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 (PBUH), 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 sits on the surface of the New Testament; you do not have to reconstruct anything. Acts 21 shows the Jerusalem leadership handling rumours that Paul teaches Jews to abandon the Law of Moses (PBUH). Galatians 2 shows Paul in open conflict with Peter, referring pointedly to those "esteemed as pillars". The letter of James teaches a view of how a person is put right with God that Luther disliked so much he called it an epistle of straw. What survived as Christianity is the branch that won, not the branch closest to the community around Jesus (PBUH).
From the Qur'an
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ كُونُوٓا۟ أَنصَارَ ٱللَّهِ كَمَا قَالَ عِيسَى ٱبْنُ مَرْيَمَ لِلْحَوَارِيِّـۧنَ مَنْ أَنصَارِىٓ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ ۖ قَالَ ٱلْحَوَارِيُّونَ نَحْنُ أَنصَارُ ٱللَّهِ ۖ فَـَٔامَنَت طَّآئِفَةٌۭ مِّنۢ بَنِىٓ إِسْرَٰٓءِيلَ وَكَفَرَت طَّآئِفَةٌۭ ۖ فَأَيَّدْنَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ عَلَىٰ عَدُوِّهِمْ فَأَصْبَحُوا۟ ظَـٰهِرِينَ
yāayyuhā alladhīna āmanū kūnū anṣāra l-lahi kamā qāla ʿīsā ub'nu maryama lil'ḥawāriyyīna man anṣārī ilā l-lahi qāla l-ḥawāriyūna naḥnu anṣāru l-lahi faāmanat ṭāifatun min banī is'rāīla wakafarat ṭāifatun fa-ayyadnā alladhīna āmanū ʿalā ʿaduwwihim fa-aṣbaḥū ẓāhirīna
A faction of the Children of Israel believed and a faction disbelieved.
From the Bible
κατὰ πρόσωπον αὐτῷ ἀντέστην, ὅτι κατεγνωσμένος ἦν
I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.
Read it in their Bibleἐξ ἔργων δικαιοῦται ἄνθρωπος καὶ οὐκ ἐκ πίστεως μόνον
A person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
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