Since Paul is the earliest Christian writer, he’s our most important source for the Christian faith. And since he speaks next to nothing about Jesus’ earthly life and teaching, maybe he’s not even real. Plus, Paul’s resurrection appearance was just a vision, not a physical appearance, making it sketchy. So does Paul really know “next to nothing” about Jesus’ life and ministry? Do these claims have any merit?

You can find the craziest conspiracy theories on the internet. The earth is flat. Saved by the Bell was a brainwashing tool by the Illuminati. Jay-Z is a time-traveling vampire. Or that Jesus never existed.

One tactic of the Jesus-mythers is that they say that Paul knew nothing of the historical Jesus. They claim that the Jesus of the gospels is nothing like the Jesus of Paul’s Epistles. There’s nothing about his birth, baptism, the Sermon on the Mount, his healings and exorcisms, his walking on water, feeding of the 5000, his cleansing of the temple, and so on. Paul only speaks about a ‘heavenly man’, seemingly unconnected to real history. (1 Corinthians 15:49)

Since Paul is the earliest Christian writer, he’s our most important source for the Christian faith. And since he speaks next to nothing about Jesus’ earthly life and teaching, maybe he’s not even real. Plus, Paul’s resurrection appearance was just a vision, not a physical appearance, making it sketchy. So does Paul really know “next to nothing” about Jesus’ life and ministry? Do these claims have any merit?

Well, no. They don’t. Against these claims, here I’m going to lay out that the Jesus of the gospels and the Jesus of Paul’s letters are, in fact, the same person. That Paul emphasized the meaning of the death and resurrection of Jesus doesn’t mean he didn’t believe Jesus was historical, or that he was unfamiliar with his life and teachings.

Paul Thought Jesus Was a Real Flesh-and-Blood Human Being

1. Jesus is a descendant of Abraham and an Israelite. (Galatians 3:16, Romans 9:5)
2. Jesus is a descendant of David. (Romans 1:3)
3. He is born of a woman. (Galatians 4:4)

I’ll stop here and make some quick comments. Are we to believe that Paul, a Pharisee, didn’t believe in the historical Abraham or David? For Paul, Jesus clearly was a human being, descended from the patriarchs. Furthermore, we know that Paul doesn’t explicitly say Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary. By why the phrase “born of a woman”? It’s possible that he was alluding to the belief that he humanly was only related to his mother.

4. Jesus lived under the Jewish Law (Galatians 4:4)
5. He welcomed people (Romans 15:5, 7)
6. He was humble and served others. (Philippians 2:7-8)

OK, let’s pause again for a second. Paul talks about himself being subject to the Jewish law at one time (Romans 7:22). What kind of ethereal, heavenly being is subject to Moses’ law? It’s hard to see how the Jesus-mythers can even make sense of this verse.

We also see Jesus welcoming and serving others is throughout the gospels. He ate and drank with sinners (Matthew 9:9-13) He welcomed Zacchaeus. He came to seek and save the lost. (Luke 19:1-9) He washed his disciples’ feet. (John 13:1-3) He said I am among you as him who serves. (Luke 22:37) So far, the Jesus of Paul and the gospels are one in the same.

Paul Specifically Refers to Jesus’ Teaching

7. Jesus taught on divorce and remarriage. (1 Corinthians 7:10)
8. Jesus taught on supporting missions. (1 Corinthians 9:14)
9. He taught on the apocalypse. (1 Thessalonians 4:15)

To the Corinthians, Paul gives his opinion on marriage and divorce but then makes a clear distinction between his thoughts and the Lord’s teaching. He says the Lord commands giving, referring to Luke 10:7. Paul talks about the end of the age according to ‘the word of the Lord’. His words sound similar to what we read in the Olivet Discourse in Mark 13.

Also, the claim that Paul knew nothing about Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon of the Mount falls apart here. Jesus included the subject of divorce and remarriage in the sermon, and we read it in Matthew 5:32. And we’ll see more references to the Sermon on the Mount in Paul’s teaching as we go on.

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