Pauline Christianity: Fabrication, Fiction, and the Invention of the Gospel Narrative
By Bishop Ray Taylor, Ph.D.
This paper examines the increasingly persuasive case that the Gospels are not independent biographical accounts of a historical Jesus, but rather theological literature constructed around the myth-making of the Apostle Paul. Drawing from the works of James D. G. Dunn, Walter Bauer, James Tabor, and Dr. Robert M. Price, this study highlights how Paul’s teachings—particularly his Hellenistic reinterpretation of Jewish messianism—shaped early Christian thought. The paper argues that the character of Jesus in the Gospels is, in part, a retroactive literary construction used to validate Pauline theology, especially the doctrines of crucifixion, resurrection, and salvation. The implications of this synthesis reach far beyond theological debate, undermining the historical foundation of Christianity itself.
1. Introduction
The origins of Christianity have long been obscured by layers of ecclesiastical dogma, theological interpolation, and institutional forgery. Among the most significant of these developments is the rise of Pauline Christianity—a movement driven not by the historical Jesus of Nazareth (if he existed at all), but by the myth-making genius of Saul of Tarsus, better known as the Apostle Paul.
Recent re-readings of scholars such as James D. G. Dunn, Walter Bauer, and Dr. Robert M. Price have led to the recognition that the Gospels themselves appear to be Pauline reinterpretations of a mythologized Jesus, crafted for Gentile audiences and enforced by Roman ecclesiastical interests.
2. The Pauline Lens: Rewriting the Gospel Narrative
Paul’s influence on Christianity is not simply doctrinal—it is structural and narrative. His theology predates the Gospels and redefines their content. According to Dunn:
“Paul’s Christology… laid the foundation for all subsequent Christological developments”
(The Theology of Paul the Apostle, Dunn, 1998, p. 255).
Paul’s confrontation with Peter (Galatians 2:11) is echoed in the Gospel accounts where Jesus famously calls Peter “Satan” (Mark 8:33; Matthew 16:23). This portrayal of Peter as an obstacle to the crucifixion narrative mirrors Paul’s own resistance to Peter’s Judaizing tendencies. The Gospel writers, writing after Paul, likely inserted these polemics into Jesus’ mouth to elevate Paul’s authority retroactively.
Dr. Robert M. Price supports this reading:
“The Gospels are extended Pauline midrash, reshaping Old Testament motifs into stories about Jesus in order to harmonize with Paul’s vision.”
(The Incredible Shrinking Son of Man, Price, 2003, p. 42).
3. Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Mystery Cults
Paul’s soteriology—salvation through the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:3–4)—is not rooted in Hebrew tradition, but rather in Hellenistic mystery religions. Scholars such as Earl Doherty and Richard Carrier have demonstrated that such themes were common in Greco-Roman cults long before Christianity emerged.
Walter Bauer argued that what we now call “orthodoxy” was not the earliest Christianity, but a later political invention:
“The authors of the Pastoral Epistles were not preserving tradition but manufacturing it.”
(Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity, Bauer, 1934/1971, p. 110).
4. Isaiah, Islam, and the Gentile Mission
Paul’s claim that he was sent to the Gentiles (Acts 13:47) is a direct appropriation of Isaiah 42:6. In this passage, the “servant” is commissioned as a “light to the Gentiles.” Paul, in a striking move of self-apotheosis, applies this divine mandate to himself.
Interestingly, Islamic tradition later echoes this concept. The Qur’an refers to Muhammad as a messenger to the Gentiles (Qur’an 7:158), possibly reflecting cultural memory of Paul’s own self-declared role. The conflation of prophetic identities in these traditions suggests a fluid borrowing of religious tropes used to elevate political-religious leaders into messianic or apostolic figures.
5. The Pantera Hypothesis and Biological Realism
The doctrine of the virgin birth has long served to sacralize Jesus’ existence and disconnect him from normal human ancestry. However, alternative traditions—such as that referenced by Celsus (as preserved by Origen in Contra Celsum, 1.32)—suggest that Jesus may have been the biological son of a Roman soldier named Pantera.
James Tabor, among others, has explored this theory:
“If Jesus were the product of a liaison between Mary and a Roman soldier, it would explain much of the early hostility toward him and the effort to obscure his parentage.”
(The Jesus Dynasty, Tabor, 2006, p. 44).
The historical plausibility is strengthened by the fact that many Jews were conscripted into Roman service. A Sidonian or Galilean auxiliary named Tiberius Julius Abdes Pantera was buried in Germany around 40 CE. This theory, though speculative, is far more anthropologically grounded than the miraculous nativity stories added later to assert divine legitimacy.
6. The Pastoral Forgeries and the Rise of Roman Orthodoxy
The Pastoral Epistles (1 & 2 Timothy, Titus) are widely regarded by critical scholars as pseudepigraphal. They introduce institutional church hierarchy and doctrine alien to the earlier, charismatic, apocalyptic movement led by Paul. Their tone, content, and vocabulary diverge so sharply from Paul’s authentic letters that they are best understood as forgeries designed to legitimize an emerging Roman orthodoxy (cf. Bart D. Ehrman, Forged, 2011).
The religion that emerged from this forged tradition continues to dominate the theological landscape today. Millions place their hopes in a salvific formula—death, burial, resurrection—for which there is no historical evidence, and which bears disturbing similarities to ancient mystery cults.
7. Conclusion
If one follows the logical threads—Paul’s appropriation of Jewish texts, his syncretic theology, the literary construction of Gospel narratives, and the later ecclesiastical forgeries—it becomes difficult to regard Christianity as anything more than a carefully fabricated religion constructed to control, convert, and codify.
There is no contemporary evidence for Jesus outside the New Testament, no genealogical or textual basis for his divine claims, and no reason—apart from centuries of repetition—to believe in the historical truth of the resurrection. Paul, not Jesus, is the true founder of Christianity. And the religion that bears Jesus’ name is nothing more than a Romanized distortion of Hellenistic theology, with Paul as its chief architect.
References
Bauer, W. (1971). Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity (R. A. Kraft & G. Krodel, Eds.). Fortress Press. (Original work published 1934).
Dunn, J. D. G. (1998). The Theology of Paul the Apostle. Eerdmans.
Ehrman, B. D. (2011). Forged: Writing in the Name of God—Why the Bible’s Authors Are Not Who We Think They Are. HarperOne.
Price, R. M. (2003). The Incredible Shrinking Son of Man: How Reliable is the Gospel Tradition? Prometheus Books.
Tabor, J. D. (2006). The Jesus Dynasty: The Hidden History of Jesus, His Royal Family, and the Birth of Christianity. Simon & Schuster.
The Holy Bible, New Revised Standard Version.
Origen. Contra Celsum, Book I.
The Qur’an, Trans. M.A.S. Abdel Haleem. Oxford University Press.