I have always been a question asker. As a child, it was things like, “what is god’s
name?” and “how do we know the Bible is true?”
I see skepticism as a healthy thing. Through my skepticism, I learned to walk in
faith. I threw away the Bible, and asked
the Creator Being, whose name I didn’t even know, to show me what was
true.
As I began learning what was true and what was false, what I
came back to as true over and over again was the Tanakh, or the left side of
the Bible, the Old Testament. What came
back as questionable, over and over again, was the New Testament, the Brit
Hadasha. Not so much the Gospels and
acts, which are written in a different style, but the epistles, a series of
letters expressing the thoughts, ideas, and most important to remember, the
OPINIONS of a few select men.
As I read these letters, I would see that Paul would, over
and over again, contradict the left half of the Bible. It left me doubting the truth of The Word,
and made me want to turn to Atheism as the only obvious answer. How could these words of his be true? How could I trust this book as a guidebook
for life when over half of the right side was in contradiction with the left
side?
I lifted this up in prayer, and began only reading the left
side of the book and the gospels. I set
aside man’s opinions for the written word of truth. This has never been a popular viewpoint.
There are so many worshippers of Paul out
there, who cannot imagine that one could live their life without his sage and
valuable advice, that I have been attacked many times for my ideas.
Yet by Paul’s standards, any widow who is under 60, or who
isn’t a paragon of virtue, has no claim to the widow’s tithe. This is not in Torah. Also, any widow under 60
is controlled by her lusts, has questionable morals, and should want nothing
more than to marry again, though it’s implied that it’s shameful this is true. This is not Torah. He also says it’s ok to eat food offered to
idols. Not Torah. According to the Tanakh, marriage is good. A man should not be alone, a woman should
want to be married. According to Paul, a
man or woman should not want to be married.
He writes as if engaging our lust, which was given to us at creation, is
shameful and must be avoided. This is
not Torah.
These inconsistencies damaged my walk in faith for many
years. Trying to understand which I
should follow actually lead me into sexual immorality, poor judgement, and bad
decisions. It was only when the spirit
spoke to me that I was able to overcome.
It said, “Anything that conflicts with Torah must be discarded.” So I stopped reading the words of Paul, and
began seriously studying the Tanakh and the Gospels. I began seeing Paul’s teachings for what they
were: letters to individual groups of people regarding specific circumstances
which were never intended to be gospel or law.
More importantly, I began LIVING the Torah, and found I was able to
overcome, succeed, and be a blessing, a light in the darkness, instead of a
great example of everything that’s wrong with Churchianity.
I don’t worship Paul.
I very rarely quote him, and if we are discussing matters, and all you
can quote is Paul, you’re going to need to back that up in the Tanakh or the
Gospels. I don’t worship people, in any
way. I have no sports teams whose flag I
wave, favorite music stars who get my money, movie stars, or award shows I can’t
live without. The only thing I cannot
live without is Torah, which means my Father Yahuah and his son, Yeshua. I think ALL advice, even the advice of Paul, and
the other epistle writers, is subject to scrutiny under Torah, and if it
conflicts with Torah, it must be discarded.
That is going to offend many of my brothers and sisters in
faith. I’m ok with that. I don’t intend to impress any of you, and if
this causes you to not want to be my friend, I’m going to chalk that up as the
influence of the right side of the Bible, and start praying for your
enlightenment. My goal is to please my
Father, and that is all. Everything else
is optional. If what I am saying
threatens you, perhaps you should heed that emotion, and open your heart and
mind, discard the doctrines of men, and trust in the Torah to be the light on
your path.
I found this site when I was attempting to find “proof” that
Paul’s words somehow actually line up with Torah. Instead, I found the proof that it doesn’t. www.jesuswordsonly.com. It’s a hard thing to read when one is
convinced of Paul’s perfection, but if one can only let go of the doctrines of
men, all men, and see what is really there, one might find themselves walking
in victory over sin.
May Yah bless you with Shalom.
