God Beyond Religion: Did Paul hijack the Jesus movement, or was he a mystic?

There are many deconstructing Christians that want to eliminate Paul. Likewise, there are many liberal scholars that believe that Paul actually did highjack the Jesus movement and make his own form of Christianity. You can find many articles that state unequivocally that one cannot harmonize the teachings of Jesus with those of Paul. Thus, the question of this title; Did Paul hijack the Jesus movement, or was he a mystic?

So, let’s first look at the idea that he hijacked Christianity. Is that plausible? We must look at what we know about Paul. He was a Roman citizen from the town of Tarsus. It was a wealthy city that was a major trade location. It was expensive to live there. Paul was a Pharisee and a rabbi. He was a student of Gamaliel, who was a student of the great Hillel. He was given a letter of recommendation by the Sanhedrin that granted him the authority hunt down and kill Jesus followers. He was a tent maker which made him a skilled craftsman. When you look at Paul and his life, what could make him want to hijack Christianity? It is obvious to me that the only possible thing that could make the apostle Paul give up all of the above would be a radical mystical encounter!

Paul explains what that radical mystical encounter was and I will take him at his word. Act 9:1-“9  Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest  (2)  and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.  (3)  As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.  (4)  He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"  (5)  "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied.  (6)  "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."  (7)  The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone.  (8)  Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus.  (9)  For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.” This was the beginning of Paul’s mystical experience with the Cosmic Christ.

Why else would Paul choose a hard life of persecution impending harm and death at every turn? The commonsense answer is that he absolutely would not choose this without having had a remarkable unexplainable experience with Jesus. So, what was the purpose? Paul explains that he was called in this mystical experience to be the apostle to the Gentiles. This meant that the Jesus movement was cosmic in nature. Jesus brought a message that was universal directed to humanity in general, and not just to the first century Jews. It was good news because everyone, Jew and Gentile alike was reconciled to God through Jesus the Christ. He was the progenitor of a new humanity. It was a humanity that would be recognized for their love for one another. It was a humanity that had the Spirit of Christ given to all.

Yes, and Paul the mystic was the one entrusted with defining what the fruit of that Spirit would be. It was Paul the mystic that was given the definition of love. It was Paul the mystic that was told that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, and that all were reconciled. It was Paul that was given the message of reconciliation which was to merely proclaim that all were reconciled and therefore, each could and should be reconciled and accept that as a fact.

No, it was not Paul that hijacked the Jesus movement. The Jesus movement was hijacked by orthodoxy to provide power and control to the church. It was hijacked by those who would unite the empire and church. It was given the sword and more than that, the right to relegate some people to heavenly bliss and some unfortunate people to eternal damnation. It was given a false narrative and exterminated and burned gospels that were contemporary with the gospels and epistles sanctioned by orthodoxy. They would have never come to light except for the happenstance of finding the Nag Hamadi library in Egypt. Even with that, much of the writing and oral tradition was suppressed.

I am not claiming that everything Paul wrote was mystical revelation. That isn’t even the way that it works. Paul was a mystic, and Paul was a first century Jewish rabbi and sometimes the rabbinical got the best of the mystic, but the standard for measurement was in large part revealed to Paul the mystic. When you want to know what was revealed and what was not, judge it by the fruit of the Spirit and the definition of love. If it squares with those two it is definitely revelation from the creative source God.