Editing Paul the Apostle (section)

==Views on Paul==
===In Judaism===
{{Main|Paul the Apostle and Judaism}}
{{See also|Messianic Judaism}}
[[File:Saint Paul with a Scroll and a Sword.jpg|thumb|upright=1|A statue of Paul holding a scroll, symbolising the [[Scripture]]s, and a sword, symbolising his martyrdom]]
Jewish interest in Paul is a recent phenomenon. Before the [[Judaism's view of Jesus#Positive historical re-evaluations|positive historical reevaluations of Jesus]] by some Jewish thinkers in the 18th and 19th centuries, he had hardly featured in the popular Jewish imagination, and little had been written about him by the religious leaders and scholars. Arguably, he is absent from the [[Talmud]] and rabbinical literature, although he makes an appearance in some variants of the medieval polemic [[Toledot Yeshu]] (as a particularly effective spy for the rabbis).<ref>{{harvp|Langton|2010|pp=23–56}}</ref> The [[Karaite Judaism|Karaite]] scholar [[Jacob Qirqisani]] also believed that Paul created Christianity by introducing the doctrine of [[Trinity|Trinitarianism]].{{sfn|Adang|1996|pp=105–06}}

However, with Jesus no longer regarded as the paradigm of gentile Christianity, Paul's position became more important in Jewish historical reconstructions of their religion's relationship with Christianity. He has featured as the key to building barriers (e.g. [[Heinrich Graetz]] and [[Martin Buber]]) or bridges (e.g. [[Isaac Mayer Wise]] and [[Claude G. Montefiore]]) in interfaith relations,<ref>{{harvp|Langton|2010|pp=57–96}}</ref> as part of an intra-Jewish debate about what constitutes Jewish authenticity (e.g. [[Joseph Klausner]] and Hans Joachim Schoeps),<ref>{{harvp|Langton|2010|pp=97–153}}</ref> and on occasion as a dialogical partner (e.g. [[Richard L. Rubenstein]] and [[Daniel Boyarin]]).<ref>{{harvp|Langton|2010|pp=154–76}}</ref> Boyarin in particular reads Paul as a 'Jewish thinker', one who 'lived and died convinced he was a Jew living out Judaism.'{{sfn|Boyarin|1994|p=4}}

He features in an oratorio (by [[Felix Mendelssohn]]), a painting (by [[Ludwig Meidner]]) and a play (by [[Franz Werfel]]),<ref>{{harvp|Langton|2010|pp=178–209}}</ref> and there have been several novels about Paul (by [[Shalom Asch]] and Samuel Sandmel).<ref>{{harvp|Langton|2010|pp=210–30}}</ref> Jewish philosophers (including [[Baruch Spinoza]], [[Leo Shestov]], and [[Jacob Taubes]])<ref>{{harvp|Langton|2010|pp=234–62}}</ref> and Jewish psychoanalysts (including [[Sigmund Freud]] and [[Hanns Sachs]])<ref>{{harvp|Langton|2010|pp=263–78}}</ref> have engaged with the apostle as one of the most influential figures in Western thought. Scholarly surveys of Jewish interest in Paul include those by {{harvnb|Hagner|1980|pp=143–65}}, {{harvnb|Meissner|1996}}, {{harvnb|Langton|2010}}, {{harvnb|Langton|2011a|pp=55–72}} and {{harvnb|Langton|2011b|pp=585–87}}.

===In Gnosticism===
{{See also|Gnosticism#Paul and Gnosticism}}
In the 2nd (and possibly late 1st) century, [[Gnosticism]] was a competing religious tradition to Christianity which shared some elements of theology.

[[Elaine Pagels]] concentrated on how the Gnostics interpreted Paul's letters and how evidence from gnostic sources may challenge the assumption that Paul wrote his letters to combat "gnostic opponents" and to repudiate their statement that they possess secret wisdom. In her reading, the Gnostics considered Paul as one of their own.{{sfn|Pagels|1992|pp=1-12,98}}

===In Islam===
Muslims have long believed that Paul purposefully corrupted the [[Injil|original revealed teachings]] of [[Isa ibn Maryam|Jesus]],{{sfn|Hindson|Caner|2008|p=280}}{{sfn|De Young|2004|p=60}}{{sfn|Riddell|2001|p=235}} through the introduction of such elements as [[pagan]]ism,{{sfn|Waardenburg|1999|p=276}} the making of Christianity into a theology of [[atonement in Christianity|the cross]],{{sfn|Waardenburg|1999|p=255}} and introducing [[original sin]] and the need for [[Redemption (theology)#Christianity|redemption]].{{sfn|De Young|2004|p=64}}

[[Sayf ibn Umar]] claimed that certain rabbis persuaded Paul to deliberately misguide early Christians by introducing what Ibn Hazm viewed as objectionable doctrines into Christianity.{{sfn|Adang|1996|pp=105–06}}{{sfn|Anthony|2011|p=68}} [[Ibn Hazm]] repeated Sayf's claims.{{sfn|Brann|2010|pp=65–66}} Paul has been criticized by some modern Muslim thinkers. [[Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas]] wrote that Paul misrepresented the message of Jesus,{{sfn|Riddell|2001|p=235}} and [[Rashid Rida]] accused Paul of introducing {{transliteration|ar|[[Shirk (Islam)|shirk]]}} (polytheism) into Christianity.{{sfn|Waardenburg|1999|p=276}} [[Mohammad Ali Jouhar]] quoted [[Adolf von Harnack]]'s critical writings of Paul.{{sfn|Waardenburg|1999|p=255}}

In [[Sunni]] Muslim polemics, Paul plays the same role (of deliberately corrupting the early teachings of Jesus) as a later Jew, [[Abdullah ibn Saba']], would play in seeking to destroy the message of Islam from within.{{sfn|Anthony|2011|p=68}}{{sfn|Brann|2010|pp=65–66}}{{sfn|Pall|2013|p=55}} Among those who supported this view were scholars [[Ibn Taymiyyah]] (who believed while Paul ultimately succeeded, Ibn Saba failed) and [[Ibn Hazm]] (who claimed that the Jews even admitted to Paul's sinister purpose).{{sfn|Adang|1996|pp=105–06}}

===Other views===
Other critics of Paul the Apostle include United States president [[Thomas Jefferson]], a [[Deism|Deist]] who wrote that Paul was the "first corrupter of the doctrines of Jesus."{{sfn|Jefferson|1854|p=}} [[Christian anarchism|Christian anarchists]], [[Leo Tolstoy]] and [[Ammon Hennacy]], as well as German philosopher [[Friedrich Nietzsche]] held similar views.<ref>{{harvnb|Tolstoy|1891|p=17}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Hennacy|2010}}</ref>

Discussions in [[Baháʼí Faith|Bahá'í]] scholarship have focused on whether Paul changed the original message of Christ or delivered the true gospel, there being proponents of both positions.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Christianity from a Bahá'í Perspective|url=https://bahai-library.com/stockman_christianity_bahai_perspective&chapter=5|access-date=26 December 2021|website=bahai-library.com}}</ref>