Paul's distinctive contribution to Christianity is also his heresy – the doctrine of justification by faith. A salvation available not just to the descendents of Abraham, but to the pagan, non-Jewish world as well. Writing to those in the Roman capital, Paul makes the declaration that proved to be the cornerstone of all his writings:

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, 'The one who is righteous will live by faith. "

Paul had come on the scene at a propitious time for the spread and acceptance of Christianity. By the first century, Jewish populations and synagogues were spread throughout the Roman empire. Judaism was becoming more attractive to a more cultured society because the notion of multiple pagan gods was proving increasingly anachronistic.

However, the legalistic practices of Judaism including blood sacrifice rituals, circumcision of foreskins and avoidance of certain meats were incomprehensible to the non-Jewish mind. What the Roman empire needed was a way for Gentiles to worship one god without the accompanying baggage of repugnant teaching. Paul was the one who made the message palatable – through a liberating theology of God's son, Jesus Christ.

Paul's heresy is centered on four major premises, the latter three of which are not found elsewhere in the New Testament:

* There is salvation in Jesus.
* This salvation comes via the intangible expression of faith.
* Faith is a product of God's grace, not human performance.
* As newcomers to the faith like Paul, we also can be apostles with Christ.

In Paul's view, anyone can experience the godhead acting not from motives of "payback" but acceptance. Like children, we are becoming "joint heirs" with Christ as members of the household of God.

Writing to the Galatians, Paul clearly states his case this way:

...yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law.

This is a man bold enough to buck not only Torah Judaism, but to also indict leaders of the early Christian movement for rigid adherence to the religious traditions of yesterday. Lest anyone miss the point, he went on to challenge his Galatian readers: "I wish those who unsettle you would castrate themselves."

Aggressiveness and persistence would pay off. Paul's characterization of Christian faith and practice would become a dogma to withstand the test of time.

Relationship of Paul to Peter and James: How is it that a person who was not with the Christ during his earthly ministry became the primary agent for Christian evangelization? After all, Jesus had labeled Peter as "the rock" on which "I will build my church." And it was the brother of Jesus, James, who would become the recognized leader of the early post-Easter church at Jerusalem.

Yet Paul the apostle is the one who has shaped Christian belief and practice since the first century. In part, this is because Paul is the most voluminous of the writers whose materials are contained in the canonized New Testament. Paul wins by sheer volume of material written – on matters both mysterious and mundane.

And in part, Paul emerges victorious because the legacy of potential competitors was largely extinguished. Paul's aggressiveness and his persistence paid off – his characterization of the Christian faith appears to be the one that has passed the test of time.

Despite his subsequent designation as the first in the line of papal succession, we really know very little about Peter's leadership role within the early church. The actions of Peter as church leader are recorded early in the book of Acts, and there are two short, relatively little used New Testament books attributed to his name. However, beyond this, we know little.

The legacy of James ends with his illegal lynching at the hands of the Jewish leadership, and the subsequent demise of the Jerusalem church with the Roman destruction of this city in AD 70. However, James (or his followers) leaves one important writing -- the epistle of James which stands as a sharp counterpoint to the heresy of Paul the convert.

Acceptance of Paul: Of all the New Testament writings, Paul's have become the most widely accepted, both by early Christian leaders as well as current scholars from a wide variety of persuasions.

Despite the apparent authenticity of these core epistles and their acceptance as "scripture," Paul's writings often were viewed even by the early church – including the apostle Peter – as "hard to understand."

The epistles of Paul and Luke's gospel were the only New Testament writings accepted by the 2nd century Gnostic heretic Marcion, albeit conditionally. By the time of church historian Eusebius in the early 4th century, all of the current Pauline epistles were widely accepted, though there were continuing doubts as to the authenticity of the epistle to the Hebrews. Eusebius also notes that, as of the 4th century, there was even a color portrait of Paul yet in circulation.
Paul in Summary

This has been a (too) brief sketch of the times and the heresy of Paul the apostle. We have reached to the man who held the keys to formulate a set of Christian beliefs and doctrine that could endure for two millennia. A man bold enough to buck not only Torah Judaism, but to also indict leaders of the early Christian movement for their rigid adherence to a religion of yesterday.

As one might expect from a man as complex as Paul, his heresy is no less easy to understand – at least at first glance. This is a four-point message – of salvation in Jesus … manifest through the intangible expression of faith …a product of God's grace, not human performance …with opportunities for all to be apostles with Christ.

The challenge is to accept Paul's vision of humans reconciled to God not by their own attitudes or actions. Rather, in Paul's view, we experience the divine purely and solely by universal acceptance from a godhead acting not from motives of "payback" but acceptance. Like children, we are becoming "joint heirs" with Christ as members of the household of God.

The most material benefit of Paul's teaching was the opportunity for the Gentile convert to come into the family of believers without also having to accept the trappings of Judaism. The disadvantage of the Pauline formulation was that it severed Christianity from its Jewish roots, creating ongoing enmity between the Jewish and Christian traditions.