by Rabbi Mordecai Griffin

After more than twenty-five years of ministry, I have come to two startling realizations. First, one cannot live a truly Torah observant life, like the Messiah, while adhering to the teaching of Paul. Torah and Paul are incompatible. Secondly, Paul was a false apostle; a quintessential cult leader. His message was not Biblical and, perhaps more importantly, not the same as the historic Messiah nor His Talmidim. That fact is established with clarity from Paul’s own words and is substantiated with an abundance of proof from the scriptures. For many, these are shocking statements as believers in the Messiah have been mentally, emotionally and spiritually conditioned to believe that Paul was not just “an” Apostle but that he was THE Apostle. Believers have been groomed to understand that his words are synonymous with the Holy Writ and that his version of the gospel is the ONLY true version. To believe otherwise is to be “bewitched”. Paul, therefore, presents a barrier to truth and the real message of the Messiah Yeshua. He is, to say the least, a stumbling block to those who seek to come under the Wings of the Shechinah. Therefore, I have undertaken to write this article which is about letting Paul, and all of his writings, go. I hope that many will be set free from Paul and to recognize the psychological elements that keep people attached to him.

Everything in the scriptures is in perfect alignment until one reaches the teachings of Paul. Why is that the case? The revelation of the eternal nature of the Torah (Law of Moses) is in perfect agreement with every book of the Bible and even with the Gospels. Indeed, even the letters written by James, John and Peter uphold this truth. However, it is with the writings of Paul that the proverbial “wheels” come flying off. As I have said publicly, there is but ONE reason, ONE alone, that the followers of the Messiah do not live a thoroughly Jewish life (as Yeshua Himself lived) and that ONE reason is Paul. 

Recently I was exploring the website of a popular Messianic (Christian) ministry and their many articles. Specifically, I was seeking to find their stance on Paul, out of sheer curiosity. What I found was not necessarily shocking, although they did provide a rather unusual perspective. More importantly, my discovery led to a theory of why Messianic and Hebrew Roots believers continue to struggle with Paul and, consequently, develop wild speculations regarding his teachings. Wild speculations which have no biblical or historic support, which often directly contradict the very words of the “apostle” they are trying to make kosher.  This article is going to examine this illumination and simultaneous make a plea for the reader to simply abandon Paul altogether. Frankly, this is the only way for the true Gospel to make sense!

Let us begin with a review of the text that inspired this article. The following is an excerpt of an article about Paul’s alleged “revolutionary Judaism”, from a messianic Christian ministry that shall remain anonymous, as their identity is irrelevant to the topic at hand: 

Paul’s Judaism = Revolutionary

“Paul’s Judaism was and is a Jesus-centered Judaism for Israel and the nations. Paul expected his disciples, both Jewish and non-Jewish, to love and keep Judaism—as was appropriate for each group. For Jews in Paul’s day, Judaism was a way of life that was assumed. According to Paul’s Judaism, Gentile Christ-followers had an equal standing with the people of God within Jewish space, and it was a radical threat to the status quo of his day. Reintroducing Paul’s Judaism, not only as an idea but also as something with practical and modern ramifications for both Judaism and Christianity, is a radical threat to the status quo of ours. The Apostle Paul’s Judaism was not only unique, it was also revolutionary. In Paul’s mind, the death and resurrection of Jesus meant that the end of the ages had broken in. We can conceptualize Paul’s Judaism as an “apostolic” or “end-times” Judaism. Because the end-times “age of the prophets” had broken in, Paul was convinced that the Gentiles now needed to abandon their native gods and embrace the good news about Israel’s God, Israel’s redeemer, and Israel’s standards of righteousness. In other words, we can think of Paul in terms of spreading a “Judaism for Gentiles.” But in the mind of the apostle, it was Judaism nonetheless.”

Wow! There is a lot in this excerpt to unpack. Let’s begin with a frank truth. This is an absolute re-write of history, a blatant ignoring of Paul’s own words and contradiction of his theological interpretation by his followers for the last 2,000 years. According to every single Christian theologian, Paul utterly repudiated Judaism and any appreciable adherence to the Law of Moses which is at the very core of Jewish faith. These are, in fact, the very clear and precise words of the man himself. To suggest that he, somehow, was upholding or even promoting Judaism – in any form – is simply to re-write history and to attempt to reinvent the person of Paul.   

We must turn from the musings (that is the wishful thinking) of Messianic Paulinian apologists and turn toward vetted and educated scholars on the topic. When we do so, we discover a more honest and truer picture of the would be “apostle”. Indeed, Dr. Geza Vermes, in his book Jesus and the World of Judaism (page 45-46), notes that the centuries old notion that the Messiah frees man from the Law (and hence Judaism) comes from “the Diaspora Hellenist, Paul of Tarsus, not the Galilean”. Dr. Vermes, in agreement with most scholars, credits Paul with establishing Christianity, the antithesis of Judaism. On page 118 of his book he writes, “Paul insists…that the Christian community has replaced the old sanctuary” (ref. Ephesians 2:20-22). The “old sanctuary” being the Temple which was still extant when Paul was killed. This statement is significant given that the Temple, at that time, was the heart and soul of Judaism. To a great extent, it still is even though it is not yet rebuilt (may that be soon and, in our time). It is inconceivable that there could or would be a “Judaism” that rejected the Temple and its service! However, that is precisely the religion Paul created and it was anything but Torah-true Judaism. Paul rejected the Temple and its ministry while it was yet still standing!

Let us consider the view of another renowned scholar, Dr. David Flusser. In the Epilogue of his book, The Sage from Galilee, he writes that, as a result of Paul’s active preaching “during this time the gentile church was born and Christianity’s formal ties to Judaism began unraveling.” On page 34 he also noted “One of the tasks taken up by Paulinism…was the creation of an ideological framework based upon this concept of freedom from the law.” Freedom from the Law of Moses is obverse to Judaism, any “Judaism”. Dr. Barrie Wilson in his book How Jesus became Christian makes the point more forcibly. He writes, “His [Paul’s] arguments are radical [in Galatians] as he tries to sweep away Torah observance, by everyone, everywhere – all Jews everywhere…Paul envisioned a religion that was devoid of Torah…”. Dr. Wilson presents the real Paul. Paul was revolutionary indeed. However, his “revolution” was not to establish a form of Judaism. His “revolution” was to eliminate Judaism and Torah observance all together for everyone, for all time. In fact, Paul never suggests that Jews should keep Torah but Gentiles don’t have to. That is a wishful fabrication from Messianics. No, Paul taught that the Law had been abolished for everyone, period, Jew and Gentile alike!

Finally, I should like to consider the insights of Dr. James Tabor who has made it his forty plus year mission to investigate the historical Paul. His life’s work has produced many books on the topic of which Paul and Jesus: How the Apostle Transformed Christianity was a title. On page 6 Dr. Tabor states, “I argue he [Paul] made a decisive bitter break with those first apostles, promoting and preaching views they found to be utterly reprehensible…. Paul’s own letters contain bitterly sarcastic language directed even against the Jerusalem apostles. He puts forth a starkly different understanding of the message of Jesus – including a complete break from Judaism.” Far from developing a “Judaism” of any sort, Paul sought to abolish the faith of the Jews in its entirety. This true and historic view is shared by every Christian scholar to include all of the Church Fathers, Matthew Henrey, Charles Spurgeon, Charels Wesley, Luther and everyone else. To assert that Paul was “misinterpreted” or that he didn’t really mean what he wrote is simply to desperately try to make his writings work with some semblance of Torah life. The reality is that Paul taught the opposite of Judaism as well as the opposite of the Messiah Yeshua and His true Apostles. From a scholarly view point, the idea that Paul established a “Judaism” of any type is simply untenable. To the contrary, Paul radically rejected Torah-true Judaism and created an entirely new faith system based upon his subjective ethereal visions. 

Let us quickly deal with a phrase in the excerpt above that is likely overlooked by those mentally conditioned to accept Paul but should have a disquieting effect on the reader. That phrase is “Paul’s Judaism”. Let that sink in for a moment. Paul’s Judaism? Should we not be seeking the religion of HaShem? Should we not be looking to emulate the Judaism of Yeshua the Messiah? What about Peter’s Judaism or James’ Judaism? Indeed, in trying to reconcile Paul with Torah-true Judaism, the author has inadvertently revealed the secret of the matter. This religious faith system is a construct of the man, Paul. It has no basis in and cannot be supported by the scriptures. It is, in every respect, “Paul’s Judaism”. Kind reader, I am not interested in man’s religion and nor should you. Messianics have turned from the teachings of HaShem to that of a man and this phrase says it all so well. 

I should also like to address the concept of a “Judaism for Gentiles”. As a Jew, I can tell you that this is one of the most ridiculous statements I have ever read. To begin with it is oxymoronic. Jews practice Judaism hence the origin of the name of the biblical system of faith. Moreover, the concept is just absurd. It would be like saying that there is a Judaism for Muslims or a Judaism for Hindus. Can the reader imagine a Christianity for Wiccans? Perhaps a Christianity for Druids? No, the idea of a “Judaism for Gentiles” is preposterous and it would have been even more so in the first century. This is likely the reason that Peter, James and other Jewish believers in Messiah fought so adamantly against Paul and his false doctrines.

Let me conclude with an attempt to explain the psychology of the excerpt cited above. It is important to note that prior to the last couple of decades of the twentieth century, there was no “scholarship” that proposed a Torah-positive Paul. There is no evidence that theologians, Christians or otherwise, believed that Paul was anything but at complete odds with Judaism. Indeed, this is the very foundation of Christianity! The Law was nailed to the cross! That is the anthem of the establishment of the Church and the “New” covenant which is in stark contrast to the “Old”.  So why now? Why the effort to reinvent or reinterpret Paul whose writings have been clearly understood for nearly 2,000 years? The answer: Cognitive Dissonance. Cognitive Dissonance is defined as the mental discomfort that results from holding two conflicting beliefs, values, or attitudes. This mental issue causes one to try and reconcile or justify the conflict without address the underlying cause. I will explain below how this relates to our topic.

I could detail out a more in-depth discussion of the history but let me state it succinctly. The emergence of the “Messianic” movement in the twentieth century and the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 unleashed a spiritual phenomenon. This spiritual phenomenon was that people began to become aware of the Torah (Law of Moses) which included the revelations of Shabbat, the Biblical Festivals, eating Kosher and other Biblical Jewish customs. Believers in Messiah Yeshua suddenly became aware that all of Torah was still relevant and authoritative for today and that it is inconceivable (and not supported Biblically) that these thigs had been “done away with”. The problem is that Paul clearly taught that the Torah had been abolished for EVERYONE “in Christ”. The entire Christian faith was built upon that fact. This created a clear Cognitive Dissonance and the way in which these believers attempted to deal with this psychological discomfort was to both reinvent and reinterpret Paul. Suddenly Paul was “misunderstood” by the church. He wasn’t anti-Torah! By no means, he upheld the Torah. As a result, wild, unsupported and unprecedented “theologies” began to be developed. Paul had a miraculous rebirth. Now he wanted Torah for Jews and no Torah for Gentiles. He wasn’t against the Written Torah but the evil and vile so-called Oral Torah of those wicked Pharisees. Yes, that’s it! That’s the answer! He wasn’t anti Law of Moses, He wasn’t anti Judaism.  Now he supports Judaism, just in a completely different form. He supports Torah which is the Will of God its just not the Will of God for Gentiles. When he says that you can eat what you want what he really means is that you should eat kosher. Well, biblically kosher not Rabbinically like the Messiah did. That’s clear, right?

I could go on and on, but the waters would only get more muddied, the concepts more confusing, the theological gymnastic more ridiculous. All of this without mentioning that the vast majority of Christian theologians believe that all of this, “Paul’s Judaism”, stuff is absurd. They are 100% correct. Paul abandoned his Judaism, his Jewish identity and the Law of Moses, teaching every “follower of Christ” to do the same. That is historical fact.  The answer to the Cognitive Dissonance issue is to deal with the underlying cause of the problem and that is Paul. He does not and cannot reconcile with Torah observance because he is antithetical to it. Let him go and live the life of the Messiah in shalom! ~ Rabbi Mordecai Griffin