Comparative Theology · Pauline Epistles & Early Church
Hellenistic motifs in Paul — argued honestly
Handle with care. The copycat-messiah claim is false. Ehrman himself refutes it. Only make the narrow point about religious vocabulary and audience.
In short
- 1.Tarsus was a centre of Greek philosophy and mystery religion — Paul's upbringing was Greek as well as Jewish.
- 2.His language is the language of initiation: mystery, being baptised into a death, sharing in body and blood.
- 3.None of this appears in the preaching in Jerusalem recorded in the early chapters of Acts.
- 4.Handle with care: the popular claim that Mithras or Horus was crucified and rose on the third day is not supported by the sources. Do not use it.
The claim being examined
Paul was a Roman citizen from Tarsus, at home in Greek culture. He presented Jesus (PBUH) in shapes the Greek and Roman world already knew: a divine figure who comes down, dies, rises, and is received in a sacred meal.
The Islamic position
Islam teaches that the message of Jesus (PBUH) was changed over time. You can see the shape of that change in how quickly a Jewish prophet was retold in Greek religious language.
Analysis
Keep two very different claims apart. The popular one — that Christianity simply copied Mithras, Horus or Dionysus, virgin birth and all — is rejected by mainstream scholars, including Bart Ehrman, who has written against it directly. Use it against an informed Christian and you lose the conversation on the spot. The defensible one is about the world Paul was writing into. He writes in Greek, to Greek-speaking non-Jews. He repeatedly uses the word "mystery". He describes baptism as being buried into a death (Romans 6:3-4). He sets up a ritual meal of body and blood. These were the religious ideas his audience already had to hand. James Tabor argues that Paul's cosmic Christ cannot be got out of the Jewish messiah expectations of the time. Ali Ataie makes the same point from Paul's background in Tarsus. So the argument is not copying. It is a Jewish prophet retold in Greek religious language.
Side by side
| Jerusalem preaching | Acts 2-3 | A man accredited by God; repent and be forgiven. No mystery language, no ritual meal of body and blood. |
|---|---|---|
| Pauline preaching | Romans 6; 1 Corinthians 11 | Baptism into a death, communion in body and blood, a hidden mystery now revealed. |
| Do not claim | Mithras, Horus | That they were crucified and rose on the third day. The sources do not say this and using it will discredit you. |
From the Qur'an
ٱتَّخَذُوٓا۟ أَحْبَارَهُمْ وَرُهْبَـٰنَهُمْ أَرْبَابًۭا مِّن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ
ittakhadhū aḥbārahum waruh'bānahum arbāban min dūni l-lahi
They have taken their rabbis and monks as lords besides God, as well as the Messiah son of Mary.
لَا تَغْلُوا۟ فِى دِينِكُمْ غَيْرَ ٱلْحَقِّ
lā taghlū fī dīnikum ghayra l-ḥaqi
Do not exceed the limits in your religion beyond the truth.
From the Bible
ἐβαπτίσθημεν εἰς τὸν θάνατον αὐτοῦ
All of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death.
Read it in their Bibleτοῦτό μού ἐστιν τὸ σῶμα
This is my body, which is for you… this cup is the new covenant in my blood.
Read it in their Bibleτὸ μυστήριον τὸ ἀποκεκρυμμένον
The mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed.
Read it in their BibleΤαρσεὺς τῆς Κιλικίας … οὐκ ἀσήμου πόλεως πολίτης
I am a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city.
Read it in their BibleSources
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