Jesus: Man, Messenger, Messiah · 7. Paul
Two branches of Christianity: James and Paul
In short
- 1.The Jerusalem church was led by **James the brother of Jesus**, with thousands of believers 'all zealous for the Law' [Acts 21:20].
- 2.Paul is asked by James to prove he lives 'in obedience to the Law' by paying for a **Nazirite vow** in the Temple [Acts 21:23-24].
- 3.Paul opposes **Peter** publicly at Antioch over table fellowship [Galatians 2:11-14].
- 4.**James 2:24**: 'a person is justified by works and not by faith alone' — the direct inverse of Paul's formula.
- 5.The Jewish-Christian **Ebionites** rejected Paul as an apostate; the Law-keeping branch lost and was declared heretical.
The claim being examined
The apostolic Church is portrayed as unified, with Paul as the faithful apostle to the Gentiles.
The Islamic position
Islam sees two distinct movements: the Law-keeping Jerusalem community under James, and Paul's Law-free Gentile mission that eventually displaced it.
Analysis
The tension between James and Paul is visible on the surface of the New Testament and does not require reconstruction. Acts 21 shows the Jerusalem leadership managing rumours that Paul teaches Jews to abandon Moses; Galatians 2 shows Paul in open conflict with Peter and referring pointedly to those 'esteemed as pillars'. The letter of James states a doctrine of justification that Luther found so uncongenial he called it an epistle of straw. What survived as Christianity is the branch that won, not the branch closest to Jesus' own community.
From the Qur'an
Qur'an 61:14
فَآمَنَت طَّائِفَةٌ مِّن بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ وَكَفَرَت طَّائِفَةٌ
A faction of the Children of Israel believed and a faction disbelieved.
From the Bible
Acts 21:20
πάντες ζηλωταὶ τοῦ νόμου ὑπάρχουσιν
…and all of them are zealous for the Law.
Read it in their BibleGalatians 2:11
κατὰ πρόσωπον αὐτῷ ἀντέστην, ὅτι κατεγνωσμένος ἦν
I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.
Read it in their BibleJames 2:24
ἐξ ἔργων δικαιοῦται ἄνθρωπος καὶ οὐκ ἐκ πίστεως μόνον
A person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
Read it in their BibleSources
Abu Zakariya, Jesus: Man, Messenger, Messiah · James Tabor, The Jesus Dynasty · Robert Eisenman, James the Brother of Jesus · Hans-Joachim Schoeps on the Ebionites · Jesus: Man, Messenger, Messiah — ch. 7, pp. 164-176
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