We could debate how charming Jesus' message was - at the heart of his preaching was the announcement of the presence of the reign of God - but it seems clear what Paul was interested in: the relation of Jews and non-Jews in the Christian movement:
"There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus."
Of course an entire history of christian thought could be written in terms of successive misinterpretations of Paul - up to current examples.
On 8/20/10 8:00 PM, Doug Henwood wrote:
> On Aug 20, 2010, at 5:04 PM, Jeffrey Fisher wrote:
>
>> Of course, what the
>> church does is turn Paul into a theorist, when in fact he was way more
>> interested in concrete "organizing."
> And he has a rep, like Lenin's, of turning Jesus's charming message into a rigid doctrine.
>
> Doug
>