Paul and the Invention of Christianity : How a Pharisaic Jew Transformed the Religion of Jesus ?  

The Truth About the " New Testament " and the Origins of the Gospels  

( Part 4 of 8 )  

✨ Here begins the journey in search of the truth...  

The Truth About the " New Testament " and the Origins of the Gospels  

🔹 Did Jesus ever tell his disciples, " Write Gospels "? Did he ever mention a book called the " New Testament "?  

Let us be honest and ask ourselves boldly :  

If Jesus had intended to leave behind a book called the " New Testament," wouldn’t it be natural for him to declare this clearly to the people ?  

If these Gospels were the essence of faith, why didn’t Jesus write even a single line of them with his own hand ?  

Why didn’t he command anyone to compile or record them ?  

And how can we call these Gospels " holy scriptures " when they are neither the words of God nor even the words of Jesus ? Instead, they were written by unknown individuals whom Jesus did not know and who had no direct relationship with him ?  

🔹 The Historical Truth :  

There is no explicit text in any of the four Gospels stating that Jesus commanded the writing of a book called the " New Testament."  

Jesus never said, " These are my words—gather them into a book ."  

Nor did he declare that his commandments would be recorded in a holy book called the " New Testament ."  

So how can we consider these books sacred when they are neither the words of God nor the words of Jesus ? Rather, they are writings by unknown individuals, composed long after Jesus' earthly ministry ended and his ascension to heaven.  

🔹 The Origin of the Term  " New Testament ":  

This term appeared in the Gospel of Luke (22: 20), where it says :  

" This cup is the new testament in my blood..."

Here, it refers to the cup of wine at the Last Supper, not a book or a collection of scriptures.  

Thus, the term did not originally mean a written book or a compilation of texts as it does today.  

🔹 How did the term " New Testament " become the title for a collection of books ?  

After the ascension of Christ, numerous accounts of his life and teachings spread.  

These texts began to be written between 70 and 110 AD, decades after the end of Christ’s earthly ministry and his ascension into heaven.  

There was no unified book or specific name for these accounts. Instead, there were many gospels and letters, some contradicting others, and some later deemed forged or altered.  

The first to use the phrase " New Testament" as a title for a collection of books was the theologian Tertullian, around 200 AD—more than 160 years after the end of Christ’s earthly ministry and his ascension.  

So, how can these books be considered " sacred " if they are not the words of God or Christ himself, but were written by unknown authors long after Christ’s earthly ministry and ascension  ?  

🔹 When were the Gospels written ?  

- Gospel of Mark: Around 70 AD  


- Gospel of Matthew: Around 80 AD  


- Gospel of Luke: Between 80 and 90 AD  


- Gospel of John : Around 110 AD  

All were written decades after the life of Jesus, not based on his direct words, and their true authors remain unknown.

Why Were the Gospels Written in Greek ?

The language of Jesus and his disciples was Aramaic.  

Religious Jews rejected learning Greek because it was considered a pagan language.  

The fact that the Gospels were written in Greek indicates that their authors belonged to a different generation and a completely different cultural environment than that of Jesus and his disciples.  

Were the Gospel Writers Eyewitnesses ?

The authors of the four Gospels did not live with Jesus during his earthly life and were not among his disciples.  

Neither Matthew, Mark, Luke, nor John claim in the introductions of their Gospels that they wrote them by direct divine inspiration from God or the Holy Spirit—nor by the command of Jesus. None of them claim to have been eyewitnesses to Jesus' life.  

The titles " According to Matthew ," "According to Mark ," " According to Luke," and " According to John" were added later by the Church in the second century—about 200 years after Jesus' earthly ministry ended and his ascension to heaven.  

There are no original manuscripts signed by known authors.  

Even in the Book of Acts ( 4 : 13 ), Peter and John are described as " unschooled " and  " ordinary " ( or "illiterate" ), so how could illiterate people write texts in Greek ?  

How can we trust books attributed to people who could not read or write, written in a foreign language to them, and consider them the word of God or the words of Jesus ?  

Paul and the Distortion of Jesus' Message

How could someone who never saw Jesus, never sat with him, introduce new doctrines that Jesus never mentioned ?  

Paul was not one of Jesus' twelve disciples.  

Paul did not know Jesus, did not accompany him during his earthly life, and did not hear his teachings.  

In fact, he was one of the greatest enemies of Jesus' followers, persecuting and imprisoning them


 ( Acts 8 : 3 ).  

About 25 years after Jesus' ascension, Paul began writing letters containing doctrines never mentioned by Jesus or his true disciples.  

Paul’s Doctrines That Jesus Never Taught :  


- That Christ is the Son of God  


- That crucifixion was a ransom for sins  


- Justification by faith alone without works  


- Abolishing the Law (Torah)  


- The concept of original sin  

The New Testament as a Term in Paul’s Letters :

Paul was the first to use the term " New Testament " in his letter to the Corinthians, where he said :  

"He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit..."

Paul explicitly states that the Old Law (Torah) has been abolished, contradicting the teachings of Jesus and the prophets, who affirmed that God’s law is eternal and cannot be abrogated by human decree.  

Notably, when Paul introduced this concept, he was not referring to the four Gospels, as they had not yet been written, and he had no knowledge of them—since they were written after his death.

🔹 The Jewish stance on the New Testament  

Jews do not recognize the " New Testament " and do not consider it a divinely inspired scripture.  

🔹 In Jewish thought, their scriptures were never called the "Old Testament." This term emerged only after the 2nd century AD, introduced by Christians.  

🔹 The meaning of the word "Gospel ":  

The Greek word "εὐαγγέλιον" (euangelion) means "good news" or "glad tidings." Originally, it did not refer to a " written book. "  

🔹 The origin of dividing the Bible into an “ Old Testament ” and a “ New Testament ”  

✦ How were the Gospels chosen ?  

1️⃣ Jesus and his disciples were unaware of a holy book called the " Old Testament " and "     "New Testament." This division appeared centuries after them, when the Church decided and defined its contents.  

2️⃣ The Council of Carthage convened in 397 AD, where the Church officially determined the list of New Testament books, selecting the current four Gospels and declaring them authoritative while rejecting other texts that were circulating among Christians. The selection followed human criteria and controversial methods, including drawing lots.  

According to some historical accounts, when the bishops could not reach a unanimous decision, the Gospels were placed in a box, prayers were offered for divine guidance, and then four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) were drawn from among dozens of others, claiming divine providence had chosen them.  

3️⃣ The Official Declaration:  


Afterward, the council declared that only these four Gospels were authoritative, forming what is known today as the " Holy Bible," while all others were rejected or deemed heretical.

⚠️ Important Warning :


Before accepting that these Gospels are the word of God, ask yourself : How could divine revelation be chosen by lottery and human decisions ?  

God’s word is not selected by chance.


If the Gospels were truly divine revelation, the Church would not have needed a ballot box and bishops to decide them.  


Revelation is not determined by humans—it proves itself.

🌟 The Alleged "Inspiration ": An Illusion to Sanctify Human Texts

🔹 What does it mean when they say the Gospel writers were " inspired "?


It is simply an attempt to bridge the vast gap between a human text full of discrepancies and contradictions and the claim that it is " the word of God." However, if we examine the truth with an open mind and honest scholarly research, we find that this idea faces three insurmountable problems :  

🔹 First : The Absence of a Clear Declaration of Inspiration


No Gospel contains a clear statement saying :  


" I, [so-and-so], wrote this under the inspiration of God or the Holy Spirit."


Neither Matthew, Mark, Luke, nor John explicitly stated this, which refutes the claim that they declared divine revelation themselves.  

🔹Second : The Authors Are Unknown


The Gospels do not mention the names of their writers, and we have no evidence proving their identities. No early manuscript identifies the authors.  


How can we believe that a text of unknown origin was divinely inspired ?


The names we know were added much later by the Church.  


How can we trust that they are " inspired by God " if we don’t even know who wrote them ?


How can we label a text as " divine revelation" when we don’t know its author ?

🔹 Third : Alterations and Distortions


The Gospels were not preserved in their original form but underwent additions, deletions, and modifications over the centuries.  


How can a text be infallible or inspired by God or the Holy Spirit if it was repeatedly altered by human hands ?  


An infallible text must remain unchanged without distortion, confirming that the Gospels are human texts subject to change—not divine, infallible revelation.  

✨ Can a vague, human text full of discrepancies and contradictions truly be called "the word of God" just because the Church decided so centuries later ?