Not Paul, but Jesus
- Language:
- English
- Status:
- Complete work
- Authorship:
- Written by the author
- Condition of the text:
- No scanning noise detected (automatic measure over the whole text, not checked by hand)
- Extent:
- ~140,000 words · 676 passages
Cite this work
- APAJeremy Bentham. (n.d.). Not Paul, but Jesus. Digital reproduction: SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/jeremy-bentham/not-paul-but-jesus
- MLAJeremy Bentham. Not Paul, but Jesus. Digital reproduction, SigPhi, https://sigphiai.com/en/works/jeremy-bentham/not-paul-but-jesus.
- ChicagoJeremy Bentham. Not Paul, but Jesus. Digital reproduction, SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/jeremy-bentham/not-paul-but-jesus.
Reference to the edition that SigPhi reproduces: SigPhi is its digital reproduction, not its publisher. The edition's year is not in the metadata (hence "n.d."), and the translator appears only when recorded.
What it is about
The 1823 book in which Bentham argues that Saint Paul invented a religion different from that of Jesus and laid it over the top, published under the pseudonym Gamaliel Smith.
Context and history
Bentham applied here the same method as in his legal writings: read the text closely, compare statements, look for contradictions. He argues that the three accounts of Paul's conversion in Acts do not agree, that Paul never knew Jesus, and that the ascetic morality he introduced — especially in sexual matters — has no basis in the gospels. The pseudonym was no whim: to publish this under his own name in the England of 1823 was a real risk, and the book was ignored or attacked. He left a still more explicit third part unpublished. It should be read knowing that it is a polemical pamphlet, and that twentieth-century biblical scholarship has reworked many of these questions with other tools.
Editorial context, not a citable source: unlike the passages of the work itself, these statements cannot be checked against the corpus.
And Ananias departed, and entered into the house; and laying his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord even Jesus, who appeared unto thee in the way which thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mayest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And straightway there fell from his eyes as it were scales, and he received his sight; and he arose and was baptized; and he took food and was strengthened. And he was certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus. And straightway in the synagogues he proclaimed Jesus, that he is the Son of God. And all that heard him were amazed, and said, Is not this he that in Jerusalem made havock of them which called on his name? and he had come hither for this intent, that he might bring them bound before the chief priests. But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is the Christ. _II. Paul's Account._ As per Acts xxii. 12-16. xxii. 12. And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well reported of by all the Jews that dwelt there, came unto me, and standing by me said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And in that very hour I looked up on him. And he said, The God of our fathers hath appointed thee to know his will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear a voice from his mouth. For thou shalt be a witness for him unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on his name. NOT PAUL, BUT JESUS CHAPTER I. _Paul's Conversion._[1]--_Improbability and Discordancy of the Accounts of it._ SECTION I. LIST OF THESE ACCOUNTS, WITH PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. (_See_ TABLE I., _in which they are confronted_.) In one single work, and that alone, is comprised the whole of the information, in which, in relation to this momentous occurrence, any particulars are at this time of day to be found.…