February 6, 2005 / Volume 9, Issue 6
Was Paul A Deceiver
...continued
| SHRINER'S CLAIMS | ANSWERS |
‘Paul' the ‘Antichrist' and the abomination which makes desolate.
"...that which is esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of GOD" (Luke 16:15)
"From the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and the ABOMINATION WHICH MAKES DESOLATE is set up, there will be 1,290 days.' (Daniel 12:11)
(NOTE: ‘Paul', the anti-Christ and the abomination which makes desolate made his ‘ungodly' appearance exactly "1290 days" after the death of Yeshua the Messiah as prophesied by Daniel. On the very day when Yeshua ‘made himself an offering for sin' (Isaiah 53:10), ‘the regular sacrifice' was ‘abolished'; confirmed by God, the Father when ‘the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom' as recorded in Matthew 27:51)
"...and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate." (Daniel 9:27)
"...as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared"
(1 John 2:18; Matthew 13:38,39)
The TRUE apostle, also John declared, ‘He is the antichrist who denies both the Father and the Son." (1 John 2:22) | Shriner quotes Luke 16:15 as though it refers to the coming of the antichrist, or the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel. The context reveals that Jesus spoke of the Pharisees love for money and self-righteousness (Luke 16:14).
Shriner supposes that the sacrifices ceased when Jesus died. If so, why does the Hebrew writer speak of the sacrifices as still occurring (Hebrews 10:1-3)? Commenting on Daniel 12:11, Josephus wrote of a king that "...should spoil the temple, and forbid the sacrifices to be offered for three years' time. And indeed it so came to pass, that our nation suffered these things under Antiochus Epiphanes, according to Daniel's vision, and what he wrote many years before they came to pass. In the very same manner Daniel also wrote concerning the Roman government, and that our country should be made desolate by them."
(Josephus, The Antiquities of the Jews, 10:11:7)
It was the Romans who brought abomination to the holy place (the temple). Josephus again writes, "...now the Romans, upon the flight of the seditious into the city, and upon the burning of the holy house itself, and of all the buildings round about it, brought their ensigns to the temple, and set them over its eastern gate; and there did they offer sacrifices to them..."
(Josephus, The Wars of the Jews, 6:6:1)
The words of the Jewish historian Josephus, and of history itself identify the abomination of desolation as the Roman army coming upon Jerusalem, and reveal that the sacrifices ceased in the days of Titus, in the same manner as in the days of Antiochus Epiphanes. Paul was not the subject of Daniel's prophecy, as much as Shriner would like him to be.
John acknowledges that many antichrists had come, Shriner infers that Paul was one of them. John does not identify Paul as such, only Shriner has done so. Paul neither denied the Father nor the Son. In last week's article, we noticed that Paul mentioned the Father no less than 45 times in his writings. He acknowledged the Son several more than this. |
‘Paul' blasphemously boasted that he was God, the Father.
Jesus warns his disciples:
"Do not call anyone on earth your father; for one is your Father, He who is in heaven" (Matthew 23:9)
The devil ‘Paul' blasphemously boasted:
"For I became your father" (1 Corinthians 4:15)
NOTE: Everyone of ‘Paul's' papal successors blasphemously claim, like ‘Paul', the title "holy father"; which title belongs, exclusively, to the Only True God, the Father, as testified by Jesus "holy Father" (John 17:3, 11) |
Paul did not declare himself to the God the Father. I invite the reader to revisit a previous article, wherein we examined 1 Corinthians 4:15, http://www.lookinguntojesus.net/20050102.htm.
In order for Paul to have "papal successors", he would need to have been a pope himself. He was not. Never does he make such a claim for himself, neither does the Catholic church make such a claim for him. The Catholics teach, in error, that Peter was the first pope. |
‘Paul' boasted that he was equal to Jesus Christ.
The antichrist ‘Paul' boasted "In nothing was I behind the most eminent (Jesus Christ)...in signs and wonders and mighty deeds" (2 Cor. 12:11)
The true apostle Peter testified: ‘Jesus of Nazareth a man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs." (Acts 2:22)
NOTE: This diabolic ‘boast' was in fulfillment of the warning given by Jesus:
"For false christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect."
(Matthew 24:24. see also Acts 15:12) |
We are witnesses again of Shriner's dishonest use of Scripture. Is the "most eminent" in the text a reference to Jesus? Here's the quotation without Shriner's cut and paste tactics:
"...in nothing was I behind the most eminent apostles, though I am nothing. Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds." (2 Corinthians 12:11-12)
Paul did not equate himself to the Lord, but to the other apostles. |
‘Paul' boasted that he was holier than Jesus Christ.
"If anyone else thinks he has confidence in the flesh I (Paul) more so, concerning the righteousness which is in the law I (Paul) am blameless." (Phil. 3:6) |
The confidence that Paul speaks of in the flesh is that which he held to before becoming a Christian. Of his state then, he continues, "...circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless." All these are things in which Paul held confidence as a Jew. However, he goes on to say, "But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ..." (v 7-8).
In saying that he was blameless with regard to the righteousness which is in the law, Paul is not declaring sinless perfection. But as a Jew, he had observed all the law. Any duty that it enjoined upon him, he complied with, and did not deliberately violate it. As such, he held to his own righteousness, prior to coming to Christ. However, as we keep reading, the apostle declared the former things "...as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith..." (v 8-9).
Did Paul consider himself to be holier than Jesus? Hardly. In 1 Timothy 1:15, Paul said, "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief."
Amazing what one can do by taking a verse from it's context or by suggesting a thought which is not meant by the text. Shame!!! |
Click here for this week's Answering The Atheist
How many fighting men were there in Israel and Judah? 2 Samuel 24:9 says 800,000 and 500,000 respectively, while 1 Chronicles 21:5 says 1,100,000 and 470,000 respectively. Is there a contradiction?
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