The Inclusion of the Pauline Epistles in the NT must be Reconsidered

Thanks for the post; I hope that now everything here runs smoothly. On the Canon It is true that my contentions about the canon are not wholly relevant. The only point I was trying to make is that the complex history of the canon, and the various books that have been in the canon in history or used by different churches presents a dilemma such that we must not just assume that the canon we have is correct and we must be open that some books may be included in error – and that some books may have been excluded in error – and that some books (like Deuteronomy almost was) may be entirely lost. On Paul’s Personal Opinions Regarding the inclusion of personal opinions in the Pauline epistles, I think especially in the case of 1 Cor 7, it is a personal opinion being expressed. He expresses a preference for remaining unmarried (the premise that sex is only for marriage seems to underline the entire passage). This opinion should not be taken as authoritative, as it goes directly against God’s direct command for humans to multiply. Paul has a personal preference for remaining unmarried, yet it is God’s preference that humans multiply. To elevate Paul’s opinions to the status of scripture creates this contradiction. Furthermore, even if Paul is attempting to go beyond the statement of personal opinion, the apostles or messengers of the Lord should not be considered as authoritative as the Lord himself. Do the “gaps” left by Jesus need to be filled? I will shortly return to the most important issue between Paul and Jesus, which is salvation. But there is no need for the “gaps” to be filled. When Jesus left the alleged “gaps,” he never indicated that they were in need of filling. We don’t need to have doctrines about Trinities and personhoods of God and attempt to get official dogma about how God works. Jesus does talk extensively about forgiveness and eternal life, so he is not silent on salvation. There is an absence in Jesus’ teachings of an explicit black-and-white salvation doctrine. This could be a “gap” to be explained by Paul, or it could be because there is no such simple black-and-white nature to salvation. God is not bound to abide by certain rules, nor is he particularly desperate for souls. The Old Testament demonstrates a very distant, harsh, somewhat arbitrary, severe, and demanding God who does not work according to human understandings. He doesn’t necessarily have the same standards for everyone. Salvation according to Jesus Paul (and I think my opponent may agree) is “Reformed” when it comes to salvation. Salvation by faith alone, a one-time saving faith, relatively unconditional (except for faith) salvation, that some humans are just damned from the start and made for destruction, that works are unrelated to salvation in any way, and eternal security are all mostly Pauline concepts. Does Jesus preach the same message? Jesus’ parables and teachings show a different story, even in the case of the adulterous woman. Now, before citing a few examples, I wish to say that I do not believe Jesus teaches that keeping the commandments can make one earn salvation. Salvation is un-earnable, which is why Jesus came. Salvation is granted to humans by God as Jesus took the penalty for sin. The question is: under what condition is this grace extended to humans? Matthew 10: 20 – Jesus on Persecution. Here, Jesus predicts a time of serious persecution of his followers. That they endure in their faithfulness is a condition for eternal life. Also, right after this passage is where Jesus says that a disciple is not above his teacher. He later restates his point that whoever publicly denies Him will be denied in heaven. Matthew 18 – The Unforgiving Servant. Here, Jesus shows that after being forgiven, we must forgive others. This is not just a command for obedience after salvation – this is a criterion without which our salvation (forgiveness from God) is revoked. Matthew 25 – The Unprofitable Servant. Here, Jesus casts out into hell the one unproductive servant of three servants to whom he gave some money. Jesus warns that his followers must be productive, lest they be cast out. Matthew 25 – The Sheep and the Goats. Here, Jesus presents a scenario in which those who were kind to the poor (even if they did not know him – these people are unsaved in the Lutheran sense) are allowed into heaven and those who were cruel are kept out. Mark 9: 42-50 Self-Mutilation. Here, Jesus teaches that it is better to destroy a body part that causes sin because it is better to enter into eternal life maimed than to go to hell in one piece. A strict follower of Paul would not feel that dealing with the problem of sin in such an extreme way is so important. After all, all things are lawful, aren’t they? It’s only that some things aren’t profitable. Luke 12:40’s – The Good and Faithful Servant. Here, Jesus presents a story of a good servant who later begins to either doubt or take less seriously his former allegiance to his master. He turns evil, and is cut down by his master. This seems to be a person who is in God’s graces, and by his own actions, falls out of grace. Luke 18:10-14 – The Pharisee and the Tax Collector. Here, Jesus scorns self-righteousness (in agreement so far with Lutheran salvation doctrine) and shows that the humble person who recognized that he is a sinner goes home justified. Importantly, he beats himself and does not even look up in his humility. There is more here than the passive acquiescence to doctrinal points that we see in the Romans Road. Jesus forgave the adulterous of her sin and instructed her to go and sin no more. If she, however, continued to live in sin (regardless of what faith she may have had during her encounter with Jesus), Jesus seems to indicate that she will be like the unprofitable servant, or the good servant turned evil, or one of the virgins whose oil ran out before the groom came. The same would apply to all 3 examples given by my opponent. Was the murderer on the cross special only in that he was fortunate enough not to have a chance to fall from grace before his death? I’ll wrap this up here, as the issue of salvation is where I find the fundamental problem with Paul. I just briefly want to say that I don’t think Jews have the option of becoming Gentile Christians. If they are Jews, they are bound by the law for Jews. According to the apostles, Gentiles need only refrain from sexual immorality and meat offered to idols. Paul disagrees with even this, so I may reject Paul and keep the others since Paul goes so much farther. Anyways, I won’t be able to come back to whatever my opponent says. I’m sure we won’t agree, but I guess this site is all about disagreement. I’ll take this last paragraph to thank my opponent for a challenging and thought provoking discussion and to say that I don’t necessarily espouse everything I just advanced. My exploration of these matters is far from complete.