now, the pharisee we know as saul was a well known and feared zealot bent on arresting or killing every follower of Yahshua. read the NT for verification, he wrote most of it. paul was a very rich, powerful, influential guy with the "it" factor. he had the ability to "make" people believe. anyway, there are some very important facts that must be acknowledged: whenever Yahshua commissioned any of his apostles, there where numerous witnesses present. this isn't news (NT). even when judas was replaced by mattathias (or matthias in english), people were there to account. so it's established that this is The Way. sometimes we think of things in such a western way. meaning we don't/ can't realize how much tradition we are talking about here. then we have john the baptist, who was very strong in The Most High, Yahweh, so much so that he was able to convert bill collectors. when john the baptist washed Yahshua, that was the "tradition", the ceremony. it symbolized the passing of the torch. the real event or gift was secret, that again was The Way. the eastern teacher/ apprentice relationship is much different than it is here in america. okay later Yahshua feels the heat and KEEPING THE TRADITION, performed the ceremony with his apostles (recorded) Where? got a verse? and gave them the real gift (secret), following The Way. skeptics say, "why would Jesus keep a secret so valuable from us like that?" understandable, the reason is for the same reason you play that game where a group of people sit in a circle and pass 1 usually random phrase or message around it's nothing like how it began. a gift so valuable had to be done perfectly. that's YWH's WAY. the keepers of the gift had to be specially trained. i'm still in the NT. Yahshua then CHOOSES who will carry the ball to the gentiles. he chooses the rock, peter (Mat. 16:18-19). but some would have you think he made a mistake. The Way is always perfect, The Word, perfect.
let's hold that thought. most christians will have you think memorizing the bible is a great thing. Yahshua rarely preached the old testament. no, people weren't walking around with scrolls and scrolls of bibles scripture. the scrolls were usually in the place of worship. most people could couldn't read the language.Now tell me something I don't know, lol Yahshua preached The Kingdom of Heaven, mostly. Yahshua even gave us a tip for the gift in Mat. 6:33. He said seek FIRST, the Kingdom of Heaven, but the way He describes it, sounds way different than what christians today talk about. HE BASICALLY TELLS US TO CHILL OUT. don't judge people, don't stress tomorrow, live life free and happy, don't let people hold power over your mind, that leads to evil. all there in the NT. Again nothing new as I have stated this myself He also said BROAD IS THE WAY THAT LEADETH TO DESTRUCTION. i mean, that pretty much says it all. NARROW IS THE WAY THAT LEADETH TO LIFE. read Mat. 7:15 and let's go forward.
so saul is on his way to damascus to lock up more followers of Yahshua they're multiplying because of the apostles loyalty and genius and its becoming a huge problem for the bigwigs. then, whalla! paul is "stunned by a light" and falls off his horse. the light calls out to him, he asks who it is, the voice tells him.....Jesus, right? no, of course not, that wasn't his name. That is our translation, so yes it is his name in English the voice tells him that its Yahshua, then it gets fuzzy. in Acts 9:3-8, saul says the guys he was riding with heard a voice but saw nothing. hmmm. okay, no big deal but then in Acts 22:6-9, he says the men saw the light but didn't hear a voice. this is not THE WAY. This is also a possible mistake by the writer as we cannot verify if Paul even wrote any of this first hand. Most biblical scholars agree he did not. Considering most of the NT was not written till long after Jesus was gone we have no way to tell. Again this is still speculation, although you have peaked my interest from a biblical standpoint. never has been, never will be. we see how the tradition was kept, even among the most trying times of Yahshua's life. saul would have you believe this is how he became the apostle paul. in Acts 9:26, he tried to join the real apostles and they feared him and didn't believe his act. finally, he convinces the respected barnabas to introduce him to the guys. I don't think your version is correct. Read Acts 9:26-28 as it says nothing about convincing Barnabas of anything. It says he took him in. he does, and just think (palpatine). he gains the knowledge of most of the safe dwellings of those trying to worship Yahweh and be free through the teachings of Yahshua. then, as we all know "paul" gains control of the new christian church. but for a follower of Yahshua, he sure preached an awkward gospel, in comparison. I don't agree, it makes perfect sense. paul made NO RECORDED REFERENCES TO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.But he did reference going to be with Christ and Christ having his rewards. also going back a bit, all the OT prophets received their call directly from YWH. we know paul's account though. again, not THE WAY, noticing a disturbing pattern. this guy was like the polar opposite to Yahshua. Yahshua ate herbs and fish. paul referred to vegetarians as "weak" (Rom. 14:2). That is not true at all "For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs" He is saying one who believes he can eat all things perceives an eater of herbs as weak. You are losing me man. Yahshua preached that all man had to do to be forgiven for sins, was repent. ah, that word repent. when interpreted correctly simply means "to turn" as in, to turn away from sin. that's it. when the mob was gonna stone the woman, Yahshua simply told her to repent, and sin no more. it's really not about the guilt trip that certain folks make it out to be. but also, there was a "ceremony" for this as well, you got it, sack cloth and ashes. What tradition in the NT calls for sack cloth and ashes? again these are the traditions that were used. totally different than our way of life. but nevertheless, we are given direct instructions on how things were to be done. this cannot be denied. paul preached a philosophy of lawlessness. "as long as you have faith in Jesus Christ and believe that He died for your sins, you'll be forgiven for any sins you commit". why the difference? I don't believe there was a difference "John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. Yahshua NEVER preached that. Read Yashua's Parable of the Sower, then read how Paul slithers the reference into his own twisted power grab in II Cor. 9:5-7. OK you lost me. What Paul was speaking of was exactly what Jesus preached. Luke 21:1-4 if one would just see for ones' self, it's not such a hidden, mysterious thing. for more insight as to the kind of character "apostle paul" had, refer to Rom. 3:7, Eph. 3:8, ITim. 1:5, IICor. 11:8, among many other timeless gems by this monster. Well I can see how some of what you stated was off course or complelty wrong as to it's meaning. So in the end I can honestly say I do not agree at all.
