Why Paul's Churches Won

Although Paul of Tarsus never met the historical Jesus, his vision of the risen Christ convinced him to change his life’s course, become an apostle, and devote the rest of his life preaching the “good news” of the resurrection. Not everyone in the growing movement was pleased by this development and Paul records coming into serious conflict with Jesus’ actual disciples, Peter, James, and John. Paul’s insistence that Christians should not follow Jewish law was at the center of the argument and during the conflict, Paul’s opponents questioned whether he had authority to plant churches. At the end of his career, Paul despaired that many of his own churches in the Eastern Mediterranean seemed to have converted to follow the interpretation of his opponents, causing him to plan a retreat to Spain to start anew. Despite these setbacks, only a few decades later, Paul’s teachings on the law became doctrine for a majority of Christians and his writings were revered as scripture. John Hamer of Toronto Centre Place will trace the conflict among early Christians and consider why Paul’s churches ultimately won.

Join the livestream to participate in the discussion and to ask questions to our lecturer during the Q&A:

Other topics covered in this lecture include:

[AlexandreSilva-vuws]

I really enjoy your lectures. I am not a Christian, in fact I am not a believer on any deity but I really enjoy your lectures and how you answer complex questions. Congratulations!!

[benjaming]

Im a bible student in Atlanta who finds historic accuracy to be very important in understanding the faith. I appreciate your lectures and have viewed many. They have helped me develop my teaching style. Thanks sir

[Greenfrog]

Paul converting Judaism-curious Gentiles strikes me as similar to how various "gurus" will sell Eastern religion to curious Westerners today, often diluting or reframing the cultural context to better appeal to their cultural sensitivities.

[cl]

I wish the TV evangelists would listen to this realize how wrong it is to beg for airplane money while wearing a 5k dollar suit..

[johnschartiger]

Paul is basically responsible for creating Christianity, it wasn't just him obviously, but he basically founded the religion and he never even met Jesus in the flesh!

[lindamorgan]

This is excellent I cannot believe how much I learned in such a short time. Quite the eye opener for me. Thanks so much.

[davidfolts]

John: It would be interesting to hear a discussion of what may have occurred in Jerusalem when James the Just led the movement. How his perspective changed, how others in his group viewed him as time passed, and how situations changed upon his death. A lot to get into there.Thanks for your time creating these wonderful and enriching learning experiences. Your teaching is something to behold, along with putting my learning curve into hyperdrive.

[Trucker_gh.opk.]

1:26:28-30… the sickness Paul was talking about was his epileptic seizures

[AB-etnj]

You'd think people would take the word of people who actually knew Jesus, like his own brother and right hand man (basically) Peter, instead of some random convert who never knew Jesus ...

[Taseradict]

I chuckled with Paul finishing his story of the meeting with Peter with the ancient equivalent of "and then everyone clapped" lol

[MiguelRamosLIve]

Sorry for the nitpicking but it's distracting me from your otherwise very interesting presentation: "We" is NOT the 2d person. It is the First Person Plural. The 2d person is "You" (both in singular and plural).

[Murphyyyyyyyy]

How can one trust Saul? A former critic of Christianity who later asserts himself the leader and rule maker? Sounds like the perfect infiltration.

[LesboSapien]

I am falling in love with this channel. And this is by far the most entertaining and information packed lecture I’ve seen here. The wealth of knowledge contained in this YouTube channel is astonishing. Thank you so much for your work.

[winstonbarquez]

Jesus reformed Judaism and paved the way for Christianity that was spread by Paul. It was a movement inspired by the Holy Spirit among the gentiles to proclaim the gospel to them.

[seandelaney]

That "Timeline of Paul's Ministry" adds a lot, Thanks to John and Centre Place Team!

[efrostickblois]

Paul's teachings bore little relation to what Jesus said.

[alangriffin]

excited when these come out! Love you guys! Thanks John and everyone who makes these so great!

[apotropoxyz]

How many Jews in their right mind would believe a "risen Jesus" entered Paul's essence and told him the Torah had become irrelevant because the End Times had begun? Not many. Now, how many non-Jews would be willing to entertain the possibility that a "risen Jesus" entered Paul's essence and told him the Torah had become irrelevant because the End Times had begun? Some. They had no particular reason to reject the idea out-of-hand.

[piface]

1:12:00 Paul says: "Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me."

This is not "Conclusive proof of a New Testament woman apostle". He merely says that the couple is well-known among the apostles. Meaning the apostles know about the couple. Even if you don't agree with this interpretation, at least it's a VALID interpretation. It's not conclusive proof that Andronicus and Junia were apostles.

The whole presentation is filled with things like this, taking a small passage and making a big conclusion about early Christianity from it.

[Eric-]

Repent and believe the Gospel of the Grace of God 🙏