Paul's portrayal of Jesus as Christ may sound familiar to contemporary Christians-it has since become the standard doctrine of the church-but it would have been downright bizarre to Jesus's Jewish followers. The transformation of the Nazarean into a divine, preexistent, literal son of God whose death and resurrection launch a new genus of eternal beings responsible for judging the world has no basis in any writings about Jesus that are even remotely contemporary with Paul's {a firm indication that Paul's Christ was likely his own creation}.
( Reza Aslan )
[ Zealot: The Life and Times of ]
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