FOREWARD
With Credits to Soren Kierkegaard
This has to be said again, now:
„This has to be said; so be it now said,
Whoever thou art, whatever in other respects thy life may be, my friend, by ceasing to take part (if ordinarily thou doest) in the public worship of God, as it now is (with the claim that it is the Christianity of the New Testament), thou hast constantly one guilt the less, and that a great one: thou dost not take part in treating God as a fool by calling that the Christianity of the New Testament which is not the Christianity of the New Testament.”

S. Kierkegaard, 1854
When first I read these words, some forty years ago, I was enthralled. From that moment to this, S. K. has been my hero of the faith. What courage! What abandonment of all earthly care must he have had to proclaim them, for these words were published one hundred and forty-six years ago in a time when they could easily have cost him his life. Here was a man of integrity, a lonely witness to the Truth in the world, who loved God and the Truth and hated his life according to the Great Principle of Jesus.

Times have changed. Now religion is not taken that seriously. Anyone can say any radical thing publicly or otherwise and no one cares, or they make a joke of it, or they ignore it. So, I have perfect freedom to praise such words, words that I must admit I once envied – wishing I had been the one to say them first. Why then do I bother to praise them? It is the most one can do in an age that no longer cares about Truth.

My reader, you are to be praised also if you have read this far! Stay with me now and read what is really in my heart. You see, I have learned that S.K., courageous as he was and so fully dedicated to Jesus, was in error. Yes, in error! I required years to realize the error – so subtle that even such a religious genius as S.K. could overlook it. It is implicit – he assumed that the Christianity of the New Testament is the religion of Jesus and in this he was absolutely wrong. Yes! The Christianity of the New Testament is not the religion of Jesus. Whose religion is it if not that of Jesus?

The Christianity of the New Testament is the religion of Paul. It is the religion that emanates from what is called „The Church” and that was first identified at Antioch where „the disciples were first called Christians.” Please listen carefully, now, for this is critical: the religion of Paul, which is the Christianity of the New Testament, is not the religion of Jesus. It is the religion of Christendom. It is the religion of the churchmen but . . . it is not the religion of Jesus.

By failing to recognize this important distinction between the religion of Paul and that of Jesus, S.K. erred in his statement but his heart was right, for the religion of Jesus is the religion of S.K. No, the churchmen were not and are not taking God for a fool by calling that the Christianity of the New Testament that is not the Christianity of the New

Testament. The churchmen were, and are, precisely correct in calling that the Christianity of the New Testament that is the religion of the church, of Paul and of Christendom, for it is indeed the Christianity of the New Testament. No, they were not and are not taking God for a fool; they are only making fools of themselves by believing that the Christianity of the New Testament is the religion of Jesus.

The Christianity of the New Testament, which is the Christianity of Christendom and of the churchmen to this day, is infinitely far removed from the religion of Jesus because of its powers of deception. It appropriates the name of Jesus. It honors and glorifies the name of Jesus. But it ignores precious words that he said in the world at so high a price. It takes its converts, young and old, and baptizes them. Then it teaches them the doctrine. Then it tells them, „Yes, it is true, you are now a Christian! You are a member of the church so you are partaker of the Christianity of the New Testament.” And of course the power of the deception is just this . . . it is perfectly true. They are indeed partakers of the Christianity of the New Testament but, unlike S. K., they are not partakers of Jesus and his religion.

Yes! This has to be said so let it be said now but in a different way:
Whoever thou art, whatever in other respects thy life may be, my friend, by ceasing to take part (if ordinarily thou dost) in the public worship of God, as it now is (with the claim that it is the religion of Jesus), thou hast constantly one guilt the less, and that a great one: thou dost not take part in treating God as a fool by calling that the religion of Jesus that is not the religion of Jesus but is only the Christianity of the New Testament.

PREFACE
The immediate task is to state why I am designating Paul by the descriptive term, „the stranger.” supplemental to this task is to also identify the „strangers” who have followed Paul. Then the task of the volume that follows, in four books, is to justify this designation. The immediate task together with its supplement can be performed in few words; the second task will require more because of the two thousand years of false testimony that has molded and cemented Christendom’s exaltation of the man to the status of „Saint Paul.” It will require more than a few words to counter the false testimony of the two thousand years.
The immediate task begins here with the simple statement, which everyone knows and will not dispute, that Paul (or Saul) of Tarsus was a stranger to the small fellowship of Jesus’ disciples that rallied around the Twelve after the Ascension. He was never a member of their fellowship, though he may have sometimes been in the crowds that gathered about Jesus. If he had been a disciple of the Pharisee, Gamaliel, as he claimed (Acts 22:3), he would have been in Jerusalem during Jesus’ ministry in that city. I do not question this claim, as exposure to Pharisaism readily explains his early antagonism toward the little flock of disciples. He was surely aware of the activities of Jesus and of his resurrection. There is even a probability that he was in some way involved with the arrest and trial of the Lord. Perhaps it was about then that he signed on to the police force of the High Priest and, powered by the zealotry of extreme Pharisaism, began to persecute the little flock. Thereafter he was a stranger no more!

Nevertheless, he was a stranger on the day Jesus gathered his little flock about him and began to
teach:
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber; but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens; the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers (John 10:1-5).

There is an intriguing change of number in the last sentence of this utterance. It begins in the singular, „A stranger,” as though Jesus had a particular individual in mind. Then it continues in the singular, ” . . . but they will flee from him,” again as though he spoke of a particular person. Only then does he switch to the plural in emphasizing that the sheep not only will flee from this „stranger” but will not heed the voices of the many „strangers” they were certain to encounter. Now we back up to the beginning of the utterance and discover that the singular prevails there also as we hear Jesus saying, „he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs in by another way,” he continues, „That man is a thief and a robber.” Over against „that man” he then proceeds to point to another single person, himself, ” . . . but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.”

It is my position that Jesus foresaw the activities of Paul and here designated him „the stranger,” „that man” who is „a thief and a robber.” I do not mean that he knew the identity of this stranger and could have pointed to Paul in the crowd and said, „There is the man.” (Although he was capable of that.) Anyone in his position would have known the terrible hostility that his disciples must face after his departure and the strength of the powers to oppose them – powers that would

surely unite under an energetic and charismatic leader for the purpose of robbing him of his sheep. „That man” could oppose them in either of two ways: first, as a violent enemy intent on physically destroying them and second, as a non violent enemy coming to them in the guise of a shepherd and intent on leading them astray into spiritual destruction. Paul did both. First, violently and by his own testimony, he hounded them and hunted them to death and imprisonment. Second, non-violently, he changed his tactics, approached them in the guise of a true shepherd and led them astray from the Truth. It is certain that Jesus was not referring to some satanic spiritual power, because he clearly designated him, „That man.”

Then who are the „strangers” of the last sentence of this utterance? These are the myriad clergymen who, following Paul, have throughout the two thousand years been climbing in „by another way” than the door and stealing the sheep. They are strangers to the Good Shepherd and his little flock. It is not only that Paul is „the stranger.” No, he is only the first of a long line of strangers, a line that continues today to perform its terrible task.

Jesus allowed for only one flock of sheep, his „little flock,” and he allowed for only one shepherd,
saying,
And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will
heed my voice. So there shall be on flock, one shepherd (John 10:16).
Without a doubt he has only himself in mind as he points to himself as the „good shepherd.” There is only one good shepherd. All the others, beginning with Paul, must, then, be included in the designation, „strangers.”

We get a better view of this exclusion of all others as shepherds of his little flock by observing that the tasks of a shepherd are basically three: leader, feeder and protector. These three functions are clearly implicit in, for example, Psalm 23. „Heleads me beside the still waters,” and, „He

leads me in paths of righteousness,” define the first function. He is a feeder when „he makes me
lie down ingreen pastures” and when „thoupreparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” He is a protector when „Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”

Jesus surely had this Psalm in mind when he identified himself as the Good Shepherd, for it begins, „The Lord is my shepherd.” We note here again the singular number. It likewise must have been fundamental in his attack on the fear of death. When he commanded his disciples, „Neither be ye called leaders” (Matthew 23:10) he was effectively eliminating „shepherd” from their job description.

Paul, however, provides for many shepherds, and himself he claims to be a feeder. His
„shepherd” provision is stated in Ephesians 4:11:
And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists,
somepastors and teachers . . ..
The Greek for „pastors” here is precisely the same word translated „shepherd” in John 10. Then,
of course, while never designating himself as a pastor or shepherd, he sees himself as a feeder:
I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. (I Corinthians 3:2)
When we look about us in Christendom, we can hardly see the sky for the horde of shepherds, or „pastors” that the church supplies to the world. It is my position that these are those whom Jesus designated „strangers,” and that they bring themselves under condemnation by accepting the designation, pastor, all in total ignorance of the significance of their Lord’s words. Be assured that I thoroughly understand the power of this deception because I was once one of them . . . and I was wrong. If there is hope for me, there must be hope for all.

My great brother i have search since last year for my brethren those who know the truth pls how can i locate you or contact you so we can find our brothers together this s my number 08060075530 dont mind anyone who try to bend things to paul they are blind if the blind leads the blind....
Paul is a great man he has finished his race he has receive his crown authority and power is given to him he is like the lamb i love him though he has threaten to come to me with a rod and others who follow him to shawn me so i ll be ashame but christ that man of galilee who send his holy spirit to me is my lord my friend i ll follow him though not rich but am contented with him