Mall's video debate summary - Did Jesus invent Christianity? Can you be holy and sin?

Jesus was a Jew who lived fully under the Jewish covenant (the Law of Moses) and never claimed to start a new religion.

He affirmed the Law, spoke about fulfilling it (not abolishing it), and constantly referred back to God’s covenant with Israel.

Nowhere in the Gospels does Jesus say, “Start a new faith called Christianity.”

The label "Christian" and the organized system we now call "Christianity" developed later, largely shaped by Paul (formerly Saul).

Paul’s letters introduce a major shift: he focuses on faith in Christ over works of the Law, opens up salvation to Gentiles, and lays the foundation for what becomes a separate faith.

In doing this, Paulian Christianity starts to deviate from the historical Jesus, who lived, taught, and died as a faithful Jew.

Over time, Paul's interpretation overshadowed the original Jewish context of Jesus’ life and teachings.

Thus, modern Christianity is more Pauline than it is directly from Jesus himself.            

Christians follow a man, named Saul of Tarsus, who was a jew, but who abandoned the faith, and opened up early Christianity (A sect of Judaism) into a wholly different faith, Christianity. 

I suspect, Saul felt the sect would die if more weren't allowed to join. Therefor he got rid of circumcision, sabbath, kosher, and many other things required of jews, to make the faith appear more welcoming to Gentiles, and it worked. Gentiles joined fast, and the faith spread steadily. 

I suspect, Saul felt the sect would die if more weren't allowed to join. Therefor he got rid of circumcision, sabbath, kosher, and many other things required of jews, to make the faith appear more welcoming to Gentiles, and it worked. Gentiles joined fast, and the faith spread steadily. 

"The organization of the Church is actually very close (even the worship services) to the synagogue of the then Jews. Paul did have an impact — but he received his understanding directly from Jesus — according to his testimony."

"Jesus very often in the Gospels talks about the faith of those who came to him. And how it helped in their healing or miracles. Also, there is a serious debate about the direction of the purpose of the Law in the OT."

When the Temple was destroyed the heart and soul of the Jewish religion stopped. Two new cults sprung up. One called the Christians, and one by the Pharisees.

In doing this, Paulian Christianity starts to deviate from the historical Jesus, who lived, taught, and died as a faithful Jew.

Again, very much disputed. Paul followed Christ. He didn't deviate.

Paul and Jesus' teachings are consistent. Jesus of course is the one we worship.

Christians follow Christ Jesus. Paul is important but insignificant next to Christ.

Interesting suspicion but debunked on many levels.

Acts 15 (Jerusalem Council) records Paul arguing against circumcision for Gentiles.

Paul removed kosher obligations (Romans 14), Sabbath requirements (Colossians 2:16), and deliberately made Christianity accessible to Gentiles by discarding Jewish boundary markers.

It worked: Gentiles flooded in, and the Jewish identity of the movement vanished within a generation.

Christians follow a man, named Saul of Tarsus, who was a jew, but who abandoned the faith, and opened up early Christianity (A sect of Judaism) into a wholly different faith, Christianity.

I suspect, Saul felt the sect would die if more weren't allowed to join. Therefor he got rid of circumcision, sabbath, kosher, and many other things required of jews, to make the faith appear more welcoming to Gentiles, and it worked. Gentiles joined fast, and the faith spread steadily.

While it's true that Christianity would not exist without Jesus as the central figure, it is historically inaccurate to claim that Christianity is simply the direct continuation of Jesus' ministry. Jesus lived, taught, and died as a Torah-observant Jew, preaching exclusively to the lost sheep of Israel, not to Gentiles, and upholding the Law without abolishing it. His early followers, including Peter and James, continued to observe Jewish law even after believing in his resurrection. The actual transformation of Jesus’ Jewish movement into a new, Law-free, Gentile-inclusive faith was the work of Paul. Paul abolished circumcision, kosher laws, Sabbath observance, and other covenantal requirements — changes Jesus himself never taught — and reinterpreted Jesus’ death and resurrection into a universal theology based on faith alone. Thus, while Jesus inspired the faith, Christianity as a distinct, organized religion is fundamentally the product of Paul's radical theological innovations, not a simple unfolding of Jesus' original mission.

While Mark 16:15 does say, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation," this passage must be read in context.

First, most scholars agree that Mark 16:9–20 — including that verse — was a later addition, not part of the earliest manuscripts of Mark.

Second, even taking it at face value, "gospel" (euangelion) at that point referred to the announcement of the Kingdom of God, not yet to a Law-free, Gentile-inclusive religion.

Jesus' earthly ministry consistently prioritized the House of Israel (Matthew 15:24) and affirmed Torah observance (Matthew 5:17-19).

The universal, Law-free Christianity we know today only emerged after Paul systematically abolished Jewish covenant requirements for Gentiles (Galatians 5, Romans 14).

Thus, even if Jesus sent his disciples to the nations, it was still a Jewish message, not a charter to discard the Law and found a new, separate religion — that innovation came later, primarily through Paul's teachings.

Even when Paul calls Jesus "Lord" (kyrios), that term had a range of meanings, from "master" to a divine agent — not necessarily a one-to-one identification with YHWH. Yes, some early Christians may have begun to interpret "Lord" in more exalted ways, but this is part of the gradual evolution of high Christology — not settled doctrine in Paul’s time.

So while Paul gave Jesus a cosmic role and viewed him as essential to God’s redemptive plan, the idea that Paul taught Jesus = YHWH in the later Trinitarian sense is anachronistic. That doctrine fully developed much later, particularly in the 4th century at Nicaea and Constantinople.

Paul never clearly identifies Jesus as God in the same sense as YHWH. He distinguishes “God the Father” from “the Lord Jesus” (1 Cor. 8:6), and verses like Romans 9:5 and Colossians 1:15 use exalted language, but they reflect divine agency — not co-identity with God.

If learn, I will teach you. To prove you want to learn, rewrite it all without AI.

I suspect, Saul felt the sect would die if more weren't allowed to join. Therefor he got rid of circumcision, sabbath, kosher, and many other things required of jews, to make the faith appear more welcoming to Gentiles, and it worked. Gentiles joined fast, and the faith spread steadily. 

Yeah, so it's Paul's word, against all the previous disciples. Paul's word about the divinity of Christ, Paul's word and interpretation about the abandonment of the covenant between God and the Israelites. Paul who turned what was a sect of Judaism into something devoid of Jewishness, except the disciples who continued their practice of Judaism until their dying day. 

The evidence of all this comes from one man who never met Christ in the flesh, yet knew him well enough to contradict earlier teachings, and the original disciples. 

Doesn't hold much weight.