* I will not bite on your “hell” bait!

I love the writings of the apostle Paul myself and see depth in virtually every verse he penned.

You say this:

Now if you discount Paul, or even diminish his calling as the revelator to the church, your doctrine can go anywhere you want it to go. (i.e. the emergent movement)

And yet, if I challenge you to find a single instance where Paul teaches (either in Acts or even one of his epistles) about the perils of a place called HELL, you come up blank.

So it seems that we can pretty-much be guilty of using the gospels when it suits us (ie: Hell) and then leaning on Paul when necessary.

I think the entirety of scripture is consistent in its message.

In the end, remember the Bride of Christ (Rev 21) has 12 foundations which are the 12 apostles. There is no special place for Paul above the others.

I think the best way to think of Paul in comparison to the others might be through the lens of the parable of the Talents. He might have been entrusted with more than, say, Nathanael, but Paul himself states we are “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone.”

In one case he even said: “For I am the least of the apostles…” He was a humble (and great) man, but let’s not pit scripture against scripture.

This is what I believe.

He is to the church what Moses was to Israel.

Not sure I agree with this at all. Where does this thinking come from other than the fact that he wrote the most epistles? If you read Peter or John or James, you get a different style, but is it any less substantive?

I also agree with Phil in the sense that there is no clear line between doctrine and lifestyle. It is a complete package and neither Christ, nor Paul, nor any other, inflated one against the other.

I wonder if that can be demonstrated from Scripture or if Paul himself viewed himself that way?

jerry

That does not negate the other NT writers and of course the teachings and narratives in the gospels.

Jerry – I agree.

Paul – Strong in doctrine

Gospels – Strong in living

I still don’t understand your take on the Paul thing, Rick. What good is doctrine if it doesn’t affect the way you live in some way? It’s not as if Paul was writing esoteric tomes that didn’t relate to real life, and it’s not as Jesus didn’t say things that need to be interpreted through the lens of theology.

Paul – Strong in doctrine

Gospels – Strong in living