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Paul invented Christianity

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Claim: Paul invented Christianity and taught a religion Jesus never taught.

Why it’s false:

Paul explicitly affirms he received the gospel from the earliest apostles (Gal. 1–2), and his teachings align with the earliest Christian creeds (e.g., 1 Corinthians 15:3–5), which predate his letters. All major New Testament scholars — Christian, agnostic, or atheist — recognize that the resurrection message and high Christology existed before Paul’s ministry.

The apostles affirmed Paul

Paul met Peter and James (Gal. 1–2). They confirmed his message. If Paul “invented Christianity,” then Jesus’ own brother and his closest disciples agreed with a “false gospel.” That claim collapses instantly.

In 2 Peter 3:15, the apostle Peter affirmed Paul as a brother, and said that since his teachings are deep and hard for some to understand, and these people twist Paul’s words to their own destruction. Don’t be one of them.

If Paul invented Christianity, Muslims must explain why the disciples—who walked with Jesus—accepted him as a fellow apostle. They had every motive to reject a corrupter. Instead, they affirmed him.

Paul only passed on earlier teachings

If Paul invented Christianity, why do his teachings match the earliest Christian creed in 1 Corinthians 15 — a creed scholars date to within months of the resurrection? Paul is repeating tradition, not inventing it.

Paul repeatedly says, “I delivered to you what I ALSO RECEIVED.” Inventors don’t talk like that. They say, “I came up with this.” Paul says, “This is ancient, and I’m passing it on.”

Paul’s letters are the earliest Christian documents, but they’re not the earliest Christian beliefs. He quotes hymns and creeds older than his ministry. Inventors don’t quote people who came before them.

“Paul invented Christianity” is mostly said online by people who’ve never read him. He constantly appeals to Jesus’ teachings, Old Testament prophecy, and eyewitness apostles. That’s preservation, not invention.

Christianity existed before Paul

The book of Acts, written by a companion of Paul, shows the entire early church proclaiming Jesus’ death and resurrection before Paul ever preached. Christianity existed before Paul did.

Paul didn’t invent Christianity; he persecuted Christians first. Converts don’t invent the religion they try to destroy. Something dramatic changed him—and that’s the real question Dawah never wants to touch.

Christianity is not defined by Paul

Calling Paul the “inventor of Christianity” is usually a way to dodge Jesus’ own claims. But Jesus’ statements about His identity are in the Gospels—not in Paul’s letters. You don’t need Paul to get Christianity.

A problem for Islam

If Paul invented Christianity, then Islam has a bigger problem: the Qur’an praises Jesus’ disciples as faithful and victorious. Those same disciples preached the same message Paul did. Either they were faithful—or Islam is mistaken.

If Paul was a fraud, and Jesus followers followed him, then the Quran’s claim that the followers of Jesus would be uppermost until the day of judgment is false, and thus the Quran is false and Allah is a liar.