How Paul Purged Vegan Christianity. By Chapman Chen
In 1 Timothy, (St.) Paul denounced pro-vegan ministers: "Now...some... depart from the faith, giving heed to doctrines of devils...Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron...commanding to abstain from meats...every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving"(1 Timothy 4:1-4 KJV). Paul actually "delivered unto Satan" pro-vegan ministers like Hymenaeus and Alexander, who preached against eating meat, especially strangled animals presented to idols (1 Timothy 1:19-20 KJV).
"Delivered unto Satan", according to Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers, "is a solemn excommunication or expulsion from the Church, accompanied with the infliction of bodily disease or death."
Why was Paul so bold as to persecute pro-vegan ministers in these extreme ways?
It turns out that after Jesus' rise to Heaven, Christianity split up into two camps (Dixon 2018):- The vegan Jewish Christian camp headed by Jesus' brother, James the Just, plus Peter and John; and the carnivorous gentile Christian camp led by Paul, a Greek-speaking Jew who had persecuted Jewish Christians. The vegan Jewish Christian camp strictly followed the law as interpreted by Jesus (Akers 2000, 2013). They were the precursor of the Essenes, Ebionites and Therapeutics.
In the early years of the Church, there was an intense power struggle between these two camps, especially in relation to the eating of meat. In order to attract rich meat-eating gentiles, Paul maintained that Christians could eat meat, even meat dedicated to idols (Akers 2000, 2013; Andrew McGowan, Ascetic Eucharists, pp. 35-45). A crucial conference between Paul and the Jerusalem church took place in the year 49 by (Acts 15:2 Galatians 2:1). The Jerusalem Council settled the matter by pushing for Gentile converts to abstain from meat sacrificed to idols (Acts 15:29).
In spite of the agreement reached at the Council of Jerusalem, Paul relates how he later openly challenged Peter in a quarrel sometimes named the "Incident at Antioch", over Peter's refusal to share a meal with Gentile Christians in Antioch for reason that they did not abide by Jewish customs. (Bechtel, Florentine Stanislaus (1910). "Judaizers" . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company).
Between the late 40s and early 50s, writing of that confrontation, Paul recounts, "I opposed [Peter] to his face, for the reason that he was obviously in the wrong", and he questioned Peter, "You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you oblige Gentiles to comply with Jewish customs?"[Gal. 2:11–14]
In 57 AD, Paul went so far as to declare that those "whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables" (Romans 14:2). Nonetheless, as the vegan Christian camp was then still in power in the church, Paul diplomatically advised believers not to cause brethen to stumble because of meat-eating (Romans 14:21). "Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat," Paul was also cunning enough to say around the year 54 (1 Corinthians 8:13).
However, when James the Just was stoned to death in 62 AD, Paul no longer had any scruples. In 63 AD, Paul showed his true nature in ruthlessly ridding the Church of pro vegan ministers, labeling them "false teachers", "hypocrites", "liars", "followers of devils", as aforementioned (1 Timothy 4:1-4). In the capacity of an apostle, he excommunicated them, and possibly also tortured and/or executed them.
When Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD, the vegan Christian camp was attacked from three sides -- the Roman Empire, meat-eating gentile Christianity, and orthodox Judaism (cf. Dr. Martin A. Larson, 1977, The Story of Christian origins). The meat-eating gentile Christian camp seized the opportunity to take over power in the Church. (Paul died around 68 AD). Vegan Christian groups like the Essenes and the Ebionites had to retreat to obscure caves. The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in precisely some of those caves (the Qumran Caves).
The Family Background of St. Paul who Corrupted YAHUSHUA's VEGAN Church.
By Chapman Chen, HKBNews
By Chapman Chen, HKBNews
Introduction: According to US President Thomas Jefferson, St. Paul was the "first corrupter of the doctrines of YAHUSHUA" (Washington 1854). Paul (5-67 AD), known as Saul of Tarsus before his "conversion" to Christianity, maintained that we may "eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience" (1 Corinthians 10:25-26 NIV) whilst YAHUSHUA died for the cause of animal liberation (Matthew 21:12; John 2:14-15; Akers 2000; Chen 2020).
37 times in the Scripture did Paul bad-mouth Moses' Law, including abstinence from pork and meat sacrificed to idols, whereas YAHUSHUA unequivocally said that "I have not come to abolish [the Law or the Prophets] but to fulfill them" (Matthew 5:16 NIV). Paul upheld justification by faith alone (Sola Fide) (Galatians 2:16; Romans 3:28; Philippians 3:9: Ephesians 2:8-9), while YAHUSHUA castigated the Pharisees for "all talk and no action" (Matthew 23:2-3 RAD Bible).
37 times in the Scripture did Paul bad-mouth Moses' Law, including abstinence from pork and meat sacrificed to idols, whereas YAHUSHUA unequivocally said that "I have not come to abolish [the Law or the Prophets] but to fulfill them" (Matthew 5:16 NIV). Paul upheld justification by faith alone (Sola Fide) (Galatians 2:16; Romans 3:28; Philippians 3:9: Ephesians 2:8-9), while YAHUSHUA castigated the Pharisees for "all talk and no action" (Matthew 23:2-3 RAD Bible).
Now, was Paul a mole sent by the Roman Empire and/or Satan to corrupt YAHUSHUA's vegan church? In order to answer this question, we will examine Paul's family background in this article. In forthcoming articles, we will carefully go through suspicious points of Paul's conversion story as told by himself, how Pauline Christianity deviates from YAHUSHUA's teachings, and Paul's power struggle with early vegan Christians.
A Benjamite like King Saul
First of all, Paul was a Benjamite (Romans 11:1). And according to Genesis 49:27, "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he divided the plunder" (Genesis 49:27 NIV). The first king of Israel, also named Saul, was a Benjamite who badly persecuted David (I Samuel 18-19).
A Relative of Herod Antipas'
Secondly, Paul was a relative of Herod Antipas (Romans 16:11; Acts 22: 26-29), who directly beheaded John the Baptist (Mark 6:14-29 NIV) and indirectly caused the death of YAHUSHUA.
In driving out from the Holy Temple those vendors who were buying and selling animals for cruel sacrifice (Matthew 21:12), YAHUSHUA offended the chief priests and teachers of the law, for the reason that he was disrupting their revenue stream. Immediately afterwards, "the chief priests and the teachers of the law heard about this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him because the whole crowd was amazed at his teachings."(Mark 11:18)
But then only the Roman authorities had the power to mete out a death penalty. As Pontius Pilate the Roman Governor would see a charge of blasphemy as a Jewish matter rather than something he cared to be involved in, YAHUSHUA was sent to Pilate on a charge of high treason.
Pilate was reluctant to pass judgment on YAHUSHUA. So when he heard that YAHUSHUA was a Galilean, Pilate sent YAHUSHUA to Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee. Herod may have been interested in YAHUSHUA, but YAHUSHUA was not interested in performing tricks for this man. Piqued when YAHUSHUA would not reply to his questions, Herod joined his soldiers in mocking YAHUSHUA by draping his body with rich clothing suitable for a king, and sent him back to Pilate. He was apparently indifferent to YAHUSHUA’s fate. Under the pressure of the chief priests and law teachers, Pilate eventually sentenced YAHUSHUA to be crucified, though he deemed YAHUSHUA innocent (Luke 18-19).
Pilate was reluctant to pass judgment on YAHUSHUA. So when he heard that YAHUSHUA was a Galilean, Pilate sent YAHUSHUA to Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee. Herod may have been interested in YAHUSHUA, but YAHUSHUA was not interested in performing tricks for this man. Piqued when YAHUSHUA would not reply to his questions, Herod joined his soldiers in mocking YAHUSHUA by draping his body with rich clothing suitable for a king, and sent him back to Pilate. He was apparently indifferent to YAHUSHUA’s fate. Under the pressure of the chief priests and law teachers, Pilate eventually sentenced YAHUSHUA to be crucified, though he deemed YAHUSHUA innocent (Luke 18-19).
A Supporter of the Roman Empire
Thirdly, quite unlike YAHUSHUA who was born and raised in a grass-root family, Paul came from a wealthy, elite, merchant family. He primarily conversed and wrote in Greek though he also spoke Hebrew. He was a Roman citizen and supported the Roman Empire throughout his entire life. "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities... The authorities that exist have been established by God...he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted," wrote Paul (Romans 13:1-2).
Paul was also a Pharisee who, before his "conversion", had endorsed and taken part in the persecution and killing of vegan Jewish Christians like St. Stephen (Acts 6; 7; 8:1-2,4).
Like Father, Like Son
In conclusion, like father like son. Given his clan history, Paul was apparently a perfect candidate to be used by the Roman Empire and/or Lucifer to destroy the house of David and to subvert YAHUSHUA's vegan Christianity.
For proofs that YAHUSHUA was a vegan, please read Chen (2020).
Bibliography
Akers, Keith (2000). The Lost Religion of Jesus. Lagos: Lantern Books.
Chen, Chapman (2021). ”Jesus Asks us to Serve the Animals. Go Vegan!" HKBNews, July 10 (https://www.hkbnews.net/.../jesus-asks-us-to-serve-the...)
Chen, Chapman (2020). "Proofs that Jesus was Vegan." HKBNews, Dec. 28 (https://www.hkbnews.net/.../proofs-that-jesus-was-vegan... )
Linzey, Andrew (1994). Animal Theology. Champaign: University of Illinois Press.
Washington, H. A. (1854) (ed). The Writings of Thomas Jefferson: Being his Autobiography, Correspondence, Reports, Messages, Addresses, and Other Writings, Official and Private. Vol. VII. Washington, D.C.: Taylor & Maury.