Paul, Paul, Paul..

I know, I've written about this several times now, but I just don't get Paul. He is so far removed from the teachings of Jesus, so far removed from reality even. He is the primary source of contradictions in the Bible-- even contradicting himself in several places!

He has boggled my mind. What is his work even doing in the Bible? He is so confused. It's like he feels that his imprisonment has made him just. He suffers in prison for God, so he can just go spouting his personal beliefs as if they were law. The guy is so disconnected.

Consider:

My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.

Now. Seriously. Slow to anger? It's good advice to be sure, we don't want to be jumping the gun emotionally and make bad situations worse. But that's not how anger works. I don't care how spiritual or pure you are. Anger comes on like a rush in the heat of the moment. You can't take it slow. It just doesn't happen.

What you can do is check it. The anger comes over you, and you must catch it. Keep it in for just the moment, don't lash out. The moment will pass, sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. Keep yourself under control until it does. Once you've calmed, reason can then set in. Because you've controlled yourself, you didn't do any damage, and it is easier to forgive and make things right.

Let's not deny reality, Paul.

Next, consider this:

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

Now, I thought we weren't worried about the law. Before this letter to James, I just read several letters about how the Law is moot. He goes on for pages about how our actions aren't what bring us to heaven, but the grace and will of God.

It's bugging me. It's not jut that Paul's words seem confused and blatantly wrong. It's that these words are in the Bible. Paul is there in Heaven. His heart is completely in the right place, that is clear. So when I arrive in Heaven, and I run across Paul, what do I say? Do I tell him he was way off? Does he point me out and say, "This one doesn't believe me!" Do we squabble over the word of God right there at His table?

I am being driven to study Paul. I need to understand his life. I need to get his message. I need to compare and contrast his words with all the words of the Bible that support or contradict him. I need to see why he has steered so many Christians down a path of hatred and exclusiveness, when Jesus himself dined with the sinners rather than cast them away as Paul would.

I don't get Paul, so I will walk with him a while on my own spiritual journey.