9 HISTORICAL FACTS ABOUT JESUS’ BROTHER JAMES THAT PROVIDE EVIDENCE FOR CHRISTIANITY...

[Somerville]

Who is Paul to say these things, though?

Don't the Gospels themselves - through the teachings of Jesus - tell us the works that are necessary for salvation? And who is better-placed to emphasize these obvious facts than His own brother James?

So we have the teachings of Jesus. We have the postscript of James. What need is there - especially after Antioch and the Council of Jerusalem - for Paul? Isn't he essentially obsolete after that point? I see the breaking point for Paul when Barnabas parted company with him... after that, he seems to go off the rails... he starts performing his own "miracles" and starts to move further and further away from the core faith represented by James.

There were two problems is selling this new faith to the Gentiles:
1) Only certain food items prepared in a specific manner - kosher - were to be accepted
AND
2) Male circumcision

One group of the many early Christian sects were the Ebionites who did insist on following ALL of the Law. They were persecuted and eventually erased from history by the 5th century by the established Church.

Paul basically created a new faith when he wrote that following ALL of the traditional Jewish laws were not necessary to become a Christian - as long as you ignored what Jesus supposedly said about the Law and generally behaved like a nice person worshipping this new element of the Supreme Deity.

Matthew 5:18 (NIV) For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.

 

[Cordelier]

There were two problems is selling this new faith to the Gentiles:
1) Only certain food items prepared in a specific manner - kosher - were to be accepted
AND
2) Male circumcision

One group of the many early Christian sects were the Ebionites who did insist on following ALL of the Law. They were persecuted and eventually erased from history by the 5th century by the established Church.

Paul basically created a new faith when he wrote that following ALL of the traditional Jewish laws were not necessary to become a Christian - as long as you ignored what Jesus supposedly said about the Law and generally behaved like a nice person worshipping this new element of the Supreme Deity.

Matthew 5:18 (NIV) For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.

I get all of that, and I'm not saying that Paul didn't perform a valuable service in opening up Christianity to Gentiles... and I think, in the end, even James agreed some the deep-rooted Jewish cultural traditions were more style than substance. But at the bottom line, one need not adhere to Jewish customs and traditions to have faith... indeed, one does not even need to be a follower of Jesus. Jesus Himself attests to this in the Faith of the Centurion. All one truly needs to do is love, serve, and humble himself before his fellow man.

"And the King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.' " --- Matthew 25:40

To me, that's the essence of true Christian faith.