Paul is mentioned in 2 Peter 3 like this:
15 Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom that God gave him.
16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
Peter confirms Paul's message in the epistles, and expounds on it. His views don't oppose or contradict Paul's, if they did he would not appeal to Paul's wisdom. Instead, Peter testifies:
16 We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eye-witnesses of his majesty.
17 For he received honour and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.
18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.
originally posted by Raha
See? He did not believe in “virgin birth”. According to Paul, Jesus was ordinary mortal, who was “adopted” by God only after his dead.
That's strange,
Iasion makes exactly the opposite claim using the same epistles. Maybe you and him should have a chat and sort things out.
Every author in the New Testament believed Jesus was an ordinary mortal. Even a man by a virgin birth is still a man. Paul believed much more than just a virgin birth would signify, so his not mentioning it is hardly significant. He does call Jesus the "man from heaven", which is strange if he thought Jesus was of natural birth.
As I understand that, Paul did not teach that JC died for our sins to be forgiven, but as an example – that to live in sin means death. Nowadays, the above quotation and similar ones are taken literally, but is really what Paul wanted to say? According to my opinion he spoke about spiritual resurrection.
Paul's message would not have had any power if it was not based on the crucifiction and death of a real person, but his intent was to point out the spiritual significance and practical application of that knowledge. See for yourself:
1 Cor. 1
13Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?
17For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel--not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
Paul did not want to start a debate about the details of Jesus as a man, but the significance of what He did - and what "
being adopted by God"
meant.
22Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles
A spiritual crucifiction or resurrection would have posed no problem to either the Jews or the Greeks. As a metaphysical concept, the Greeks would have made sense of it (it would fit in with Plato's description of types and archetypes), and the Jews would not have worried about him.
Apart from that, in order to believe that Paul taught a "spiritual resurrection", you will have to supply evidence that such a belief was viable. Jesus physical death and physical resurrection informs a spiritual significance, but it can't be the other way around:
1 Corinthians 15
46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.
Sin is death, yes, but what did Paul see as sin?
Galatians 5
19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;
20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions
21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
What did Paul think about man? Nowadays many Christian schools teach that man is inherently bad. Paul did not think that way
Oh really? What Paul is saying here is exactly what Christians believe: that we have sinful natures, but can overcome them. THe law points them out, and by submitting to the law we can correct our actions accordingly. But he is clear that it is a mental (and therefore essetially "spiritual") battle:
The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. [
the opposite of life, i.e. sin still means death]
9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (Gal. 6)
Lastly, does this sound like someone who regards woman as inferior? :
28In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. (Eph. 5)