Paul and Jesus

How the Apostle Transformed Christianity

By: James D. Tabor

Narrated by: Robertson Dean

Historians know virtually nothing about the two decades following the crucifixion of Jesus, when his followers regrouped and began to spread his message. During this time the man we know as the apostle Paul joined the movement and began to preach to the gentiles.

Using the oldest Christian documents that we have - the letters of Paul - as well as other early Christian sources, historian and scholar James Tabor reconstructs the origins of Christianity. Tabor reveals that the familiar figures of James, Peter, and Paul sometimes disagreed fiercely over everything from the meaning of Jesus' message to the question of whether converts must first become Jews. Tabor shows how Paul separated himself from Peter and James and introduced his own version of Christianity, which would continue to develop independently of the gospel message that Jesus, James, and Peter preached.

Paul and Jesus gives us a new and deeper understanding of Paul as it illuminates the fascinating period of history when Christianity was born out of Judaism and became the religion we recognize today.

©2012 James D. Tabor (P)2012 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Highly recommended to all interested in the historic roots of Christianity, whether or not they are believers. After Tabor, you will never read the NT in quite the same way." ( Library Journal Starred Review)

A thing is established on the witness of 2 or more

Not quite the same Paul I was taught growing up! Thought provoking, to say the least.

IT IS WHAT IT IS …

This is what I must convey and I say it often of this culture of over doing and over thinking everything… “The complexity of the human mind suppresses the RAW simplicity of the divinely created soul.” There is NOTHING new under the sun…

Brilliant Reconsteuction of the Historical Paul

Dr. Tabor imagines what a pre-Pauline Christianity might've looked like using the three existent sources that seem to lack Pauline influence: the epistle of James, the Q-Source, and the Didache. Tabor treats this "Jerusalem Sect" as a foil to his image of the historical Paul, which he reconstructs from the authentic/undisputed letters of Paul. One way these sects of early Christianity seemed to differ is how James wanted people to do as Jesus taught, whereas Paul shifted the focus slightly to believing in the Christ himself. This emphasis in Paul is understandable, as he himself never met, followed, or heard the historical Jesus — except in his own alleged visionary experiences with the spiritually-embodied Christ "who we no longer know according to the flesh".

At multiple times, Tabor strikes me as overstating his case. For example, there are multiple viable interpretations of the person Paul knows who "was caught up into the third heavens", but Tabor theorizes that this is an autobiographical account of Paul's own visionary experiences. Then he restates that assertion many times throughout the book without reference to other possible scholarly interpretations. There are other examples of this, but they will likely jump out to a reader with any level of familiarity with Pauline studies.

Although I didn't agree with every interpretation Dr. Tabor made of Pauline sources, I think this book presents a very important investigation into the person of the historical Paul.

For further reading: Google James Dunn's review of the book AND James Tabor's online response to Dr. Dunn — another Pauline scholar who disagrees with this book's claims significantly more than I do.

an extraordinary teaching and interpretation of wh

Would you listen to Paul and Jesus again? Why?

i did listen already more than 10 times and every time i get a deeper understanding of what happened to him... wher this people craizzi or just religious nuts?.. and what about us?!...
(excuse azny missplling, thanks)

What did you like best about this story?

That according to what i understood, there is SALVATION for all humanity, if there is such a thing...
Looks like there is no GOD as the bible teaches. So what do we suppose to believe in?!
May be is a choice, i think is better to belive after all, even if the Bible is not a perfect book and in fact written and edited by men, still gave a good message.

Now let me say this: in The Jesus Dynasty, according to James D. Tabor, Jesus's father could not had been God, but a man: Mary's husband, (Joseph), or a jew roman soldier by the name of Panthera....in the "Jesus Discovery Tomb", James d Tabor believes Paul's understanding or teachings of the resurrection of JesusChrist as a LifeGivenSpirit..
Now in the "Paul and Jesus" book, James D. Tabor seems to belive that Paul invented the whole thing ....
I can not wait to get my mind into what is comming next... please make it happend before we all get cot up in the air...

Have you listened to any of Robertson Dean’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

excellent, better that James d Tabor, performance reading "The Jesus Dynasty". But i enjoy
it his writting, also the "Jesus Discovery"... excellent work!

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I really enjoy it..

Any additional comments?

i'm waitting for the next production

I miss Doctor Tabor’s voice and cadence

In the Jesus dynasty he recorded the abridged version himself and although it lacked the transitional paragraphs of the original it was delightful to here professor Tabor speak in his own words. One can only hope he records restoring the abrahamic faith himself

Profound scholarship is clearly and succinctly presented offering a fascinating portrait of Paul and early Christianity.

As an old, retired Christian layperson who has spent decades of thought, meditation and Christian study, I found this book exhilarating and challengingly insightful.

My earlier, first reading left me overwhelmed, perplexed and consequently somewhat ambivalent. What the author was saying was so foreign to what I had been taught and thought I knew, as a mainline Protestant, that I didn’t know what to think.

Over the last several years, I have grown comfortable with and greatly appreciative biblical criticism and a less assumptive, more honestly critical look at early Christianity. This book provides exactly that.

This reading made perfect sense to me. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It has changed my thinking although having just finished the book, I am not yet certain of all its ramifications.

very dry but informative.

very dry but informative. I heard new information I had not heard before. enjoyed every minute.

A must read

Very well researched and beautifully executed book. Specifically, the comparison of earlier Christianity and the one influenced by Paul.

Paul or Jesus?

If you could sum up Paul and Jesus in three words, what would they be?

InformativeInsightfulEnlightening

Any additional comments?

As an author myself, I understand the intense desire to get a very important idea across to my readers. I have seen many writers start with an idea that they think is provable but by the end of their work they have steered off of the track and forgotten the entire purpose of their work.

This is not the case with this monumental work that James has penned here. He masterfully executes his attempt to expose Paul and what he has done to the world.

When I wrote my book, Leaving Jesus, I wanted to spend more time on Paul and his twisting of the Old Testament. I felt that I had done a good job in revealing what Paul had done but James ups the ante and peels away the layers of the Apostle Paul to uncover the problems with Paul's writings and actual thought processes.

James expertly draws on his previous writing to paint a portrait of Paul that is clear and vivid. Starting with Paul's twisting of Scripture and concepts he then transverses through his social interactions with the disciples. James spends much time on the way that Paul thought about and behaved toward James, the brother of Jesus.I thought I had understood Paul but by the time I was finished with "Paul and Jesus", I felt like I had met him.

This is the book that I wanted to write myself but thanks to James D. Tabor I didn't have to do so. James has made it easy to understand Paul and along the way, Jesus, the misunderstood first century Jewish Rabbi who's teachings are buried deep inside the New Testament overpowered by Paul's lies and tricks.

Thanks James for treading where few chose to travel, for not getting lost along the way and for returning to us with truth that will free many others.

A Telling Tale

Professor Tabor has been studying the works and philosophy of Paul for over 30 years. In straightforward prose and with a well-thought-out thesis, he describes the impact Paul's few letters have had not only on Christianity but on the whole of Western thought through the ages.