"Christians follow Paul, not Jesus."
That used to be my favorite argument as a Muslim.
Then I actually studied Paul.
And the argument fell apart.
Paul wasn't some random guy inventing theology. He was a Pharisee trained under Gamaliel, one of the most respected Jewish teachers of his generation.
He knew the Torah.
He knew the prophets.
And he hated Christianity.
He persecuted Christians, dragged them from their homes, and approved their executions.
Then something happened.
He encountered the risen Christ.
And overnight, the man hunting Christians became one.
Think about that.
If Paul invented Christianity, why did he spend his life pointing people to Jesus instead of himself?
Why did Peter, James, and John endorse him?
Why did his teachings align with the apostles who actually walked with Christ?
And why would he willingly endure beatings, imprisonment, stoning, and eventually execution for a message he knew was false?
People may die for something they mistakenly believe is true.
But they do not willingly die for a lie they invented themselves.
Paul didn't create Christianity.
He met the risen Jesus and spent the rest of his life proclaiming Him.
If you've been told Paul invented Christianity, you've been handed a slogan, not an argument.
Adam fell.
Noah got drunk.
Abraham lied.
Jacob deceived.
Moses murdered.
Aaron caved.
Rahab prostituted.
Gideon feared.
David took.
Elijah despaired.
Jonah fled.
Thomas doubted.
Peter denied.
Paul persecuted.
We rebelled.
Jesus redeems.
A peak life advice from Alex Hormozi:
“The single greatest skill you can develop is the ability to stay in a great mood in the absence of things to be in a great mood about.”
🚨 VIDEO: Texas state Rep. James Talarico opened a legislative session with a heretic prayer, invoked old Communist-adjacent phrase
h/t @reddit_lies who spotted it on Reddit; I tracked down the original video.
The prayer addresses God as "holy mystery" with "so many names" — Torah, Quran, Gita, Dharma — treating all religious traditions as equally valid expressions of the same God.
Jesus is described as "a barefoot rabbi" who "expressed" God's love... one expression among many implied.
The closing line: "build a new world in the shell of the old."
That phrase has a specific origin. It comes from the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) Preamble, written in 1905. It's syndicalist labor movement language. Not explicitly Communist - but they wanted to abolish capitalism and the state all the same.
See it for yourself:
Never forget what a true privilege it is to be healthy, to have a job, and food on the table. Don't take any of it for granted or lose sight of it, and above all, stay deeply grateful!