away from the Law.
That was one of the main reasons Jesus was on earth – to bring Jews back to God through the Law and to show how to properly observe the Law. Jesus, as the Jewish Messiah, will have to be an expert in God’s Law, and the Law will be an everlasting covenant and will continue during the reign of the Messiah on earth.
The Law is not finished or unimportant, as Paul stated. Paul was blasphemous towards the Law and compared the Law to the curse, stated the Law to be faulty, for people to be enslaved by the Law, which are very strong and negative characteristics of the Holy nature of the Law:
“But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.” Galatians 4:4-5
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” Galatians 3:13
“For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.” Hebrews 8:7
“In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.” Hebrews 8:13
“Having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.” Colossians 2: 14 “
“For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.” – Galatians 3: 18
However, what God actually said about the Law?
“Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments” Nehemiah 1: 5
“He remembers his covenant forever,
the promise he made, for a thousand generations,
the covenant he made with Abraham,
the oath he swore to Isaac.
He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,
to Israel as an everlasting covenant:
“To you I will give the land of Canaan
as the portion you will inherit.” 1 Chronicles 16: 15-18
Today, Christianity has fully embedded theological teachings of Paul and the traditions of the Roman Catholic church that are nowhere to be found in the Bible. Jesus acts more as the foundation and inspiration, while Paul supplies much of the structure and interpretation of the text.
Because of the teachings of Paul, Christianity bases its teachings only on the New Testament and rejects the Law. The debates about whether the Law applies to Christians still happen today. There is a widespread opinion among Christians that the Law cannot be upheld because it is too difficult and will take you to “hell”. Therefore, the Law acts as the “old covenant” that no longer applies today, and that Jesus freed us from it and Jesus is exalted to the status of Yahweh.
Paul’s words contradict and present God as someone who not only rejects His own Law but also encourages people to disobedience so that He can show His mercy and grace even more. If that were the case, the world would never improve at all but would carry on in its bad and sinful habits. The point of Jesus’ message was to be challenged, and Paul’s message was to be accepted no matter what. With time, Christianity deviated from the core messages of Jesus and accepted substitute message that is easier to accept and follow. Christianity in this case is this wide gate that many go by, due to being based on the teachings of the false Apostle Paul.
“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Matthew 7: 13-14
By Dagmara Z.