Shalom Aleikhom,
My understanding is that the Christianity we see is the deen of Paul. But upon reading his works (attributed to him atleast) twice, I come to a different conclusion. Did Paul claim to be inspired ? His writings say otherwise, let me share some with you and you educate me why I am wrong or right:
You dont need to read all of it (although you may) since the context is not important, focus on the RED parts to understand the author's psychology and understanding of his own words.
1 Corinthians 7 KJV
10: And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband:
11: But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.
12: But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away.
What does this tell you about the author ? The person is completely aware of what is inspired and what is "opinion".
25: Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord: yet I give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful.
26 I suppose therefore that this is good for the present distress, I say, that it is good for a man so to be.
40: But she is happier if she so abide, after my judgment: and I think also that I have the Spirit of God.
Galatians 5
2: Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
Now, considering the highlighted red parts ( There may be many more), what is your opinion about them ? I get confused by the missionaries and ordinary believers in Christ about Paul. They say that Paul was inspired, but Paul writes saying that he is writing his opinions, so how can all his words be inspired ? Which kind of indicates that he himself never understood all his words to be inspired (if you consider the highlighted red parts above).
What do you think ? If you were a christian before, or are now one, how do you understand it ?
Peace
------------- Student of Allah
Jesus's divinity argument is not attributed to Paul exclusively. Paul focused on the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Being a Pharisee he struggled (as do many of us from a Judaic and Islamic background) with the issue of legalism. Which he called the Law.
References to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
The earliest known depiction of the Trinity, Dogmatic Sarcophagus, 350 AD[29] Vatican Museums.
Some biblical verses specifically reference the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as distinct entities in a single narrative. While trinitarians interpret these passages as support for the notion of a Trinity, because these verses speak of distinct entities mentioned by name, and not of a Trinity, non-trinitarians also appeal to these verses in support of their argument that a Trinity was not envisioned at the time of their authorship.
"As soon as Jesus Christ was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and landing on him. And a voice from heaven said, 'This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.'"[Mt 3:16–17] [Mk 1:10–11] [Luke 3:22] [John 1:32]
"The angel answered and said to her, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.'"[Luke 1:35]
"How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!"[Heb 9:14]
"But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God." [Acts 7:55]
The eighth chapter of Paul's letter to the Romans, which contains many complex formulations of the relationship between God, Christ, and Spirit, including "the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead,"[Rom 8:11] "all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God,"[8:14-17] and "the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."[8:26-27]
Some verses also reference the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as part of a single formula, which trinitarians view as support of a Trinity, though not explicitly stated. Non-trinitarians argue that because these verses are conclusions to their respective books, they may be later trinitarian formulaic additions to the original works, which were added after the doctrine of the Trinity had begun to be debated and accepted as dogmatic.[30]
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit"[Mt 28:19] (see Trinitarian formula). It has been claimed that writings of Eusebius show the mention of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to have displaced a request by Jesus that his disciples baptize people in his name.[31] However, all extant manuscripts of the Gospel of Matthew unanimously contain the trinitarian baptismal formula without variation at 28:19.[32]
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you."[2
As opposed to the Synoptic Gospels, the Gospel of John has been seen as aimed at emphasizing Jesus' divinity, presenting Jesus as the Logos, pre-existent and divine, from its first words, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."[John 1:1][37] John also portrays Jesus as the creator of the universe, such that "without him was not any thing made that was made."[John 1:3] Some render John 1:1 as "the Word was a god", "the word was godlike", "the word was divine", denying that the doctrine of the Trinity is supported by the verse.
The Gospel of John ends with Thomas's apparent confession of faith to Jesus, "My Lord and my God!"[John 20:28][21] There is no significant tendency among modern scholars to deny that John 1:1 and John 20:28 identify Jesus with God.[38]
Other passages of John's Gospel interpreted in this sense include, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.",[8:58] "I and the Father are one.",[10:30] "....the Father is in me and I am in the Father.",[10:38][39] and "....he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God."[John 5:18] John is also seen to identify Jesus as the Lord whom Isaiah saw,[John 12:34-45][Isa 6:1-10] while other texts[Heb 1:1-12] are also understood as referring to Jesus as God.[40][41][42]
There are also a few possible biblical supports for the Trinity found in the Synoptic Gospels. The Gospel of Matthew, for example, quotes Jesus as saying, "all things have been handed over to me by my Father".[Mt 11:27] This is similar to John, who wrote that Jesus said, "All that the Father has is mine".[John 16:15] These verses have been quoted to defend the omnipotence of Christ, having all power, as well as the omniscience of Christ, having all wisdom.
Expressions also in the Pauline epistles have been interpreted as attributing divinity to Jesus. They include: "For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him"[Colossians 1:16] and "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form",[Colossians 2:9] and in Paul the Apostle's claim to have been "sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father".[Galatians 1:1][43]
The first of the early church fathers recorded as using the word Trinity was Theophilus of Antioch writing in the late second century. He defines the Trinity as God, His Word (Logos) and His Wisdom (Sophia)[63] in the context of a discussion of the first three days of creation. The first defence of the doctrine of the Trinity was in the early third century by the early church father Tertullian. He explicitly defined the Trinity as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and defended the Trinitarian theology against the "Praxean" heresy.[64]
Although there is much debate as to whether the beliefs of the Apostles were merely articulated and explained in the Trinitarian Creeds,[65] or were corrupted and replaced with new beliefs,[66][67] all scholars recognize that the Creeds themselves were created in reaction to disagreements over the nature of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These controversies, however, were great and many, and took some centuries to be resolved.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity