Paul and Jesus How the Apostle Transformed Christianity This
fascinating examination of the earliest years of Christianity
reveals sharply competing ideas about the significance of Jesus
and his teachings and shows how the man we call St. Paul shaped
Christianity as we know it today. Historians know almost nothing
about the two decades following the crucifixion of Jesus, when
his followers regrouped and began to spread his message. During
this time the apostle Paul joined the movement and began to
preach to the gentiles. Using the oldest Christian documents
that we have—the letters of Paul—as well as other early
Christian sources, historian and scholar James Tabor
reconstructs the origins of Christianity. Tabor reveals that the
familiar figures of James, Peter, and Paul sometimes disagreed
fiercely over everything from the meaning of Jesus’ message to
the question of whether converts must first become Jews. Tabor
shows how Paul separated himself from Peter and James to
introduce his own version of Christianit