February 13, 2005 / Volume 9, Issue 7
Was Paul A Deceiver
...continued
| SHRINER'S CLAIMS | ANSWERS |
‘Paul' falsely claimed that he was an apostle to the Gentiles
That the apostle Peter was the Divinely appointed "apostle to the Gentiles" was unquestioned by the twelve apostles of the Lamb as Peter himself reminded them, at the Council meeting in Jerusalem:
"After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, ‘Brethren, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe." (Acts 15:7)
At the same Council meeting the false apostle ‘Paul' had ‘secretly crept in' (Jude 4) by changing his name from Saul to ‘Paul'. When Peter had completed his testimony the false apostle ‘Paul' sought to assert his self-assumed apostolic authority by ‘showing signs and wonders to deceive, if possible the elected twelve, as Yeshua had warned' (Acts 15:12. Matthew 24:24).
When this failed the devil and false apostle ‘Paul' later sought to usurp the Divinely appointed authority of the apostle Peter as the ‘apostle to the Gentiles'. ‘Paul' wrote the lie to his Galation followers that he (‘Paul') and not Peter "was entrusted with the gospel to the Gentiles" (Galations 2:7). In that same infamous letter ‘Paul' also attacked the integrity of the faithful apostle Peter by making un-corroborated and false charges against Peter. These same lies have been preached and written about by Pauline Christian ministers for the last two thousand years. | That God called Peter to take the gospel to Cornelius and his household is unquestionable, but was he from that time forward to be the apostle to the Gentiles? Shriner may suppose this to be true, but that does not make it so.
Paul crept in by changing his name? Did he also wear a mask? The disciples in Jerusalem knew both his name and appearance. He was no stranger to the disciples in Jerusalem (Acts 8:1-3; 9:26-28; 11:29-30; 12:25). If Paul were a false apostle, as Shriner reports, then surely the church at Jerusalem, with the apostles and elders would not have received him, but they did (Acts 15:4).
Had Shriner cared to read Acts 15 a bit more carefully, she would note that Paul did not show any signs or wonders before the brethren in Jerusalem. He and Barnabas spoke of all the wonders that "God had worked through them among the Gentiles" (15:12). Shriner indicates that Paul failed here. How so? He had gone to Jerusalem because false teaching was coming from there to the Gentiles (15:1-2). After their visit, it was confirmed by the apostles that the Gentiles were not expected to keep the law (15:23-29). May the reader take note, that both Barnabas and Paul are spoken of as beloved by the apostles.
Shriner may accuse Paul of lying when he spoke of himself as the apostle to the Gentiles, but will she also call the Lord a liar? In Acts 9:15, Jesus spoke to Ananias about Paul, "...he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel." Oh, that's right, Shriner only accepts what is written in the book of Acts when it seems to agree with her position!!
As to the "un-corroborated and false charges against Peter", Shriner refers to Galatians 2:11-21. Yes, this occasion is uncorroborated by any other Bible text, but does that make if false? Shriner believes it is false because she hates Paul. Surely, if these were false charges, and if Paul was indeed a fake, Peter would have exposed him. But what do we see Peter saying about Paul? He commends him as a beloved brother (Acts 15:25; 2 Peter 3:15). |
‘Paul' brazenly claimed to being the son of God
Yeshua the Messiah warned, "Many will come using my name saying: ‘I am the Messiah, rabbi, pastor, teacher'
(Matthew 24:5. Matthew 23:8,10)
"Yeshua said ‘I am the son of God' (John 10:36)
The devil and false apostle ‘Paul' said:
"It pleased god to reveal his son in me (‘Paul')" (Gal. 1:15,16) |
Shriner seems to be an expert at reading into a text things which are not there. When Jesus said, "...as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You..." (John 17:21), was He saying that He and the Father are the same person? That He was actually the Father, and that the Father was actually the Son? Of course not! Neither was Paul, by saying that God had chosen to "...reveal His Son in me..." declaring himself to be the Son of God. Paul's statement continues, "..that I might preach Him among the Gentiles.." |
Paul identified by the number of the beast 666 (Revelation 13:18)
"Here is wisdom. Let him that has understanding reckon the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty six (666)." (Revelation 13:18)
In Hebrew the number 666 is identified by the Hebrew letters TRSV; T=400, R=200, S=60, V=6, which total 666. TRSV is pronounced TARSU.
(NOTE: In Scripture the place of origin identifies the person; eg. "Jesus of Nazareth", "Joseph of Arimathea", Paul of Tarsu". "Paul of Tarsu (TRSV)" is identified by the number 666.
Likewise in the Greek
The number 666 is the sum of the numerical value of the Greek letters in the Greek word LATEINOS, which means "The Latin Man".
The Greek word L A T E I N O S. The Greek numeric value 30 1 300 5 10 50 70 200 = 666
The association of "Lateinos" with 666 was acknowledged, with great embarassment, by the historian Irenaeus (ca. 130-202 A.D.), in his document ‘Against Heresies', "For the Latins are they who at present bear rule...this being the name of the last kingdom (of the four seen by Daniel)...I will not, however, make any boast over this (confidence)..."
The coward ‘Paul' identified himself as "a man that is a Roman" (Acts 22:25) in order to escape persecution and death. ‘Paul' "a man that is a Roman" is "The Latin Man". 666 is "the number of his name" (Revelation 13:18).
In both the Hebrew and the Greek the number of his name is 666. |
An interesting argument, but Shriner again supplies us with erroneous information. Tarsus, in the Hebrew would be TRSVS. So far as the valuation of the numbers, there are two Hebrew characters which are represented by our letter "T", tes and tof. A value of 400 is given to tof, while tes is valued at 9. For her calculations, Shriner uses tof, but the appropriate character is tes. Thus, the calculation should read:
T=9, R=200, S=60, V=6, S=60, totalling 335.
See www.carm.org/bible/greek_hebrew_letters.htm
If Paul is to be identified by the city of Tarsus, then his number is 335, not 666.
Regarding the Greek, it should be noted that the word "lateinos" is not a Bible word. It is found nowhere in the New Testament.
The way Shriner quotes Irenaeus, we should expect that he proclaimed unequivocally that 666 was fulfilled in the word "lateinos". Not so. This was but one of several possibilities given by the antiquarian writer. But even if we allow that "lateinos" is the fulfillment, was Irenaeus speaking about Paul? Hardly. He refers to the rule of the Romans, their kingdom. Paul was not emperor, he was but a citizen.
Did Paul identify himself as a Roman? As a citizen yes, as a native, no. He was a Jew by nationality (Acts 21:39; 22:3).
All kinds of numeric computations have been run by people to identify someone or something with 666. Just a few examples: Bill Gates III, William J. Clinton, COMPUTER, Pope John Paul II, Pat Robertson, Free Masonry, Boris Yeltsin, Sadaam Hussein, Napolean Bonaparte, and many, many more. |
‘Paul' a liar.
Jesus said, ‘He is a liar and the father of lies'
(John 8:44)
Jesus commended his disciples in his church at Ephesus: "You have tested those who say they are apostles and are not and have found them liars." (Rev. 2:2)
‘Paul' boasted of his lies: "If through my lie God's truth abounds to His glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner?" (Romans 3:7)
In every way, whether in pretence or in truth, Jesus is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.
(Philippians 1:18) |
John 8:44 is about the devil, not Paul. Shriner's belief that Paul is Satan does not make it so.
Regarding Paul's relationship to the Ephesians and his apostleship, see January 23 notes.
Romans 3:7, in context, demonstrates that we cannot further the gospel through wickedness and remain guiltless. In the very next verse, Paul wrote, "And why not say, ‘Let us do evil that good may come'? – as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say..."
Paul did not rejoice in the pretext of some, but that Christ is preached. Paul certainly was not saying that he preached in pretence. |
Click here for this week's Answering The Atheist
How many were from the tribe of Simeon? Numbers 1:23 says 59,300, while Numbers 26:14 says 22,200. Is there a contradiction?
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