Paul and Early Christianity

"The man who invented Christianity—St. Paul"; thus, Aldous Huxley. Paul and Early Christianity in The Bible: An Islamic Perspective series examines the life and work of the man whose divinization of Jesus, in the opinion of many Muslims, made the coming of the Prophet of Islam a cosmic necessity. The Quran, while making many references to Jesus, Mary, John the Baptist, and other Biblical figures, ignores Paul completely. The remarkable career of Paul, as told in the Bible and other early writings, is reviewed and compared with Surabadi’s medieval Islamic impression of it in his Commentary. By analyzing the Biblical record as well as Surabadi’s story, we may better appreciate Paul’s crucial role in the events that formed early Christianity and the reasons for Islam’s rejection of his Christology. Paul’s battles with the Law and his relations with James, Peter, and others, as well as the mystery of his fate, are detailed. The Islamic versions of early stories such as the Companions of the Cave, Barsisa, and St. George are also reviewed. Finally, the author’s Afterword to the entire Bible completes the volume with a plea for mutual tolerance.