In my previous post I presented how scripture clearly describes false prophets disguised as outwardly godly and looking no different to the real ones. However the deception lies in their words that can lead us astray, into the path of complacency, easiness and escape. Jesus asked us to consider their words and fruits – “You will know them by their fruits” – do they lead you to repentance and change? Do they lead you to the uncomfortable truths? Do they promote lawlessness and abandoning God’s everlasting Law?
Jesus warned his disciples that false prophets will emerge as soon as he will be gone. He took it very seriously and the first thing he said was “take heed that no one deceives you”.
“Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.” Matthew 24:3-5
“For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” Matthew 24:24
Jesus was warning his disciples that even they can be deceived as they were “the elect” – elected by Jesus. This warning was to them as much as to other people but they had to be watchful and of sober mind. If disciples could be deceived, then surely the rest of people without problem! They just needed “signs and wonders”, which one Apostle performed. We also know one Apostle who compared himself to Christ.
And this takes me to the very obvious false prophet from the New Testament disguised as the teacher and preacher to the Gentiles – Apostle Paul.
The topic of the Apostle Paul is a sensitive one. This idea of Paul being the chosen Apostle by Jesus to preach to the Gentiles have been ingraded in people for decades. Therefore I am aware that one blog post or a video will not change that in an instant. People have been conditioned by churches, religious systems and the presence of Paul’s letters in the Bible. And who can dare to question the Bible?
This goes deeper than just presenting facts that Apostle Paul was false, because in reality fact’s don’t change minds. When examining human belief systems, it’s crucial to consider that our beliefs are part of larger systems of ideas. It’s a collective acceptance of specific beliefs and opposing those beliefs means alienation from the society or group. When we introduce new information or perspectives that can challenge and potentially reshape rigid belief systems, this is never accepted with open arms. When we encounter new information or evidence, we should use it to inform and update our beliefs and others. However in reality, our brains often don’t follow this ‘rational’ path. As a general rule, we are more willing to embrace new information if we view it as positive or beneficial and ignore information that we view as negative news. We are also resistant to changing beliefs that challenge our identity. This is where a well-known phenomenon known as ‘confirmation bias’ comes into play. Confirmation bias refers to our tendency as humans to stick to our original beliefs and cognitive patterns. It is safer to stay what we know and are familiar with.
With that in mind, it is difficult for people to even consider to challenge the Bible, to check the roots of the canonization of the New Testament and to critically look at the letters of Apostle Paul with a suspicious eye. Not all people of course, there are some people who publicly criticised and questioned the authority of the Apostle Paul, however they were always met with criticism and being labeled as heretics and blasphemers. People generally prefer to stay where they are and this idea of Paul being false is almost always being rejected by Christians.
When we look at Paul, he was not only false Apostle, appointed to the Gentiles by himself, false teacher who rejected the Law but also false prophet who prophesied “snatching away” – what we now call – the rapture.
Paul came into the light after Jesus’ resurrection and he never met Jesus in the flesh, he never witnessed the resurrection and he never learnt from Jesus. We know his story firstly as the Saul from Tarsus. He was raised in the Pharisee sect of Judaism, a sect known for its strict adherence to Old Testament laws. Saul went on to become an expert in Jewish law and historians believe that he was a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish high court who was most infamously known for turning Jesus over to the Roman authorities to be tried and crucified. Saul displayed no compassion for any Jew believed to be violating the Jewish laws. For example, Scripture tells us that Saul witnessed and consented to the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr in Acts:
“And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Acts 7:58-59
Saul was part of “a great persecution” of the early Christian church, imprisoning and beating Christian men and women in an attempt to destroy Christianity.
“As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.” Acts 8:3
Soul believed that he was acting in the name of God in persecuting Christians. This relentless persecution forced all of the Christians in Jerusalem to flee. Ironically, his attempt to destroy Christianity actually had the opposite effect of igniting fire beyond the city of Jerusalem. More specifically, the exiled Christians did not go into hiding but became missionaries who spread the Good News of Jesus Christ wherever they went. Outraged by the spread of Christianity beyond Jerusalem’s walls, Saul left Jerusalem to hunt down and imprison the Christians who were preaching in Damascus.
Here I would like to stop and make you reconsider. If Saul couldn’t destroy Christianity by fear and murder, he needed to take on a different tactic. A tactic that would blend in with Christians, a tactic where he could put on a sheep’s clothing, a tactic where he could become one of them. “Kill them with kindness” type of tactic, where no one would notice. An inside job to first blend in, confuse people, make them believe into lies by twisting the scripture and letting them self-sabotage. And this is where Saul’s conversion story comes in.
There are few interesting facts from Saul’s conversion into Paul that I think we should challenge. First of all, Paul had no witnesses to his conversion with any testimonies. Yes, we read there were some men who journeyed with him and heard some voice, but we do not know what they actually heard and we have no witness testimonies to this event apart from the words of Paul. Therefore we can only hope that Paul wouldn’t want to deceive people to change his reputation as a hateful Pharisee and murderer of early Christians.
When it comes to witnesses and testimonies, God is very particular how important this is. Even God had witnesses to His creation, to His presence on earth and when God appeared Himself to Moses at Mount Sinai, there were witnesses who testified. God also appeared Himself to other Israelites and they all experienced the presence of the Lord, they all had testimonies. No one just believed Moses without any evidence or testimony. That is why God also warned in Deuteronomy:
“One witness is not enough to convict anyone accused of any crime or offense they may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.” Deuteronomy 19:15
The second important factor is that when Jesus was leaving the earth, he highlighted that he goes to the Father and he will not come back until the appointed time:
“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand.” Matthew 24: 26-27
Jesus knew that some will want to deceive others as soon as he will be gone, therefore he pre-warned his disciples that if anyone claimed that they saw Jesus, that Jesus appeared to them in any shape or form or even showed great signs – people should not believe. This warning wasn’t only reserved for the end times but at any time from the time of Jesus resurrecting to the time of coming back. If Paul claimed Jesus appeared to him, why Jesus did not pre-warn his disciples about selecting another Apostle? Why Jesus didn’t appear to one of his trusted disciples? And why would Jesus choose a Pharisee whom he was so against of, even if he wanted to redeem him? You really have to ask those questions and be suspicious.
And on the topic of redemption, we know that to be forgiven and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, one must repent and be baptized. We do not see in this conversion story that Paul immediately repented and apologized for his persecutions. We see he was “astonished” but not sorrowful and repentant. How come he received the gift of the Holy Spirit if the scripture says:
“Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ” Acts 2:38
This makes me to believe that Paul could have been operating through a different spirit that was not a Holy Spirit. We see that Paul was breaking the law, he was full of hate towards Jesus who was against Pharisees and full of hate towards Jesus’ followers who he was persecuting, which makes this a perfect scenario for a demonic activity. Paul was also open with the fact that he was being tormented by demons:
“I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.” 2 Corinthians 12:7
This should be concerning because if this was really demonic activity, then Paul could have been led by Satan himself to lead Gentiles into deception and error. We know that Satan could use anyone and even used Peter before, where Jesus recognized this straight away and demanded for Satan to go behind him. If Satan used Peter and Judas, he could have easily used Paul as well, especially knowing that Paul didn’t repent and was full of hate towards followers of Jesus with an unclean heart.
Another argument would be the location of Paul’s conversion – Damascus. Jesus also pre-warned his disciples about location, saying:
“Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it.” Matthew 24:26
Paul’s supernatural encounter happened on the way to Damascus, which is situated on the edge of the Syrian Desert.
What is suspicious is this instant change of Saul into, as he says into Paul with a changed heart. Paul liked to use this expression: “in the twinkle of an eye”. Unfortunately, internal change is not instant. It takes time to change with the help of the Holy Spirit and in the moment of conversion, Paul didn’t have the Holy Spirit. He wasn’t part of the Pentecost event 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, therefore his conversion was just a change of mind and tactic, not heart.
“Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God.” Acts 9:20
He wasn’t immediately accepted by the disciples and many were suspicious of him.
“And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. And he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.” Acts 9:26-27
Here we see that Barnabas acted as a witness to Paul’s conversion, however Barnabas was not present at the road to Damascus. He only heard about this from Paul himself and those that were with Paul on the road to Damascus, well we don’t have their testimonies. Also, we don’t see Jesus changing Saul’s name into Paul. Instead, we have a small mention in the book of Acts but no further explanation on how did it happen, who gave him the name and why his name was changed. It was just mentioned as not a big deal, however in further scripture we only hear about Paul.
“Then Saul, who also is called Paul” Acts 13:9
How Paul convinced other disciples by his authority? Through “signs and wonders” that Jesus warned them about.
“Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, “O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord? And now, indeed, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.” And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand. Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had been done, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord.” Acts 13: 9-12
Not only Paul couldn’t be filled with the Holy Spirit as we didn’t see him repent, but he performed some soft of divination or sorcery that convinced others about his gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus never used his power to blind others but to heal from blindness.. Even if someone was his enemy, he would have never caused blindness. This proves that Paul performed false wonders.
“But he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.” Acts 28:5-6
Paul was attacked and bit by a serpent, yet he suffered no harm. This made others to believe he was a god. I hope you can see the false wonders and signs clearly!
Moreover, Jesus warned that many will come in His name saying “I am the Christ”. Where can see see Apostle Paul exalting himself or comparing himself to Christ.
“Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:1
“And my trial which was in my flesh you did not despise or reject, but you received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.” Galatians 4:14
“From now on let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.” Galatians 6:17
“Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.” 1 Corinthians 1: 12-17
“But by the grace of God I am what I am” 1 Corinthians 15:10
This is blasphemy! Something that only God could describe Himself as, which we see in Exodus:
“And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.”” Exodus 3:14
First of all, Paul asks to imitate him, not Jesus. Why should we trust that he has been perfected to the standard of Jesus Christ? This has a very boastful indication in his teachings. He also compared his marks to the marks of Jesus. Who does that? Only someone who exalts himself to the same level as Jesus! And then he even gives us the verse that we know only God described Himself as: “I am what I am” – that is blasphemy! Gentiles were welcoming Paul almost as some angel sent from God to teach them, “even as Christ Jesus”. This confusion made people divided where they started comparing themselves as “I am of Paul” – which means they were keeping him in very high regard and not saying “I am of Christ”. Why? Because Paul was brainwashing them with his teachings….
Another interesting fact is that Paul specifically appointed himself to the Gentiles. Why Gentiles? Well, Paul knew he could not stand with the Jews, as they knew Torah very well. Gentiles on the other hand didn’t know Torah and could never correct him or object him. During Paul’s times of early Christianity, literacy was as little as 3%. People couldn’t read and write and they could only relay on someone else giving them information. For comparison, today we have 86.3% of people globally that can read and write. That’s an increase of 83.3%! and 2 thousand years of increased understanding, shaping consciousness and millions of writings, evidence and freedom of information. Today we have no blockages, the only blockage is our own understanding and our own interpretation of texts. Yet we are still battling with some understanding of Paul’s letters. Therefore imagine back then, 2 thousand years ago! How challenging it must have been for people and no one could challenge Paul because he had an advantage of education, literacy and knowledge of Torah.
That is why I question Paul’s sincerity, why Gentiles? Why separating himself from other disciples? Why taking on different approach to the teachings? The disciples of Jesus were simple and not educated men, clearly not deep thinkers. Peter was a fisherman and we don’t see any of other disciples’ writings apart from Peter, John and James. The simplicity of the Gospel was important to Jesus to be able to reach more people. Paul clearly separated himself from other disciples and took on different approach to them:
“But from those who seemed to be something—whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; God shows personal favoritism to no man—for those who seemed to be something added nothing to me. But on the contrary, when they saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter (for He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised also worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles), and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.” Galatians 2: 6-9
We also see that Apostle John was also suspicious of Paul because of this separation:
“They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.” 1 John 2: 19
“But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.” Galatians 1: 11-12
Paul is clearly having a difficulty to see any recognition in the disciples, who “whatever they were, it makes no difference to him” and who “seemed to be something added nothing to him”. He is elevating himself through the uniqueness of his encounter with the spirit and receiving the gospel, which according to him “neither received it from man, nor was I taught it“. It is clear that Paul is separating himself from the disciples’ ways, their messages, who “seemed to be pillars”, however his preference is his way and his gospel.
“For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified; for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.” Romans 2: 12-16
We also cannot ignore the fact that Matthias was chosen as the 12th Apostle, making Paul the 13th Apostle, which is against the scripture as 12 representing the 12 tribes of Israel.
At the start of the book of Acts, we see the disciples gathering together to choose another Apostle to fulfil the scripture of 12 Apostles:
“Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) and said, “Brothers and sisters, the Scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus. He was one of our number and shared in our ministry.” Acts 1:12-18
However, there were few rules to this position:
“Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.” Acts 1: 21-22
“Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.” Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.” Acts 1:24-26
If 12th Apostle was chosen and disciples of Jesus were afraid of Paul, how come he became so important in Christianity?
One of the arguments I’ve heard for the legitimacy of Paul is the fact that Paul was accepted by Peter and James, who were filled with the Holy Spirit, therefore they couldn’t be in error. However, we see Peter rejecting Jesus three times, which makes him in error. Peter was just a man who can be in error and God also warns:
“Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man And makes flesh his strength, Whose heart departs from the Lord.” Jeremiah 17:5
“Do not put your trust in princes, Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help.” Psalms 146:3
But Jesus said to test the spirit and the fruits of the spirit. Do they lead you to repentance and change? Do they lead you to the uncomfortable truths? Do they promote lawlessness and abandoning God’s everlasting Law?
According to Paul, the Law was finished on the cross and we no longer have to follow it:
“Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.” Romans 7:4
“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” Romans 10:4
“But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.” Romans 7: 6
“Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.” Galatians 3:24
“But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” Galatians 5:18
Therefore Paul was taking people away from the Law of God into the lawlessness. If we then test the fruit of his work, this would be lawlessness. He is encouraging everyone to rejoice that we are no longer under the law. And what is lawlessness? – Law less ness. Because of his teachings, this has brought so much confusion in Christianity and it was the reason of many denominations being created. Because if Paul followed the teachings of the Old Testament, just as Jesus did, we wouldn’t have had so many different interpretations of his teachings. And who is the author of confusion?
God was also warning to not listen to anyone who would take us away from His commandments and God also tests people to see who will listen to Him or the words of other men or prophets:
“You shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him.” Deuteronomy 13: 3-4
Now that we have established that Paul was a false teacher and Apostle with questionable conversion, let’s have a look why he was also a false prophet. Prophet was someone who prophesied about future events. Prophets sent by God had 100% accuracy and all the events were fulfilled in that manner. We see that Paul was prophesying about the second coming of Jesus, where he believed he would be part of:
“Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”” 1 Corinthians 15:51-53
First of all, Paul is presenting this “mystery”, something God hasn’t revealed before and it has only be given to him. That’s the first red flag. Anything mysterious is usually gnostic. Another point is this “in the twinkling of an eye”, something that Paul likes, super quick transformation from a sinful nature to “incorruption”. This again gives an element of ease, shortcut and no need to put any work into transformation.
Another point is that Paul was highlighting as “we” – “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed”, therefore this explains that Paul thought he would witness second coming of Christ and it would happen during his time.
“For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thessalonians 4: 15-18
Here Paul highlights again “we who are alive”, “we shall” – which clearly indicates that he thought he would be witnessing the second coming of Christ. If he was talking with so much conviction how this would happen, with details of Jesus descending from heaven with a shout and then dead will rise first and then the rest will be caught up together and then Jesus would take people to heaven…. None of it was explained in the Old Testament or by any other disciple! This is simply adding to the scripture! And a prophecy that didn’t happen! Because remember, Paul was saying this would happen during HIS times while he was alive. Otherwise he would be excluding himself from this description. If he changed it to they, them and those, this could have been treated as a future prophecy with no date attached. However, because Paul was so convinced this would have happened during HIS times, this makes Paul a false prophet!
Paul finished with the words – “Therefore comfort one another with these words.” Which means he used a lie to comfort itching ears. It just sounded exciting, supernatural and mysterious. And this gave birth to a dangerous doctrine of the Rapture, which is misleading many today. This prophecy no only makes Paul a false prophet, but also has been transformed into a dangerous false doctrine of the church. Some may say, well this can still be fulfilled. Well in that case Paul shouldn’t have included himself into this as “we who are alive”. This is a serious error that makes him not of God, because God does not makes mistakes!
By Dagmara Z.