St. Paul The Root of Christian Missionary Deception

St. Paul The Root of Christian Missionary Deception

By Malik Ali

There was an
apostle, who wrote an epistle,

strange faith did he jostle, and scriptures entwistle.

His doctrines pentacostal, made GOD's people bristle,

and blapshemy collosal, led to his dismissal.

Apostle, epistle, collossal, dismissal,

His writings bescissel, make faith so afissile.

GOD created
man in his image.

Then the Christians came along and recreated GOD in man's image.


Anonymous

Quite a number
of the People of the Book (Jews and Christians) wish they could
Turn you (people) back to infidelity after ye have believed, from
selfish envy, after the Truth hath become Manifest unto them: But
forgive and overlook, Till Allah brings about His command; for Allah
Hath power over all things. (Qur'an Surah Al-Baqarah 2:109)

 

In the annals
of religious history, Paul happens to be a surprise. Why?, he is
the only figure to admit to lying and strangely enough, justifying
it as well. When the prophets clearly condemned this evil habit,
Paul glorified it, and put a new meaning to the ends will justify
the means.

During the ministry of Jesus, Saul (Paul) was a dedicated member
of a powerful, exclusive Jewish sect called Pharisees (ACTS 26:5).
Their pretensions to sanctity had labelled them as hypocrites. When
these overbearing vainglorious Jews confronted Jesus, he called
them:

"You are
of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will
do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth,
because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie he speaketh
of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."

John 8:44

Saul, a zealous
persecutor of the devoted disciples of Christ, became the first
Christian missionary and an Apostle to the Gentiles after converting
himself to Christianity by a "vision", which he claims
he had, while on the road to Damascus. The missionary changed his
name from Saul to Paul and became the biggest contributor to the
Books of the New Testament. From the above verse, Jesus like many
of his predecessors condemned lying, deceit and hypocrisy. Lying
is condemned several times throughout the Bible, and deceit by its
own nature, is sinful and can only lead to hazardous consequences.
What does Peter say in regards to guile (which means cunning, deceit,
trickery, treachery)

For he that
will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from
evil, and his lips that speak no guile

1 PETER 3:12

The verse speaks
for itself. One of the factors that hinder mans success in this
world and eternal life in the hereafter, is the use of guile. But
on his own admittance, what does Paul say?:

But be it so,
I did not burden you: nevertheless being crafty, I CAUGHT YOU WITH
GUILE

2 CORINTHIANS 12:16

On his own admission,
Paul is saying that he uses deception in his modus operandi. In
all the new versions of the Bible, the more common term of deceit
is replaced instead. This statement is made long after his conversion
to Christianity, in the phase when he supposed to be blessed and
righteous, and most importantly of all, being guided by Christ.

For our exhortation
[was] not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile:

1 Thessalonians 2:3

Paul now speaks
with two tongues, guile he can

But what I do,
that will I do, that I may cut off occasion from those which desire
occasion;...

2 CORINTHIANS 11:13

In the New Revised
Standard Version, the verse reads in order to deny an opportunity
to those who want an opportunity to be recognized as our equals..
He can't be any clearer or succinct, If any other Christian group
tries to rival Pauls mission, he will seek to utilise means of destroying
any opportunity that may arise for his opponents. This goes completely
against the morals from what we know of Jesus and the Prophets of
age. If Paul believed he had the truth, there would be no need to
play games and power struggles, as the truth will always prevail
in the end. The use of deceit and craftiness is the mark of the
insecure and paranoid, not so certain that his own faith is correct,
he had more hope in his will and ways prevailing, rather than the
truth of the message of Christ.

For though I
be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that
I might gain the more

And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews;
to them under the Law, that I might gain them that are under the
Law;

To them that are without the law, as without law, (being not without
law to God, but under the law to Christ) that I might gain them
that are under the law.

To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made
all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.

I CORINTHIANS 9:19-22

What better
illustration of hypocrisy could be given. For the sake of the truth,
Paul will use all means of deceit, insincerity, ruse etc in order
to gain more followers. Just like his successors today, the missionaries
put on a face of every ethnic race. You can see them at many of
their websites, to the Muslims; they put themselves under the guise
of WORLD VISION and other aid programs, and when they inject the
needle, they also try to inject the needle of Christianity along
side it. To the Jewish people, the Christian missionaries love Jews,
Israel and Zionism (one point that they could never mention to the
Muslims), bagels and Seinfeld. This love becomes so much that its
insincere face starts to show.

It is the wish
of a section of the People of the Book to lead you astray. But they
shall lead astray (Not you), but themselves, and they do not perceive!

Sura Al-Imran 3.69

For if the truth
of God, hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory: why yet
am I also judged as a sinner?

ROMANS 3:7

Even though
Paul admits to lying (like he has in many other places), never how
much he tries to defend his actions, the rational spiritual mind
will never accept it. Lying is at the root of falsehood, the very
element that is completely opposed to truth. The truth is a means
to an end. If a Muslim wanted to build a Mosque and he required
funding to do so; there are several ways he could go about it. If
he decided to rob a bank and used the stolen cash to build the Masjid,
all his efforts will be in vain. Allah will never accept it from
him, even though the man did it for Allah's sake. The fact is that
the ends don't justify the means, to get to paradise, you must choose
the road that leads to paradise. And deceit is definitely not on
that road.

Cursed [be]
he that doeth the work of the LORD deceitfully, ...

Jeremiah 48:10

ON THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS

The turning
point in the life of Paul happens to be his crucial trip from Jerusalem
to Damascus. Many would agree that if Paul did see a vision of of
Christ, it would leave an undeniable imprint in his mind. And the
fact that this is supposedly recorded in the "Book of God",
their should be consistency in the way the incident is narrated.
As God is not the author of confusion.

NARRATION 1

And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined
round about him a light from heaven:

And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul,
Saul, why persecutest thou me?

And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom
thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have
me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city,
and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And the men which journeyed
with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.

ACTS 9:3-7

NARRATION 2

And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh
unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great
light round about me.

And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul,
Saul, why persecutest thou me?

And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus
of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid;
but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.

And I said, What shall I do, LORD? And the Lord said unto me, Arise,
and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things
which are appointed for thee to do.

ACTS 22:6-10

NARRATION 3

Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from
the chief priests,

At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the
brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed
with me.

And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking
unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest
thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou
persecutest.

But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee
for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of
these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which
I will appear unto thee;

Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom
now I send thee,

To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and
from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness
of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith
that is in me.

Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly
vision:

But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout
all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should
repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.

ACTS 26:12-20

DISCREPANCIES IN THE NARRATIONS

In the first we have a record of Paul's men, hearing a voice and
seeing no man (ie Jesus). In the second narration, we have Paul
claiming that the men saw Jesus, but did not hear a voice. The possibility
of Paul manipulating this "event" is clearly revealed
in the second narration, we have Paul defending himself before the
Hebrew counsel, and twisting the point that his companions saw a
light, but did not hear the voice; apperantly adds more credibility
to his phenomenal vision. As a voice could be anyones voice for
what the Jews care. Yes there is a contradiction, but from what
we have seen from the character of Paul, it should not come as a
surprise. In the third narration, he omits any mention of the specific
incident.

The first and
second narration are consistent when it comes to claiming only he
fell to the ground when he saw the light. In the third narration,
he claims he and his companions fell down. Why the change of retrospect,
given the fact that Paul was defending himself in the third narration
at the Court of King Agrippa, dramatising the vision by claiming
all his men fell to the earth highlighted the desire to show the
great impact this event had not just on his life, but those who
were in his presence.

What clearly
reveals the flaw-ness of his vision, is that in the third narration
when addressing King Agrippa and his Gentile court. He makes the
claim that in his vision, Jesus told him that he will be Delivering
thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send
thee. So in effect, Paul is claiming that Jesus sent him to the
Gentiles, (possibly in order placate the crowd present). And in
the second narration to the Jews, he brings absolutely no mention
of this "I'am sending you to the Gentiles" alleged statement
that Jesus told him. Why not?, the obvious answer lies in the respective
audience being addressed.

In a Court of
Law, such contradictory evidence would be held suspect and hence
dismissed or cross-examined.

Back to the
specific issue of whether the disciples heard the voice or not.
The Apologisers for the New Testament, as well as the NIV bible,
have tried to cover up the contradiction between Acts 9:7 and 22:9
by translating Acts 9:7, "akouontes men tes phones" (literally
"they heard the voice", but, skewing the words of Acts
22:9, "phonen ouk hakousan" (literally, "they did
not hear the voice") into, "they did not understand the
voice".

And, according
to Luke's own report of Paul, Paul was well familiar with better
words for "understanding". In Acts 28:26,

Paul says,

"In hearing,
you shall hear but not understand."

The Greek work
he uses for "understand" is syniete. He also uses the
word in Rom 3:11, 15:21, 2 Cor 10:12, and Eph

5:17. Luke also uses this word frequently, Luke 2:50, 8:10 (when
Jesus is allegedly concealing his meaning from

folks), Luke 18:34, 24:45, and Acts 28:27 to indicate a lack of
understanding. So, if Paul (or Luke) had meant that

Paul's companions heard the voice but did not understand it, they
could have easily chosen to use "syniete" instead, so

that there would have been no question of contradiction in testimony.
You'd think this would be important. Could it be possible that Paul
fell victim to his own theory

...For Satan
himself is transformed into an angel of light.

2 CORINTHIANS 11:14

Regardless of
the voice his campanions heard (and did not hear), there is the
issue of the big light that persuaded Paul.

Even before he is told who his Big Light is, Paul addresses it as
"lord" (which tends to make the whole account sound rather

contrived). But, Paul already recognises an "Angel of Light"
as Satan (see 2 Cor 11:14 above). And, in fact, an Angel of Light
is

identified in Isaiah 14:12 as Tyre the Morning Star, who is the
enemy of GOD fallen from heaven for claiming to ascend to

heaven (Tyre is often seen as representative of Satan). So, for
Paul to immediately call a Big Light his "lord" is quite
telling.

Incidentally, St. John's version of Jesus calls himself the Morning
Star (Rev 22:16). And, it is interesting in light (excuse the

pun) of the fact that the "ascending" imagery in Isaiah
14:12 also closely resembles the "ascending Jesus" of
St. Paul's

doctrine. It just leaves wondering, and what is one to make out
of this.

It is too much
of a paradox, because the verse prior to the one above (in which
he refers to his rivals as discussed earlier). Paul states

For such are
false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into
the Apostles of Christ.

2 CORINTHIANS 11:13

The saint (?)
is accusing others of being deceitful while he himself, not only
practices deceit, but admits to it as well as takes pride in it.
According to this strange mentality, he thinks he can beautify the
word "deceit", and expect everyone to buy into it. The
term deceit does not having opposing definitions, i.e., a positive
connotation for Paul and a negative one for his competitors.

Who can be more
wicked than one who inventeth a lie against Allah, or saith, "I
have received inspiration," when he hath received none, or
(again) who saith, "I can reveal the like of what Allah hath
revealed"? If thou couldst but see how the wicked (do fare)
in the flood of confusion at death! - the angels stretch forth their
hands, (saying),"Yield up your souls: this day shall ye receive
your reward,- a penalty of shame, for that ye used to tell lies
against God, and scornfully to reject of His signs!"

Al -An'am 6.93

Yes folks, another surprise is awaiting. What does he do now, he
rallies against those who practice deceit in the upcoming verses.

But have renounced
the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor
handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the
truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight
of God.

2 Corinthians 4:2

Their throat
[is] an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit;
the poison of asps [is] under their lips:

Romans 3:13

Being filled
with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness,
maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity;
whisperers,

Romans 1:29

Lie not one
to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds

Colossians 3:9

Speaking lies
in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;

1 Timothy 4:2

So much for abiding by the "practice what you preach"
motto. The whole Bible is full of such verses; to make sure Paul
is not alone in this manner. His contemporaries speak

But if ye have
bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not
against the truth.

James 3:14

I have not written
unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it,
and that no lie is of the truth.

1 John 2:21

If Paul has
a difficult time applying such moral teachings to himself, he should
take heed of what Christ's discpiles warned in the above. And also
what the Old Testament, the books he is so fond of quoting when
it suits his interests has to say.

Thou shalt destroy
them that speak leasing: the LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful
man.

Psalms 5:6

His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue
[is] mischief and vanity.

Psalms 10:7

Thou lovest
all devouring words, O [thou] deceitful tongue.

Psalms 52:4

He that worketh
deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall
not tarry in my sight.

Psalms 101:7

For the mouth
of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against
me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue.

Psalms 109:2

Thou hast trodden
down all them that err from thy statutes: for their deceit [is]
falsehood.

Psalms 119:118

Deliver my soul,
O LORD, from lying lips, [and] from a deceitful tongue.

Psalms 120:2

A true witness
delivereth souls: but a deceitful [witness] speaketh lies.

Proverbs 14:25

Bread of deceit
[is] sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with
gravel.

Proverbs 20:17

Faithful [are]
the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy [are] deceitful.

Proverbs 27:6

Mark 7:22

Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil
eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:

Ecclesiasticus
27:25

Whoso casteth a stone on high casteth it on his own head; and a
deceitful stroke shall make wounds.

PUTTING THINGS
IN PERSPECTIVE

Deception was
not an uncommon tool of the Paulian church. At first, St. Paul considered
deception (guile) and flattery to be inappropriate tools for his
ministry. Paul grouped Guile with the evils of deceit and uncleanliness,
denying to his Thessalonian church that he had used guile on them,

For our urgent
request was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in Guile... For
neither at any time used we flattering words, as you all know, nor
a cloak of covetousness; God is witness: Nor did we seek glory from
men, neither from you nor others, though perhaps we had burdened
you...

1st Thessalonians 2:3-6

"Burdened
you" is a euphamism, used often, for "asked you for money".
And, as you will see below, after a few years, St. Paul used both
flattery and guile in getting his Corinthian church to accept their
"burden".

But, later,
writing to the church at Corinth, Paul admits to them that he had
used guile (trickery/deception), sending others (such as Titus)
instead of himself (whom he knew some of them opposed) to motivate
them into a generous state (2 Cor 8:6). How sending others amounted
to trickery is not specifically stated... merely that it did. A
very likely reason is this: It is known that there was dissent among
those in the Corinthian church over which apostle to follow. Not
everyone was loyal to St. Paul, or believed in his authority (for
one of many examples, see 2 Cor 13:3). Thus, some Corinthians were
reluctant to make donations to St. Paul, and he clearly wrote a
great deal of the 2nd Corinthians Letter for the express purpose
of convincing them of their obligation to give (voluntarily, of
course). Whatever the case, Paul admits that he used guile, and
associates it with his sending others to them to solicit donations.

For the third
time I am planning to visit you; and I will not burden you. For
I seek not what is yours (money), but you. For children ought not
save up for the parents, but parents for the children. And I will
very gladly spend and be spent for you... But be that as it may,
I myself did not burden you. Rather, being crafty, I took you in
with Guile. But, did I make a profit from you by those whom I sent
to you? I chose Titus, and with him I sent a brother. Did Titus
make a profit from you?... I fear that, when I arrive... there shall
be arguments, jealousies, wraths, strifes, slanderings, whisperings,
swellings, and tumults.

2nd Corinthians 12:14-20

Ironically,
Paul is careful not to mention "beguilings" in his list
here. As for flattering words, the entire Letter of 2nd Corinthians
is absolutely dripping with phrases saying how proud Paul is of
them, how he praises them and boasts of the generosity he expects
to receive from them (see 2nd Cor 1:14, 7:4, 7:15, 8:24, 9:2). Paul
tells them he has "godly" jealousies for them (2 Cor 11:2).
The whole notion of psychological manipulation such as this reeks
of guile. And, his boasting has purpose:

After flattering
the Corinthians with his bragging of them, of their eagerness to
give, Paul tries to play on their sense of pride and

embarrassment, playing them against the Macedonian church:

We want you to know about the gifts of God which was shown in the
churches of Macedonia: Despite great trial of affliction, the abundance
of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the wealth of their
generosity. For they gave to their limit, I assure you, and were
willing to give more than their means, and with much appeal they
implored us that we accept the hospitality and gifts in ministry
to the church leaders. ...So, we have urged Titus that he should
secure from you this work of grace (giving) as he had already begun
to do... See that you excel in this gracious work.

2 Cor 8:2-7

We hope that
no one will object to the generous gifts that we are arranging...
So, give proof, before the churches, of your love and of our boasting
of you to these men.

2 Cor 8:20,24

For regarding
the offering to the church leaders, it is unnecessary for me to
motivate you. For I know the eagerness of your mind, for which I
boast of you to them of Macedonia... Yet I had sent the others to
you instead, for fear that our boasting of you should be unfounded
in this respect (that, as I said, you all may be prepared (to give)),
for fear that, if by chance some from Macedonia came with me and
found you unprepared to give, we would be ashamed (we, and not you,
no) due to this confident boasting.

2 Cor 9:1-4