Once again, the claim that Paul taught a different gospel than Peter and other 11 apostles. It’s true. I saw a mem in a Facebook group that not only made the announcement, it provided a long list of passages from the Bible! Here’s the meme:
DID Paul preach a “different” gospel than Peter and the other 11 apostles? No fewer than twelve passages of scripture are offered to ‘prove’ that he did. In order to find out if any of those passages actually ‘prove’ the different gospel claim, I copy/pasted all of them into a new document in order to try and find out why they were given as proof texts. Here are the results of my labor:
1. Paul used the term “my gospel” in Rom 2:16 and Rom 16:25-26. Paul was in no way claiming that he ‘owned’ or had a special, unique, or different gospel, but was simply referring to the gospel that he was commissioned to preach.
2. Paul connected himself to the gospel by using terms like “the gospel you heard/received (from me); “the gospel we preached” (Paul and his ministry team); “I (Paul) was made a minister of the gospel. There is no mention whatsoever of the gospel Paul preached being different than the gospel preached by Peter and the 11.
3. Paul mentioned “Gentiles” four times in the ‘proof’ texts. He called Gentiles “fellowheirs” (with Israel) in Eph 3:6 and stated that he was given the primary mission of ministering the gospel to the gentiles three times in the ‘proof’ texts; Eph 3:1 and 3:8, and in Gal 2:8:
Eph 3:6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
Eph 3:1 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,
Eph 3:8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ
Gal 2:8 (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:
In that entire list of ‘proof’ texts, there is only one passage that talks about the gospel taught by Paul (and his team), as well as the gospel taught by Peter and the 11:
Gal 2:7-10 “But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; 8(For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:) 9And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision. 10Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.”
Not only is there no explicit indication that there were two separate and different gospels (for the circumcised and the uncircumcised), the opposite is true. That’s not just my personal opinion. I consulted no less than seven notable commentaries and all of them agree that while Peter and the 11 were to teach the gospel primarily to a Jewish audience, Paul’s mission was to teach the same gospel primarily to Gentiles (non-Jews). Here are two examples:
“The elder Apostles recognised St. Paul because they saw that his teaching was fundamentally the same as their own. At the same time, the success of St. Paul among the Gentiles proved that his mission to them had the divine sanction, just as the success of St. Peter among the Jews specially marked him out as the “Apostle of the circumcision.” – Ellicott
“The gospel of the uncircumcision – The duty of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised part of the world; that is, to the Gentiles Paul had received this as his unique office when he was converted and called to the ministry (see Acts 9:15; Acts 22:21); and they now perceived that he had been specially intrusted with this office, from the remarkable success which had attended his labors. It is evidently not meant here that Paul was to preach only to the Gentiles and Peter only to the Jews, for Paul often preached in the synagogues of the Jews, and Peter was the first who preached to a Gentile Acts 10; but it is meant that it was the main business of Paul to preach to the Gentiles, or that this was especially entrusted to him.
As the gospel of the circumcision – As the office of preaching the gospel to the Jews.
Was unto Peter – Peter was to preach principally to the circumcised Jews. It is evident that until this time Peter had been principally employed in preaching to the Jews. Paul selects Peter here particularly, doubtless because he was the oldest of the apostles, and in order to show that he was himself regarded as on a level in regard to the apostleship with the most aged and venerable of those who had been called to the apostolic office by the personal ministry of the Lord Jesus.” Barnes
Conclusion? There has always been and will always be ONE gospel. Peter and the 11 had as their primary audience Jews while Paul had as his primary audience non-Jews (Gentiles). Period.
For an old guy like me, that conclusion should be clear to a the average High School English student, assuming they still teach reading comprehension in HS. So why the constant false claim in some circles of professing Christianity?
The answer to that question, in mu my mind anyway, is that we believe what we want to believe. You see, the ‘different’ gospel claim was the product of a form of Dispensationalism developed in the 19th century that took the took the separation of Israel and the New Testament church taught by some Dispensationalists to illogical extremes. But that’s another story.
How can we respond to the above erroneous claims? Well, like i did for this one, we can examine ‘proof’ texts to see if they actually contain the advertised ‘proof’. We don’t do so with an eye to ‘attack’ the offered proof, but only to examine and perhaps explain the results of our labors, as I have done with this blog. I also offered the results of published here in the FB post containing the meme shown above. Perhaps it will be profitable for readers, but perhaps not.
While I realize that sometimes we need to just walk away from some posts on social media, there are times when someone just might pay attention and grow in their faith walk. All of that’s a personal decision.
thegreatprivilege 