Comparative Theology · Pauline Epistles & Early Church
Another Jesus, a different gospel
Handle with care. Scholars disagree about the precise identity of Paul''s opponents in Corinth. Say the evidence points to Jerusalem, not that it is beyond dispute.
In short
- 1.2 Corinthians 11:4 — if someone comes preaching another Jesus (PBUH), a different spirit, a different gospel, you put up with it readily enough.
- 2.Galatians 1:6-8 — Paul pronounces a curse on anyone, even an angel, preaching a gospel other than his.
- 3.Paul calls them super-apostles (2 Corinthians 11:5) and Hebrews, Israelites, seed of Abraham (PBUH) (11:22) — Jewish believers, not pagans.
- 4.In Galatians 2:12 they are men from James. The rival mission has a return address.
The claim being examined
Paul''s own letters record rival Christian missionaries teaching a different Jesus (PBUH) to his congregations — and those rivals came from Jerusalem.
The Islamic position
The Qur''an describes the followers of Jesus (PBUH) dividing into factions. Paul''s letters are first-hand evidence of exactly that division while the first generation was still alive.
Analysis
Tabor identifies Paul''s opponents in Galatia and Corinth as representatives of the Jerusalem church rather than random troublemakers, on the strength of their credentials in 2 Corinthians 11:22 and the phrase certain men came from James in Galatians 2:12. Ehrman notes the same phenomenon in Lost Christianities: the earliest surviving Christian documents already show multiple, mutually hostile versions of the faith. The theological significance is straightforward. Within twenty years of the crucifixion there was no single agreed message about who Jesus (PBUH) was, and the party that ultimately defined orthodoxy was the one led by a man who had never met him.
Side by side
| 2 Corinthians 11:4 | Paul on his rivals | They preach another Jesus (PBUH), a different spirit, a different gospel. |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Corinthians 11:22 | Who the rivals are | Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. |
| Galatians 2:12 | Where they come from | Certain men came from James. |
From the Qur'an
فَأَغْرَيْنَا بَيْنَهُمُ ٱلْعَدَاوَةَ وَٱلْبَغْضَآءَ إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ ۚ
fa-aghraynā baynahumu l-ʿadāwata wal-baghḍāa ilā yawmi l-qiyāmati
So We stirred up enmity and hatred among them until the Day of Resurrection.
فَٱخْتَلَفَ ٱلْأَحْزَابُ مِنۢ بَيْنِهِمْ ۖ
fa-ikh'talafa l-aḥzābu min baynihim
But the factions differed among themselves.
From the Bible
ἄλλον Ἰησοῦν … εὐαγγέλιον ἕτερον
For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or a different spirit, or a different gospel, you put up with it readily enough.
Read it in their Bibleἀνάθεμα ἔστω
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be under God's curse.
Read it in their Bibleπρὸ τοῦ γὰρ ἐλθεῖν τινας ἀπὸ Ἰακώβου
Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles.
Read it in their BibleSources
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