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IS GOD THE AUTHOR OF CONFUSION? GALATIANS 1:20 In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie! GALATIANS 1:15-17 Paul says when it pleased God to reveal his Son in him, "immediately" he conferred not with flesh and blood; but went away at once into Arabia. ACTS 9:1-26 contradicts Paul's account and says immediately after the revelation, rather than going to Arabia and not conferring with flesh and blood, Paul was told he must enter Damascus, for there he would be told what he is to do. Not only must the Paul of Acts (Saul) confer with flesh and blood to find out what he is to do; but even receives the Holy Spirit from one of flesh and blood! According to Acts, Paul doesn't go to Arabia at all, but remained in Damascus until he was forced to flee to Jerusalem. GALATIANS 1:15-17 Paul says in the revelation God revealed to him that he was chosen to preach Jesus "among" the Gentiles. ACTS 9:20-22 contradicts this in saying that rather than going among the Gentiles to preach Jesus as he was told, Paul was determined to preach Jesus not among the Gentiles, but in the synagogues! For the Paul of Acts confounds the Jews of Damascus as he goes from synagogue to synagogue, proving in them that Jesus is the Messiah. Not once while in Damascus does Acts say that Paul sought to preach to those who were not of the synagogues - THE GENTILES! Now if God tells one he is to preach "among" the Gentiles, should he run from synagogue to synagogue searching for Gentiles? Certainly not! Yet this is exactly what Acts has said of Paul. For Acts says it wasn't a revelation of God that sent Paul among the Gentiles, but he was caused to go among the Gentiles because his message was rejected in the synagogues. According to Acts it is long after Paul has departed Damascus, and due only to the opposition of the Jews, that in Corinth he angrily threatens to leave the synagogues and to go unto the Gentiles. Nevertheless, his threats are empty, for that Paul of Acts cannot resist the seductive call of a synagogue; and thus, he returns again and again to debate within them, see Acts 18:5-19. Even though a small number of Gentiles had converted to Judaism, Paul nevertheless was not confused as to whom God had told him to go among and to whom he was to preach too! For according to what Paul says in Galatians 2:7-9 the Gentile proselytes of the synagogues were under the Law; and thereby, had placed themselves under the authority of James, Peter, and John; not Paul! For Paul did not go from synagogue to synagogue seeking to convert them into being Gentile churches, but did as God had told him: he went among the Gentiles and established churches in their own lands! Some have claimed the reason Acts doesn't mention anything about Paul going to Arabia is because he went spiritually without anyone being aware of it. This hocus-pocus attempt to rationalize an obvious contradiction between Galatians and Acts is due to the self-serving interest of the self-called, who profit in maintaining the myth of Biblical infallibility, while in fact the Bible is composed of a Spiritual duality and contradiction is its rule! For Acts just doesn't contradict Paul's account of his conversion, it contradicts every key event in Galatians! In regards to inerrancy and being divinely inspired, Acts doesn't even keep its own record straight. There are at least three contradicting accounts of Paul's conversion in Acts alone. According to Acts 9:7, after Saul fell to the ground the men with him stood speechless hearing the voice, but seeing no one. Yet Acts 22:9 says those with Saul did not hear a voice, but saw a light. And according to Acts 26:14 the men with Saul were not standing speechless, but had fallen down! In Acts 9:3-6 and 22:6-16 Saul is told he must enter Damascus, and there he would be told what he is to do. But according to Acts 26:14-20 Paul is told what he is to do before entering Damascus. Some have attempted to uphold the alleged inerrancy of Acts by rendering Acts 22:9 from "did not hear the voice" to "did not understand the voice." This is a vain effort, for Acts has many other contradictions which cannot be as easily altered, at least not without making it painfully obvious to even the most unsuspecting Fundamentalist that Acts is but a flawed fabrication. All the self-called can offer in trying to rationalize these other flaws in Acts away is more priestly mumbo jumbo. When comparing Paul's account of his conversion to that of Acts, it is more likely that Paul was alone and residing in Damascus when the revelation occurred; rather than as Acts alleges, as he was traveling to Damascus with a group of men. Paul's statement of having returned to Damascus from Arabia indicates that he departed for Arabia from within Damascus, for one cannot return to where they have not been! The account in Acts of Paul going to Damascus to bind and bring back to Jerusalem those who belonged to "The Way" is utterly absurd! After all, did Roman authorities consider it to be a criminal offense if the Jewish religion was not being properly observed in Damascus, Syria? Was it the business of Rome to defend the synagogues by requiring those who were not living in Judaea to be subject to the authority of the high priest in Jerusalem? The author or authors of Acts were not the friends of Paul. The conflicting accounts of Paul's conversion in Acts and its contradictions of doctrine and circumstances in Galatians betrays the authors of Acts as having not only used different sources for their portrayal of Paul, but they also had ulterior motives, as well! It was not Paul that sought to undermine the work of others, but the authorities of the so-called Jerusalem church, for the Judaizers of that synagogue hated the liberty of Paul's gospel. It is their bogus accounts of Paul and their attempts to undermine Paul's gospel to which Paul is responding to in Galatians 1:20. For it is through those lies of the Judaizers that another crafty priesthood would cause them to resonate within their own creation: The Saul of Acts. GALATIANS 1:18-24 Paul says three years after returning to Damascus from Arabia, he went to Jerusalem to visit Cephas. And after visiting for 15 days, he simply left Jerusalem and went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. ACTS 9:22-31 contradicts Paul's account and says that rather than just going on a journey, Paul was forced to escape from Damascus and flee for his life, for the Jews were plotting to kill him! And Paul didn't go to Jerusalem merely to visit Cephas, but was seeking to join the disciples of the Jerusalem church. And unlike Paul's account in Galatians of simply leaving Jerusalem on his own accord, the Paul of Acts must escape from Jerusalem and flee for his life. In Galatians, Paul says that while in Jerusalem he saw Cephas and James, but none of the other apostles. Unlike Paul's account, Acts says that because Paul's attempt to join the Jerusalem disciples was rejected, Barnabas had to intercede on his behalf and introduced him to "the apostles!" And that Paul was then allowed to join with them, to go in and out among them in Jerusalem, and to preach boldly in the name of Jesus. Yet Acts 22:4-21 contradicts the account of Acts 9:28 and says that rather than going in and out among them in Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of Jesus, Paul is told to leave Jerusalem "immediately!" For the Lord tells Paul he will send him far away to the Gentiles because his testimony will not be accepted in Jerusalem, for he is known in every synagogue as one who persecuted them. Acts 22:4-21 is also contradicting Galatians 1:22, for Paul says that when the "churches in Judea" heard that he now defends the faith that he once tried to destroy, they glorified God because of him! Remaining chapters of "THIS IS THE HOUSE OF BONDAGE - THIS IS THE LAND OF EGYPT" are located at: http://www.cjnetworks.com/~quixote THE COUNCIL OF JERUSALEM AND APOSTOLIC DECREE THE HOUSE OF BONDAGE WHO ARE THE PROPHETS OF GOD? ABSURDITIES! SWALLOWING CAMELS! THE CHAINS OF BONDAGE INSANITIES OF INSANITIES THE LAND OF SPIRITUAL EGYPT HOME PAGE - IS GOD THE AUTHOR OF CONFUSION? Do you require more evidence of the things of which I have reported? Go to the following sites: THE WONDER OF IT ALL http://members.tripod.com/~Carol_Harrington INSPIRED HARMONY http://www.angelfire.com/ks/charrington FORGERY IN CHRISTIANITY http://www.angelfire.com/ks/lindamontgomery IS IT GOD'SWORD? http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Parthenon/4115 THIS IS THE HOUSE OF BONDAGE THIS IS THE LAND OF EGYPT http://www.cjnetworks.com/~quixote
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